The friends were delighted to meet just before Xmas with Zoe Cranmer,the Head of Geography at Dunraven School,and a group of her A Level Geography students to talk about the history of the Streatham Hill Theatre and our campaign to bring it back to use as a performance space and creative hub for Streatham and South London. The students study ‘Regenerating Places’, and are currently doing an in-depth local study which includes the theatre as an example of how the functions of a place can change. The students are exploring why regeneration is needed, how it is managed and what makes it successful, and we’re extremely pleased to know that our campaign offers them a great live case study!
We’ve had another kind donation of programmes from Catherine Bennett, collected by her mum who was born in 1933 and grew up on the Clapham Park Estate. She was a “scholarship girl” at St Martin-in-the Fields High School for girls in Tulse Hill, and used to go to SHT while at school, and later with her husband after marrying in 1956.
The Christmas Issue (pp8-9) of Heart Streatham magazine features the Friends vision for Streatham Hill Theatre, including proposals from award-winning director Thom Southerland who wants to bring back theatre and community access to the building.
The Friends have been shocked and saddened to hear of the untimely passing of ‘Big Lad’ at the age of 45 on Saturday 2nd November 2024.
We were introduced to him by one of our members, Martin Clark, who had worked with him for many years at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where Big Lad was the Deputy Technical Manager and Head of Stage Engineering. Big Lad was a hugely inspirational character, with his deep love for all things theatre and its people.
He was passionate about wanting to do all he could to help the Friends with our campaign to save the Streatham Hill Theatre. When he saw pictures of the orchestra pit at the SHT, he told us its lift was identical to the one at the Palladium. Big Lad became one of our Creative Industry Supporters and joined our Expert Panel. He organised two fantastic trips for us to Drury Lane to show us the result of the recent renovations, including the amazing backstage technical advances they had initiated, as he wanted to show us what could be done to make heritage theatres work in these creatively innovative times.
We have since discovered that he was also supporting another Theatres Trust ‘Theatre at Risk’, The Ashton Empire Hippodrome, and had been planning to get involved with its restoration.
We’ll be forever grateful for his kindness and know the industry has lost a very special soul, taken well before his time. He made such an impact on all who knew him and will be sorely missed.
There is a GoFundMe page for his funeral and to support his wife, Helen.
His well-attended funeral was held on 2nd December 2024. Many West End theatres dimmed their lights in tribute.
11 June 2024: The Friends and Big Lad on the stage of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
11 June 2024: Big Lad talking us through some of the Theatre Royal’s technical innovations.
11 June 2024: Backstage with Big Lad at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Lambeth planning have asked us to outline how the Friends envision the building being used, so we have prepared this summary (PDF). It outlines how the Friends see a rejuvenated SHT working with an experienced theatre company to bring benefits to the local community and local businesses.
SAVE THE STREATHAM HILL THEATRE – an illustrated talk by David Harvey & Elizabeth Burton Alan Baxter’s Gallery, London, EC1M 6EJ Friday 18th October 2024 6.30pm (doors open 6.00pm) Tickets: £10 (plus booking fee), includes a glass of wine or a soft drink and nibbles.
This illustrated talk will unfold the theatre’s history, discussing the architect’s design, its stage productions, subsequent uses, the current plight of the theatre, and the ‘Friends’ ambition to save it for the local community.
Our Presenters are involved in ‘The Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre’, steering a campaign to save the theatre and investigate and recommend new uses.
David Harvey is Chairman and Elizabeth Burton is former Trustee/Treasurer and a local historian.
Councillor Matthew Bryant to Councillor Danial Adilypour, Cabinet Member for Housing, Investment, and New Homes
Ruach City Church held their first service in the Streatham Hill Theatre on 30 June 2024. Despite having acquired the building in 2022, no valid planning application has been submitted either for change of use or listed building consent. Can the Cabinet Member advise me (i) what progress has there been in securing a planning application from Ruach City Church for their use of Streatham Hill Theatre; (ii) at what point will the Council consider enforcement action to ensure compliance with planning regulations; (iii) what steps have been taken to ensure the health and safety of those using the building?
Party: Liberal Democrats
Answer: In April 2024, Rauch City Church submitted a planning application for the change of use from a Theatre to a Place of Worship. However, as the submission is missing several key documents it currently remains invalid. This means that the validation of the application has been placed on hold until the necessary supporting information is received.
The Planning Department met with church representatives prior to the unauthorised use commencing and stressed the importance of providing the missing information to validate the application and is continuing to actively chase their planning agent for the required supporting information. Once received this will enable the application to be validated, consulted upon and assessed. If the Church fail to provide the required information to make the application valid, then the Planning Department will have to act proportionately in response to this breach of planning regulations.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the national regulator responsible for enforcing health and safety laws. On some occasions, responsibility is authorised to the local authority but would not be proactively inspected as per the HSE National Code of Practice which states that “proactive inspection must only be used to target the high-risk activities in those sectors specified by HSE or where intelligence suggests risks are not being effectively managed.” Therefore the local authority would respond to any complaints received as opposed to conducting proactive inspections. Due to the nature of the issues raised, the council will investigate this premises to understand the risk it poses.
The Friends were pleased to be able to help Lambeth Archives celebrate the return of their original Shakespeare folios to the new Lambeth Archive premises in Brixton. The Archives have created an exhibition covering Shakespeare in Lambeth, including performances at Streatham Hill Theatre by Paul Robeson, Peggy Ashcroft, John Gielgud and Alec Guinness.
Patron Simon Callow read from the folios to an appreciative audience, hosted by Tim O’Dell from Lambeth Archives, on Thursday 12th September 2024.
Simon Callow reads from Lambeth’s original Shakespeare folios. Photo credit Lambeth Archives.
Simon was introduced by Jane Goddard and thanked by Jenny Eastop, both from The Friends Creative Team.
‘Jane Goddard, Simon Callow CBE, Jenny Eastop and Tim O’Dell’
Photo Credit: Lambeth Archives
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