Who We Are

The South London Theatre is a community theatre in West Norwood and was opened in October 1967 (as the South London Theatre Centre).

The plays produced at the South London Theatre include all genres: Shakespeare, comedy, classics, pantomime, musicals, and modern cutting-edge drama. New writing is particularly encouraged as are aspiring directors. There are plenty of roles behind the scenes and help and encouragement is given to new members, who are always welcome. SLT has a basement bar for members which is open for all performances and hosts regular social events.

There is a very active youth group (South London Youth Theatre) as well as children's classes. The children have their own showcases and are also encouraged to participate in the main productions.

Many of the spaces in the building are available for hire.

For more information, see www.southlondontheatre.co.uk

The South London Theatre is a member of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain.

The Building

The Gothic revival style building was originally a fire station, built in 1881 by the Metropolitan Board of Works and probably designed by their architect Richard Pearsall.It is the only surviving fire station for horse drawn tenders which still has its watch tower and central double doors in place. The three storeys above the ground floor served as accommodation for the officers and their families.

The Old Fire Station ceased to be operational in 1916 due to it being too small for the motorised fire engines which were then being introduced. It subsequently became the church hall for the neighbouring parish church of St Luke and retained this function until the 1960s. During this period, in 1927, the ground floor of the building was extended to cover what had been the rear courtyard and stables.

By 1967, the building became home to two local amateur drama groups who had combined to seek a permanent venue. The design for the conversion of the building to a theatre was by Owen Luder (later to become President of the Royal Institute of British Architects on two occasions). The area behind the distinctive red doors, where the appliances and horses had originally been kept, became the stage of the 100 seater Bell Theatre. An additional studio space with flexible seating, was added in 1976, the same year that the original parts of the building gained Grade II listed status.

Renovation

By the 21st Century, the fabric of the building required improvement and a renovation was planned to make the building fully accessible and able to accept performances from external theatre companies. A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund was approved in July 2014 and work started in September 2016. The renovation was carried out by Thomas Ford and Partners. In the meantime, SLT moved temporarily to Stanley Halls, South Norwood and performed there from November 2015 to April 2018.

Following the renovation, there is now only one (larger) performance space, but it has greater seating capacity and is fully flexible: the seating arrangements and acting space are often changed completely depending on the needs of each play. The ceiling is higher so stage lighting is improved. There are two rehearsal rooms on the first floor and second floor accommodates our large wardrobe collection. The building is now far more accessible including a lift to all floors except the third.

In 2018 the newly renovated building was renamed the Old Fire Station and the first performances took place in March, by the SLT Youth Group, and in April. Since then, SLT has performed around 20 shows per year, with the exception of the COVID lockdown. A full list of all SLT productions is available at www.sltarchive.co.uk.

We have published a history of the building, The Old Fire Station 1881-2018: A History, which is available online or at the theatre.