Broadway Theatre

The Broadway Theatre stands on Rushey Green in Catford, part of the London Borough of Lewisham. Built in 1932, the building is a Grade II listed example of Art Deco design. It began life as a concert hall attached to the town hall extension and was opened by the Duke of York. The architects Bradshaw Gass & Hope added slightly Gothic touches to match the nearby vestry hall. A three-manual pipe organ by John Compton was installed when the hall first opened. The theatre is recognised for staging a wide range of black theatre. Its main auditorium seats 800 and presents theatre, music, stand-up comedy, nostalgia shows, pantomime, drama and children’s theatre. The smaller studio theatre seats eighty and runs a continuous programme of productions with professional actors and directors. Since 2001 it has hosted Cabaret, Trainspotting, A Clockwork Orange and Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me. The Compton organ, played at the opening by Reginald New, was restored in 2005. The building’s Art Deco interior and the organ’s rich sound remain central to the theatre’s character. Visitors find two contrasting spaces: the large, ornate main theatre and the intimate studio. Both sit on a busy corner of Rushey Green, surrounded by Catford’s shops and streets.