Erith Playhouse

HistoryThe building was originally the Oxford Cinema, which opened on 27 July 1913, showing silent movies. It continued as a cinema until 1938, when it closed, opening again as a news cinema for a short time. During the Second World War it was used as a store for furniture from the bombed homes in the locality, and it is rumoured to have had some more salacious uses at other times, bearing in mind its proximity to the river and nearby wharf, with their workforce of sailors! Conversion to a theatreThe conversion of the cinema for theatrical use was begun by the volunteers of Erith Theatre Guild in 1947. The Guild had been formed in 1943 to promote greater co-operation between the various amateur entertainment groups in the area, and the affiliated groups combined to mount an annual production. The first of these was Berkeley Square in 1944. Performances had to be staged in school halls, local buildings, and on tour in various unlikely venues. At the end of the war, despite the shortage of money and materials, the Guild made plans for its own theatre, and eventually obtained a lease for the old cinema from the local council. The conversion process took two years of hard work by mainly amateur builders in their spare time. An area of each of the side walls of the old cinema screen - which was simply painted on the wall of the building - was cut away to create wing space and provide access to very crude dressing rooms and the scene dock, based in old army huts outside. The orchestra pit and under-stage basement storage area were excavated. All of this was accomplished with equipment and materials that were begged, borrowed, or second-hand, and everything was completed finally on the day that the first production opened: Yellow Sands on Saturday, 1 October 1949. Problems and triumphsInitial audiences were not large, but the debts were, causing the demise over the next 6 years of 10 of the original 13 societies affiliated to the Guild. A loan from the Borough Council, and some re-organisation of the Guild, which now began to present its own plays (rather than just performances from individual affiliated societies) led to improvements in both audience and finances. The loan was repaid, and profits were used to further develop the theatre.

HistoryThe building was originally the Oxford Cinema, which opened on 27 July 1913, showing silent movies. It continued as a cinema until 1938, when it closed, opening again as a news cinema for a short time. During the Second World War it was used as a store for furniture from the bombed homes in the locality, and it is rumoured to have had some more salacious uses at other times, bearing in mind its proximity to the river and nearby wharf, with their workforce of sailors! Conversion to a theatreThe conversion of the cinema for theatrical use was begun by the volunteers of Erith Theatre Guild in 1947. The Guild had been formed in 1943 to promote greater co-operation between the various amateur entertainment groups in the area, and the affiliated groups combined to mount an annual production. The first of these was Berkeley Square in 1944. Performances had to be staged in school halls, local buildings, and on tour in various unlikely venues. At the end of the war, despite the shortage of money and materials, the Guild made plans for its own theatre, and eventually obtained a lease for the old cinema from the local council. The conversion process took two years of hard work by mainly amateur builders in their spare time. An area of each of the side walls of the old cinema screen - which was simply painted on the wall of the building - was cut away to create wing space and provide access to very crude dressing rooms and the scene dock, based in old army huts outside. The orchestra pit and under-stage basement storage area were excavated. All of this was accomplished with equipment and materials that were begged, borrowed, or second-hand, and everything was completed finally on the day that the first production opened: Yellow Sands on Saturday, 1 October 1949. Problems and triumphsInitial audiences were not large, but the debts were, causing the demise over the next 6 years of 10 of the original 13 societies affiliated to the Guild. A loan from the Borough Council, and some re-organisation of the Guild, which now began to present its own plays (rather than just performances from individual affiliated societies) led to improvements in both audience and finances. The loan was repaid, and profits were used to further develop the theatre.