London is a theatre-lover’s paradise if only you know where to look - for innovative, exciting and maybe even surprising theatre that won’t break the bank, look no further than our Top 5 smaller, more affordable theatres in South London...
White Bear Theatre
If you're searching for fantastic fringe theatre- head to The White Bear!
The White Bear Theatre, found at the charming White Bear Pub in Kennington, London, has been a crucible of creativity since its founding by Michael Kingsbury in 1989. The theatre itself was crafted from a section of the building extending from the rear of the pub, ensuring no disturbance to nearby residences. Its intimate setting includes two rows of seating along the front and one side of the small stage, along with a dressing room and a light and sound booth. A 2014 refurbishment added soundproofing, air conditioning, and an upgraded foyer, enhancing the overall experience for both performers and audiences.
Omnibus Theatre
From a beloved library to a buzzing arts hub, Clapham's Omnibus Theatre offers affordable, eclectic performances in a cozy, historic setting, championing community and creativity without a whisper of "shh.
Battersea Arts Centre
Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN | near Clapham Junction station
The Battersea Arts Centre is a 350-seat venue that has provided a home for extraordinary artists for over 50 years now, and is a registered charity that receives public grants to recognise its platforming of artists; this year BAC presents Bloom 2024, a performance strand for works that have been developed there over the past year - artists including Samir Kennedy and Midgitte Bardot were provided with rehearsal space and time with no expectation of an outcome, and here they present works that are both in-progress and finished pieces. BAC also hosts an annual Homegrown Festival of pieces produced by young performers.
Past theatrical highlights include the daring Truth’s A Dog Must to Kennel in 2023 and Punchdrunk Theatre Company's 2007-8 promenade performance of "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe - the interactive performance, which ran through most of the building, required the audience to wear masks the entire time (Jeff Goldblum and Joanna Lumley even managed to see it!) and was seen by over 40,000 people in its seven-month long sell-out season!
Click here to see the BAC's program of events, which includes comedy, dance, music, workshops and talks
Tickets for shows with set prices range from £14 to £42; most shows operate on a ‘pay what you can’ basis (with Recommended Prices as low as £8)
Jack Studio Theatre
410 Brockley Rd, London SE4 2DH | near Crofton Park and Honour Oak Park stations
The Brockley Jack Theatre (also known as the Jack Studio Theatre) opened in 1992 and has since been platforming established works as well as pieces produced in-house with great success; the 50-seat venue won Most Welcoming Theatre (South East London) twice, as well as winning London Pub Theatre of the Year in 2023 - it might help that the theatre has also won a Best Foodie Experience award!
Every two months the intimate theatre hosts its own scratch event, a 75-minute show of five to six performances of new or developing pieces, with audience critique invited afterwards.The theatre also platforms writers connected to the South East London community with its Write Now Festival; alongside its full production of a play chosen from submissions of previously unperformed plays, there are writing workshops and post-show discussions. Plus, each year they launch the festival with the performance of ten minute plays on a given theme.
Click here to check out their program, which features is a mix of established works and new writing, produced by in-house company Southside Arts
Tickets cost £10 - £17, with concessions for full-time students, over 65s, unwaged, under 18s and Equity Members.
Orange Tree Theatre
1 Clarence St, Richmond TW9 2SA | near Richmond station
Orange Tree Theatre was founded in 1971 in a small room above the pub of the same name by Sam Walters (who retired in 2014 as the UK’s longest-serving theatre director) and his actress wife Auriol Smith, and moved to its current site (opposite the pub) in 1991; throughout its life, this has been the place to go in Richmond and the surrounding areas for exciting and innovative independent theatre. Its stated mission is “to enable audiences to experience the next generation of theatre talent, experiment with ground-breaking new drama and explore the plays from the past that inspire the theatre-makers of the present.”
Since 2014 the theatre has won ten ‘Offies’ (Off West End Awards) and five UK Theatre Awards, and well as the regional award for Most Welcoming Theatre in 2017. Theatre makers produce their plays with the theatre’s intimate staging in mind; its 180 seats are ‘in the round’ (i.e. all around the stage which sits in the middle) and split across two levels, which gives an intimacy and immediacy to the productions and performances.
This place has earned its (self-appointed) title as “a powerhouse of independent theatre”; as well as producing plays in-house that have gone on to run at The National Theatre, from 1986 to 2014 it ran a trainee director scheme, each year appointing two young assistant directors who have gone on to do great things in theatre, including Timothy Sheader, Dominic Hill and Rachel Kavanaugh. What’s more, the theatre has been running an MA in Theatre Directing with St Mary's University, Twickenham since 2016, with students sometimes bringing stand-out performances to the public.
You can check out Orange Tree Theatre’s current programme here
Tickets range from £15 - £56 (with concessions for Under 30s and theare Union Members)