Queen's Theatre

The Queen’s Theatre stands in Hornchurch, a town in the London Borough of Havering. It began in 1953 on Station Lane in a former cinema that had closed in 1935. The Hornchurch Urban District Council bought the derelict building in 1948 and converted it into a 379-seat repertory theatre. Ralph Richardson opened the new theatre on 21 September 1953 with the play See How They Run. The first artistic directors included Stuart Burge, Clifford Williams and Tony Richardson in its early years. The theatre survived a long funding gap from 1985 to 2000 when Arts Council grants stopped. Bob Carlton became artistic director in 1997 and helped restore funding, including a £50,000 grant in 2000. Queen Elizabeth II visited in 2003 during her Golden Jubilee. Douglas Rintoul took over in 2015 and led building improvements in 2019. In 2020 the theatre won The Stage Awards for London Theatre of the Year. Visitors now find a modern 507-seat theatre on Billet Lane with a foyer bar and air conditioning. The building has a Grade II listing since 2022. It hosts plays, musicals and Sunday jazz performances. The Havering Changing programme, led by the theatre, runs creative projects across the borough. The surroundings include nearby shops and cafés in Hornchurch town centre.