Hoxton Hall is a performance arts theatre and community centre in the

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It l ...

area of

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an imp ...

, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

. A grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, the theatre was first built as a

Music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

in 1863, as MacDonald's Music hall. It is an unrestored example of the saloon-style. In the theatre, an iron-railed, two tier galleried auditorium rises on three sides, supported on cast iron columns, above a small, high, multi-tiered stage. It survives, largely in its original form, as for many years it was used as a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

meeting house. The music hall lost its performance licence in 1871, due to complaints by the police; it was sold, and the new owners applied for a licence in 1876, but were again rejected.

William Isaac Palmer William Isaac Palmer (1824–1893) was a member of the Palmer family, proprietors of the Huntley & Palmers biscuit manufacturers of Reading in England. He was the brother of George Palmer, the first of the Palmer family to be involved in the fir ...

(1824–1893) purchased it on behalf of the Blue Ribbon Gospel Temperance Mission in 1879. Palmer was an heir to the Huntley and Palmer biscuit family and spent much of his fortune on charity. On Palmer's death, the hall passed to the Bedford Institute, a Quaker organisation dedicated to running adult schools and alleviating the results of poverty. Today, the hall is used as a community centre and performance space.

Notable recent performances

*On invitation from Lisa Goldman, artistic director of award-winning theatre company The Red Room,

Leo Asemota Leo Asemota (born 1967 in Edo State, Nigeria)Leo Asemota (20 October 2005"Leo Asemota: biography" ''TheGuardian.com''. is a contemporary new media art, artist living and working in London, England. Asemota employs photography, film and video, perfo ...

created video installations and a portfolio of photographic portraits of

residents for the site-specific production ''

Hoxton Story {{italic title ''Hoxton Story'' is an epic and poetic multi-plot fable marking the 10th anniversary of the multi-award-winning theatre company The Red Room. Inspiration Hoxton, England, became notable in the 1990s as a groovy district of loft ...

'' which opened at Hoxton Hall, to performances on 10 September 2005 * Robert Newman filmed a television programme entitled ''A History of Oil'' for

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content When ...

, at the Hoxton Hall (later released on DVD). A mixture of stand-up comedy and introductory lecture on

geopolitics Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...

and

peak oil Peak oil is the hypothetical point in time when the maximum rate of global oil production is reached, after which it is argued that production will begin an irreversible decline. It is related to the distinct concept of oil depletion; whil ...

, in the show, based on his touring show, ''Apocalypso Now'' Newman argues that twentieth-century Western foreign policy, including

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, should be seen as a continuous struggle by the West to control

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

ern oil. The peak oil projection is based on

Richard Heinberg Richard William Heinberg is an American journalist and educator who has written extensively on energy, economic, and ecological issues, including oil depletion. He is the author of 14 books, and presently serves as the senior fellow at the Pos ...

's book '' The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies''.

References

* ''Guide to British Theatres 1750-1950'', John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 118–9 (Theatres Trust, 2000)

External links

Olive Yarrow's Memories of Hoxton HallHoxton Hall official siteTheatres Trust database entry
held at the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

East London Theatre Archive The East London Theatre Archive (ELTA) is a digital theatre archive based at the University of East London, in London, England. The ELTA contains 15,000 digitised objects including images, papers, photographs and artefacts. The Joint Information S ...

Community centres in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Hackney Music hall venues in the United Kingdom Theatres in the London Borough of Hackney Grade II* listed theatres Hoxton Shoreditch {{UK-theat-struct-stub