Theatre Royal Stratford East launches new 80-seat theatre

Theatre Royal Stratford East has launched a new 80-seat theatre space based in Gerry's, a cafe opposite the east London theatre.

The space, which was piloted last year and puts an emphasis on new voices, will open with Edinburgh hit Labels by Joe Sellman-Leava which examines the line between curiosity and fear, and the rise of anti-immigration rhetoric.

Development of the theatre was made possible by property and infrastructure group, Lendlease, who began work on the site in summer 2014.

Kerry Michael, Theatre Royal Stratford East artistic director said: "It’s been great experimenting with this new multifunctional and intimate performance space, which enables us to produce more shows, different shows and attract an even more varied theatre audience than we already do. As part of that we’re delighted to present Labels, a funny, entertaining piece of theatre about perception, diversity and equality."