Theatre offers more than West End

7:10pm Tuesday 7th October 2008

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For sale: Grade II listed theatre in West Norwood. Cost: £1.

When years ago Lambeth Council offered the South London Theatre the chance to buy its 41-year home in Norwood High Street’s former fire station, it was too good an offer to turn down.

“The West End is stuffed with musicals and popular plays, and apart from the National Theatre and Barbican, only the amateur shows are free from commercial incentives.”

Theatre chairman Bob Callender

The only problem was it had to find another £1m to restore the 126-year-old building’s fading interiors and exteriors.

Next month a bid will be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund in the hope of securing a substantial part of that cash.

Theatre chairman Bob Callender said: “We are really hopeful our bid will be successful. There are so many ways a restored theatre could help the area.

“We not only want to restore an old building, but our bid is for heritage, the arts, young people and the community.”

Indeed the theatre is something for the area to be proud of.

The most prolific amateur theatre in the UK has some 500 adult members - some who have been acting with the theatre from its birth - and puts on an incredible 22 different plays a year.

It boasts a 96-seat auditorium and a separate, more intimate, studio space, as well as a thriving youth theatre and a wardrobe which has been used in a number of BBC productions and is regularly borrowed by the London Film School.

It is also the launch pad for many aspiring actors, scriptwriters and directors who meet to discuss their ideas in the theatre’s members’ bar.

“It’s a great place for anyone interested in the arts to meet like minded individuals,” explained Bob.

The next months, and the success of the bids for cash, will be essential to how quickly the theatre is restored.

The theatre brings in roughly £35,000 a year and has saved around £150,000.

But with day to day running costs and maintenance eating into that sum, Bob is concerned about losing momentum.

“We are not worried about losing the building because it is protected for use as a theatre.”

“We just don’t want to lose momentum. If we can get the lottery grant it means many other organisations will be willing to front money too.”

Some £650,000 would be spent restoring the exterior of the theatre with original materials like cast iron drainpipes and slate.

The remainder will go on renovating the interior, providing disabled access and developing the current studio space for use by local community groups and schools.

But despite the need for funds, the theatre is adamant it will not increase ticket prices, nor the cost of hiring costumes from its extensive collection.

It charges just £10 a week, unlike private costume wardrobes who charge £100 a day.

“We want to make our costumes accessible to the whole community, especially to places like the London Film School where people have low budgets and are trying to get a leg up in the industry,” Bob said.

A look round the three rooms packed with costumes ranging from ancient Greece to the present day is both impressive and testament to the range of productions the theatre puts on.

Indeed one of the theatre’s upcoming productions, Elegies For Angels Punks and Raging Queens, tackles the subject of living with Aids.

Confronting a taboo subject is something an amateur theatre can do far easier than the West End, said Bob.

“The West End is stuffed with musicals and popular plays, and apart from the National Theatre and Barbican, only the amateur shows are free from commercial incentives.”

He said this is why it is so important places like the South London Theatre survive.

Hopefully with the bid to Lottery Heritage being submitted next month, the theatre will move from strength to strength.

To get involved with the theatre or find out more about upcoming productions visit southlondontheatre.co.uk

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