Plans to build London’s largest theatre on the Greenwich Peninsula have been approved.
Greenwich Council gave the green light to the borough’s very own ‘National Theatre’ at a meeting of its Planning Board on January 20.
The new 3,000 capacity theatre, split across two 1,500-seat auditoriums, will be built on a patch of land on the east side of the peninsula, adjacent to the cable car station. It will become the capital’s biggest theatre by capacity, besting the 2,359-seat London Coliseum in the West End which currently holds the title.
The plans were put forward by Troubadour Theatres which currently owns and operates two London venues, one in Wembley Park and the other in Canary Wharf. The Canary Wharf site opened last October and is home to the first-ever theatrical adaptation of the book and film series The Hunger Games, while Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express is currently playing in Wembley.
The approval of the plans was welcomed by Troubadour. The theatre company’s joint founders and CEOs Oliver Royds and Tristan Baker said: “At Troubadour, we are driven by a belief in creating extraordinary spaces that inspire artists, audiences, and the stories they come together to share.
“Securing planning permission for the new Troubadour Greenwich Peninsula Theatre marks a major milestone for us, and an exciting new chapter in our commitment to bold, large-scale live performance.
“Following the success of our Canary Wharf Theatre and the world’s first stage adaptation of The Hunger Games , the opening of Greenwich Peninsula Theatre will further expand London’s cultural landscape. We are proud to be investing in the future of theatre – creating versatile, ambitious spaces designed to host landmark productions and deliver unforgettable experiences for audiences for years to come.”
Planning permission for the new Troubadour Theatre has only been granted for a temporary period of 10 years, after which the land will eventually be used to build residential tower blocks as per the Greenwich Peninsula Masterplan.
At the January 20 meeting, Sylvia Williams spoke in support of the theatre plans on behalf of the Greenwich Millennium Village Residents Association. She said the new venue would be a “welcome addition… to the cultural life of the Greenwich Peninsula” and called upon the council to add a condition that would allow the theatre to be used by local schools.
Ms Williams concluded: “A theatre could be a valuable and positive addition to the peninsula if it is delivered with clear commitments to education, community access and responsible traffic planning. With the right conditions, it can become a cultural asset that genuinely serves the local community and local people.”
When asked about the possibility of allowing the theatre to be used by the community, Troubadour’s Chief Operating Officer Rowley Gregg said it was a “key desire” of Troubadour to support Greenwich residents. He spoke of the Troubadour Trust which uses 50p of every ticket sold at a Troubadour venue to support locals via workshops, ticket schemes for schools and charities.
Mr Gregg also said the theatre would likely take nine months to complete once construction begins in June.
Cllr David Gardner described the theatre proposal as “excellent” in terms of what it offered culturally to Greenwich, although he did have some misgivings about what he considered to be the “boxy” design of the building itself.
Cllr Tamasin Rhymes was more fond of the look. She said: “I quite like the idea of our own National Theatre. I quite like the design. I very much welcome the cultural benefits, the jobs and the training.”
