Half Moon Theatre

The Half Moon Theatre began in 1972 in a rented synagogue in Whitechapel, part of London’s Borough of Tower Hamlets. Its founders wanted a cheap rehearsal space with living quarters, inspired by the alternative culture of the 1960s. The company soon added a young people’s theatre and a photography workshop. Early productions included works by Bertolt Brecht and Witkiewicz, drawing praise from critics like John Mortimer. By the mid-1970s, the theatre received subsidies from the Arts Council of Great Britain and expanded into youth and photography projects. The company moved to a disused Methodist chapel in Mile End Road in 1979, seating 200. Productions like Edward Bond’s *The Worlds* and Dario Fo’s *We Can’t Pay? We Won’t Pay* featured actors such as Frances de la Tour. The chapel’s run-down state was even used in a performance of *The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists*. Declan Donnellan directed a praised staging of John Ford’s *’Tis Pity She’s a Whore* there in 1980. Yet the building soon proved too small for the growing audience. A new theatre was designed by Florian Beigel with flexible, moveable seating to suit different performances. The old chapel became the theatre bar, and the building opened in 1985 with *Sweeney Todd*. The Half Moon had staged challenging international plays, including premières of Steven Berkoff’s works. Financial struggles led to its closure in 1990, though the young people’s theatre and photography workshop continued elsewhere. Today, the former theatre is a JD Wetherspoon pub, while the Half Moon Young People’s Theatre still performs in Stepney.