The Off-West End landscape is a vital one for the arts across the world

 The off-West End space, one of the most unique and vibrant creative forces in the country, is not having an easy time.

There are some incredible spaces, of course, making brilliant work – the King’s Head Theatre in north London has just moved to a larger venue and unveiled a cracking 2025 season, while the Bush Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush is possibly the most important new writing venue in the country. Omnibus Theatre and Brixton House are flying the flag for south London as a creative powerhouse. Institutions like the Off-West End Awards are fantastic cheerleaders for this community.

But it’s hard not to mourn the venues that have been lost: either to financial woes (exacerbated by rent increases, cost of living crises etc), or philistine landlords showing their true colours. The Bunker Theatre was a magnificent and fleeting Southwark presence. The Vaults Festival, now ended, was the springboard for so many artists now pushing the boundaries of live entertainment. The Gate Theatre, relocated to Camden, was forced to transform into a producing company after losing its west London home. Shoreditch Town Hall no longer has the same regular theatre programming. The Hope Theatre has undergone major turbulence, as has Seven Dials Playhouse.

In a newsletter to members a fortnight ago, Equity also highlighted “serious concerns” around the Turbine Theatre, which had been set to close its doors at the end of the year. Investigations there remain ongoing, and Equity is said to now be in discussions with the venue.

This isn’t even a London-specific issue for spaces dedicated to smaller-scale productions. The Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester has warned of existential threats, while Summerhall in Edinburgh faces hurdle after hurdle.

It isn’t rocket science to see why the loss of these spaces would damage the fabric of the theatre world. Performers like Emma D’Arcy were electrifying off-West End well before they were the toast of Westeros and the National Theatre. Writers like James Graham cut their teeth at spaces like the Finborough Theatre – with those skills then put to good use writing cutting-edge dramas for the BBC, West End, Broadway and beyond. Remove that vital stepping stone and you leave a whole generation of performers without the ability to gain mainstream recognition.

It doesn’t just affect creatives either: it affects audiences. As a 20-something cash-strapped ex-student a decade ago, the off-West End was my way into the theatre scene – there’d not be a show I’d miss at the Arcola, or the Park, or the Gate, with affordable tickets available for those like me who wanted to see .

At a new musical panel in the West End recently, I asked the audience not only to see work lit by the bright lights of Shaftesbury Avenue, but to head further afield to Southwark, Camden or Dalston to support the next big thing. Shows like Operation Mincemeat and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button all originated in venues seating less than 120 people.

As local councils fear bankruptcy and slash arts budgets (a very foreseeable problem, given the writing was on the wall four years ago), it is the smaller, vital venues that will take the brunt of the pain. Action to preserve these spaces is more important than ever. The music industry sounded the alarm for grassroots music venues and continues to lobby for them – does something similar need to be down for smaller theatres?

Over the next month, we’ll be manually curating a more in-depth off-West End listings wing that showcases new productions coming up over the coming months – we’ll be expanding this over the coming weeks and months.

We’re also set to broaden our WhatsOnStage Awards categories to expressly give more attention to smaller-scale work in venues across the UK (more details to follow next month). The more audiences know about work that’s being presented in intimate spaces, the greater chance that these venues can have lengthier, healthier lifespans.