Catford’s 90-year-old Grade II listed Broadway Theatre reopened its doors this month for the first time since 2020, after a £7m Lewisham Council-funded refurbishment.
Carried out by Rooff Construction, the restoration includes upgraded seating, improved access and facilities for those with mobility issues, new digital signage and a more contemporary bar area.
“All of the original terrazzo floors throughout the building have been restored. We’ve got state-of-the-art accessibility, fantastic hearing loops throughout, an eco-friendly heating system, and a new PA system so we can get more live music into the venue,” explains Broadway theatre manager Carmel O’Connor.
The capacity of the theatre is now 772 in the main auditorium and 120 in the downstairs studio. It’s a loss of about eight seats but allows for more legroom.
“[The theatre] was already accessible, but not to the extent it is now. Visitors with disabilities could never access the studio in the basement, and now they can,” Carmel explains.
In the past, the backstage team would have to build a platform to help performers in wheelchairs access the stage, but now there’s two lifts providing access, plus a fully accessible dressing room.”
For Lewisham Council’s Cabinet Lead for Culture, Councillor James-J Walsh, the reopening of the theatre is a key pillar in the borough’s legacy following its stint as London Borough of Culture in 2022.
“Good theatre promotes thought-changing behaviour and uncovers stories that would be lost or not heard. It creates the ability for us to understand one another,” he says.
“Also for us in Lewisham, there’s a large section of our community who work in culture and the arts, and having a theatre that’s engaging with its community allows them to have professional success.”
Comedy is at the heart of Broadway Theatre’s reopening programme, which kicked off on February 12 with a variety-style line up of seven stand-up comics, performing ‘Credit Crunch Comedy: The Valentine’s Special’.
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Another special performance comes from Catford’s Utopian Amateur Operatic Society. “They were the first people to step on stage in 1932 and they’re coming back in March this year with their production of Snow White,” says Carmel, joking: “It’s not the same cast, obviously!”
A major coup for the theatre is the onboarding of Catford resident Ryan Calais Cameron’s award-winning theatre company Nouveau Riche as its associate artists.
The company’s arrival at the theatre coincides with their show For Black Boys Who Consider Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy receiving a West End run, following a successful stretch at the Royal Court theatre.
“It’s huge for us as a venue to have [Nouveau Riche] as our associates,” stresses Carmel. “They’re so grounded and brilliant.”
Over the next two years, the company is scheduled to produce 24 shows in the studio theatre, which will also play home to 10 other associate artists. Audiences can expect to see “a variety of high quality theatre with really low ticket prices” as a result.
In the main house, Carmel is adamant about keeping tickets between £25-£35, while in the studio space they’ll be “much lower”.
She reasons: “We have to bear in mind we’re in a cost of living crisis and the last thing people are going to do is book tickets to the theatre when they’re really struggling.”
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Nouveau Riche is also committed to doing outreach work with local schools. “A big part of what Ryan likes to do is to bring in young people and engage with them, giving them an opportunity to be in a [performance] venue and learning,” Carmel explains.
On the theatre’s commitment to outreach work, Cllr Walsh adds: “It will allow us to take creative chances and allow those who don’t traditionally have [a theatre] background to create new types of work for different types of audiences. [It will] allow us to really deliver amazing work and the energy you get from live theatre to a whole host of different people.”
Greenwich performing arts conservatoire Trinity Laban will also be coming to the Broadway Theatre to run Lewisham Schools Dance, an event which brings together schools across the borough for a celebration of dance-led performances.
Integral to the theatre’s reopening programme is keeping the focus local. “We’re going to do a big pantomime this year that’s going to have a local focus and be written bespoke [for Broadway Theatre],” reveals Carmel.
While the finer details and names of creatives are yet to be announced, she promises “it’s got some really good messaging around climate change and issues that are really important to people. It will be glitzy but clever at the same time, and we will have had engagement with loads of young people across the borough leading up to that.”
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While all eyes are currently on Broadway Theatre’s performance spaces, Carmel hopes that by summertime, the theatre will have also become a community hub.
“We’ll have community events, [where] people from the local community who can’t afford to hire the main auditorium will be able to use the bar space for pop-ups, monologue slams, jazz nights and comedy,” she says.
“Too many people from a monographic background break into the theatre world. [The reopening of Broadway Theatre] is another opportunity for home-grown talent to be fostered and developed… giving people access to careers that are really lucrative and shining a light on our own borough,” says Cllr Walsh.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to build on [Lewisham’s] legacy from the London Borough of Culture year, and make sure we have a strong future going forward.”
Carmel agrees: “To Lewisham’s eternal credit, they have really protected this Grade II listed building. It’s not easy to maintain; it needed a big investment to keep it safe for the next 90 years.
“This investment will help it become an anchor in the borough’s cultural legacy.”
Broadway Theatre reopened on February 12. Catford Road, London SE6 4RU. Membership plans for those who wish to become a friend of the theatre start at £3.50 per month.
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