Greenwich Theatre - Building History

Building History

The building was originally a music hall created in 1855 as part of the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house, but the Rose and Crown Music Hall was reconstructed in 1871 and renamed Crowder's Music Hall. It briefly rejoiced in the name 'Crowder's Music Hall and Temple of Varieties', but was renamed in 1879 as Royal Borough Theatre of Varieties. This name lasted less than 20 years. After a brief spell as the Greenwich Hippodrome, it was rebuilt in 1898 and became the Parthenon Theatre of Varieties.

Having shown both live performances and films since 1915, in 1924 it was converted into a cinema. In 1949, the building was closed and it took a concerted campaign to save it from demolition during the 1960s. After substantial alterations, the building eventually reopened as the Greenwich Theatre in 1969 under Artistic Director Ewan Hooper and Director Alan Vaughan Williams, who directed the opening production and world premiere of Martin Luther King, written by Ewan Hooper. In 1975, Vivien Merchant and Timothy Dalton headed the cast of a revival of Noël Coward's The Vortex.

It had to survive a further crisis in the late 1990s prompted by the 1997 withdrawal of its annual subsidy from the London Arts Board. It eventually reopened in November 1999.

The seating capacity is currently 421, around an open thrust stage.