Erith Playhouse

The Erith Playhouse stands in Erith, a town in the London Borough of Bexley. Originally built as the Oxford Cinema in 1913, it showed silent films before becoming a news cinema during the Second World War. After the war, volunteers from the Erith Theatre Guild converted it into a theatre, completing the work in 1949. The conversion involved cutting away parts of the side walls to create wing space and dressing rooms. The auditorium remains largely unchanged from its cinema days, with a narrower front section where the stage now sits. The theatre’s history reflects both struggle and success. Early audiences were small, and debts forced many affiliated societies to close. A loan from the Borough Council and a shift to producing plays directly helped stabilise its finances. In the 1960s, the theatre faced uncertainty due to redevelopment and new regulations. A major renovation in the early 1970s, funded partly by an interest-free loan, transformed the building while preserving its original auditorium. Visitors find a theatre that blends its past with modern touches. The auditorium’s unusual shape, narrower at the front, creates a distinctive seating arrangement. The frontage was updated in 2006 with new lighting and an electronic marquee. Performances continue to support improvements, as the Erith Theatre Guild Ltd, a charity, reinvests profits into the facilities. The theatre’s 50th anniversary in 1999 marked a milestone in its long-standing role in the community.