
Soho Theatre announces opening line-up for new Walthamstow venue
Natalie Palamides, Dara O Briain, Mark Watson and more
Natalie Palamides is to open Soho Theatre’s new venue in Walthamstow, it has been announced tonight.
The American comedian’s acclaimed show Weer will be the first to take over the 1,000-seat former cinema following a six-year restoration project.
Dara O Briain, Sarah Keyworth, Ahir Shah, Suzi Ruffell, Josie Long and Mark Watson – who lives nearby – are all set to bring solo shows to the venue in its opening months,
It will also host a line-up show, Neon Nights, the live version of the Brown Girls Do It Too podcast, and On Cinema Live presented by American alt-comics Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington.
» Soho Theatre Walthamstow comedy listings
Tickets for opening new line-up go on sale at 10am on Thursday, including 15,000 tickets for £15 available for locals throughout the first year.
As it was in around 1900
The location has been a performance venue since 1897, and in 1930 the site was redeveloped as an ornate theatre inspired by the Alhambra Palace in Granada. Artists including The Beatles, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbinson, Dusty Springfield, The Who, The Ronettes, CHUCK Berry, Duke Ellington and the Rolling Stones performed there.
The last live performance took place in 1973 and the Granada became a cinema, changing owners until it became known as the EMD Cinema sadly closing its doors in 2003.
In 2003 the building was sold to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and for more than a decade it lay empty as they sought planning permission to turn it into a church while it fell into disrepair, prompting a grassroots campaign to return it to use as an entertainment venue and to preserve its heritage.
The foyer was briefly run as a bar – Mirth, Marvel and Maud – which held some live events in the smaller screens of the old cinema – until Soho Theatre reached an agreement with Waltham Forest Council to revitalise the venue.
It will now reopen on May 2 with Palamides's show (reviewed here), running to the 10th. The first Neon Nights show, on May 30, will feature Thanyia Moore, Sara Pascoe, Rosie Jones, Larry Dean, Tom Davis and Janine Harouni.
In a statement, the executive directors of Soho Theatre Walthamstow, Mark Godfrey and Sam Hansford, said: ‘We’re thrilled to be announcing Soho Theatre Walthamstow’s opening and first shows. Decades in the making, this iconic building with a remarkable history is reinvented as a fantastic new venue for the future, supporting culture-led growth and regeneration.’
Bill Hodgson, founder of the McGuffin Film Society which led the decade-long community campaign to save the venue for entertainment, said: ‘The restoration of this beautiful building has exceeded all our expectations and richly rewards everyone who campaigned for so long to secure its future. The new Soho Theatre Walthamstow builds on the great live entertainment and cine-variety traditions of this place while giving them a thoroughly modern twist. I’m sure the new venue will quickly become as treasured by local people as the original was.’
Published: 27 Jan 2025