Mark Pack

I had a further look round the site of the proposed new theatre on Clifton Terrace today (thanks Jez!). I’d not really appreciated how large the site was and having seen that, it does reassure me that the proposed development is the right scale for it.

One problem encountered so far is that the water table is not very far below the ground floor, which means plans for an area beneath the stage are having to be dropped and the interior design changed round (so that, for example, actors can get round off stage from one side of the stage to the other without now being able to use the under-stage area). You can see from this photo just how high up the water comes underneath the building:

At the moment the site is a big building site, with some preliminary work being done before the planning application gets considered. That is most likely to happen in June.

Although there are two other new theatres planned for the area, both of those have a particular educational / young people angle, which does seem to leave a gap for this third new one. I’m not an expert on theatre business models, but it was reassuring to hear Jez talk about how there is a different niche for this theatre to appeal to from those being to be built at a local school and at the old Hornsey Baths.

It was also good to hear the concerns about ensuring that the building was not too obtrusive for people living in the residential area to the north of the site and also the desire to have a facarde on Clifton Terrace that adds something to the street even when the theatre is closed – rather than just a barrier of metal shutters.

All in all, looks a good project that will be a boon for the area and it’ll be nice to have a theatre located between tube station and home.