Greenwich
Playhouse - The History
There
has existed a theatre on this site since 1988. This venue, now known
as the Greenwich Playhouse, operated under several artistic management
teams until Alice de Sousa and Bruce Jamieson took over its directorship
in December 1995, whence they renamed it - The Prince Theatre. Between
1995 and September 1998 thirty eight theatre productions were staged
at the venue which provided employment for some 800 theatre practitioners
and entertained in the region of 30 000 people.
The
Prince Theatre became a platform for many established, name actors,
designers, directors and writers; and a training venue for young
artists and recent drama school graduates.
The
Prince Theatre came to be regarded as the leading quality employer
of theatre practitioners of London’s fringe theatre circuit
and under the diligent artistic direction of Alice de Sousa, it
developed into London’s leading small-scale producing theatre.
Its critically acclaimed productions were well received and supported
by the media, the theatre profession and theatre going audiences
both local and of a vast demographic range.
In
September 1998, following a very successful Iberian Theatre Season,
The Prince Theatre closed in the expectation of impending major
refurbishment work. On the 4th January 1999, Alice de Sousa launched
a prolific campaign to prevent Greenwich’s last surviving theatre
from being closed down. This campaign was supported by leading political
figures such as Nick Raynsford, MP; Peter Ainsworth, Shadow Secretary
for Culture and Greenwich Councillors. The Prince Theatre’s
predicament was covered by every major newspaper, television, radio
station and unrelentingly in the local press. The dispute was happily
resolved in April 2000 and on the 30th May the venue re-opened
with state-of-the-art facilities. The venue was renamed as the Greenwich
Playhouse.
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