Warehouse Theatre

The Warehouse Theatre stood in Croydon’s town centre, a converted Victorian warehouse built in 1882 for sand, cement and lime. Its oak beams and original industrial fittings remained visible long after refurbishments. The building once housed a Caribbean night club before becoming a theatre in 1977. It seated just fifty at first, then grew to one hundred after 1979. The auditorium shared space with a working crab winch and wall crane on the exterior wall. A false ceiling removed in 1981 revealed the planked roof, though leaks still let rain through. It became known for new writing, staging premieres by established names such as Sue Townsend and Rik Mayall. The annual International Playwriting Festival drew entries from around the world, including Trinidad and Tobago, Australia and Bulgaria. Winners like Dino Mahoney later saw their plays produced in London and beyond. The theatre also ran youth theatre with Croydon Young Peoples' Theatre and collaborated with the Brit School. Cabaret evenings featured performers including French & Saunders and Lenny Henry. Inside, the bar occupied the old stable block with the Hayloft eating area above. Picture tiles from the 1880s lined the cellar beneath the main staircase. After closure in 2012, the building was demolished in 2013. Plans now exist for a new 200-seat theatre in Ruskin Square, designed by Foster + Partners to sit within a park setting. A Boxpark retail park opened on the site in 2016 as part of the redevelopment.