New London theatre to open in former underground car park

A new theatre is set to open in a former underground car park on Southwark Street, London in October.

The space, called The Bunker, will house a 110-seat auditorium, bar, office space and dressing rooms, and is the brainchild of Joel Fisher and Josh McTaggart.

Executive producer Fisher said: "Being in the heart of Southwark in this incredible creative hub means that we can start to pinpoint who our audience are and what shows they want to be seeing."

McTaggart, who will be the artistic director, said the theatre won't be a place "you would leave straight away".

"It's about creating a community who want to discuss what they have seen and debate what it means to them."

The Bunker's autumn season will begin with Skin a Cat, which will transfer to The Bunker after a run at the VAULT Festival. The play has been produced with sexual health chairty Brook to engage marginalised and hard to reach audiences. It follows Alana as she goes through puberty and experiences her first awkward sexual encounters. It runs from 12 October to 5 November.

Philip Ridley's Tonight with Donny Stixx is a companion piece to the 2013 Fringe First winning Dark Vanilla Jungle. The play follows Donny, who the tabloids have labelled "The Most Hated Boy Alive", but all he wants is his own TV show. It won a Fringe First itself in 2015 and will run from 8 November to 3 December.

New musical Muted will run from 7 December. Written by Sarah Henley with music composed by by Tim Pottery-Jones, it follows singer Michael who hasn't spoken a word since his mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident three years ago.

The final production of the season will be a double bill of Irish plays; the world premiere of Fiona Doyle's Abigail will play alongside Conor McPherson's Come on Over. The plays will be directed by The Bunker's artistic director Joshua McTaggart and associate director Sara Joyce and run from 10 January 2017.