A little under a year after leaving its original home, Southwark Playhouse has relocated to new premises. Over the next few years, while they await the completion of a purpose built theatre at the Elephant and Castle, the company will be housed in two large adjacent railway arches underneath London Bridge train station. The building is scheduled to open on the 28th September with an exciting autumn season. The team is expanding too: on 18th June, the Playhouse will advertise for a new Artistic Director.

“These new premises herald a new phase for us”, says Chris Smyrnios, Chief Executive. It’s easy to see what he means. The new theatre is more than twice the size of the old venue; the curved walls and vaulted ceilings create an atmosphere of intensity and excitement. “Audiences and directors will be presented with the best kind of theatre challenge,” says Chris. “The arches are inherently so dramatic - performances will have to match up.”

The autumn season, announced shortly, will be an eclectic mix of the best theatre; encompassing a variety of performance styles including new writing, site-specific performance, puppetry, and multimedia. It is set to be one of the Playhouse’s most popular.

The Playhouse is about to raise the number of employees to four with the appointment of a new Artistic Director. This is an exciting and challenging time to join the company, and a substantial number of applications are expected. With previous Artistic Directors including Mehmet Ergen (Artistic Director, Arcola Theatre), Erica Whyman (Artistic Director, Northern Stage) and Thea Sharrock (recently directed Equus with Daniel Radcliffe), the benchmark has been set very high.

Chris says, “This is fresh start for the Playhouse. We’ll be building on our past successes while looking to push the boundaries of our work and our organisation as a whole.”

See www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk for further details