Stockwell Playhouse (known as the LOST Theatre until 2015) was a 180-seat

Off West End Off West End refers to theatres in London which are not included as West End theatres. The term is a relatively recent one, coined after the similar American term "off-Broadway" (though without the same strict definition). It is usually used synony ...

Fringe theatre based in

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, dedicated to promoting and developing young and emerging talent. A variety of different shows were produced throughout the year there included One Act and Five Minute Festivals. In addition to the auditorium, the venue had two rehearsal spaces for hire by performers. There was also an award-winning bar space on the first floor called Bar 208, with a variety of drinks and beers on tap.

History

The LOST Theatre was founded by Cecil Hayter in 1979 at the

London Oratory School The London Oratory School, also known as "The Oratory" or "The London Oratory" to distinguish it from other schools, is a Catholic Church, Catholic Secondary school#United Kingdom, secondary school for boys aged 7–18 and girls aged 16–18 in W ...

as an after-school theatre club, taking its name from the school's initials. In 1982 LOST was relocated to a new venue on

Fulham Broadway Walham Green is the historic name of an English village, now part of inner London, in the parish of Fulham in the County of Middlesex. It was located between the hamlet of North End (now renamed West Kensington) to the north, and Parsons Gr ...

. At this 100-seat black box, LOST was host to over 100 plays and festivals for the next 17 years until re-development of the area forced the company to look for a new home. During the next 10 years LOST was an itinerant company, hiring other theatre spaces in order to continue its work whilst branching out into Europe taking shows to Spain and Russia. In 2004 negotiations began for the acquisition of a new home in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...

(208 Wandsworth Road). This building opened in January 2010. The theatre was a featured venue in the 2015

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series ''South Side Stories.'' The bar won Best Theatre Bar at The Offies in 2013 hosted by OffWestEnd.com. In 2017, LOST Theatre changed its name to Stockwell Playhouse. In November 2019 it closed permanently. Stockwell Playhouse (@StockwellPHouse) Tweeted: All done we’re afraid. It’s been a great ride - but commercial pressure made it impossible for us to continue. Sir Derek Jacob was the theatre's arts patron."Tradescant Road and South Lambeth: A new theatre for Stockwell"
''tradescant.blogspot.co.uk''. Retrieved 2015-12-08.

Productions and usage

In addition to putting on in-house productions, Stockwell Playhouse served as a theatre space available for itinerant or touring companies to hire. Stockwell Playhouse also produced annual One Act and Five-Minute festivals. The One Act Festival allowed writers to submit works between 20 and 45 minutes in length to the Festival Artistic Committee. Winners of the festival received a monetary prize. The Five Minute Festival had three rules: submissions must be less than five minutes in length, they must have a narrative thread, and at least either the writer, director or cast must be under 27 years old. The pieces could cover a wide range of areas including: dance, theatre, spoken word, poetry, physical theatre, ensemble work, and devised work. The winners received a cash prize. The theatre also supported new writers from the festival with space and supported bursaries to create a new full length piece of work. Throughout the year, several acting and dance teachers conducted classes in the rehearsal studios each week.

References

External links

http://www.stockwellph.com/
{{coords, 51.4755, -0.1317, display=title Theatres in the London Borough of Lambeth