by The Soho Theater Walthamstow opens this week in a fire of glory. And this is not an exaggeration than everyone who throws the latest pictures of his interiors in mind. A class II building from the 1930s was revised as the hottest new entertainment location in the city.
And not only that. While comedy, Cabaret and Theater – the mix of victory from the original Soho Theater will be, the place will also be a real community center, with tutorials and courses that take place, studio rooms, a restaurant and four bars
No wonder that Alessandro Babalola (Top Boy Actos and co-chair of the Soho Theater Walthamstow) and Mark Godfrey (Co-Exec director) buys with the excitement.
“I just sat in the foyer this week because all of these people come into the building,” says Babalola, “because I wanted to see that they are taking the beauty of the building.
The building was originally built as a 2700-set cinema from the golden age of the sculptures, but said when he moved to the area for 15 years, the building was in the center of protests. After it was closed in 2002, it should be converted into a church until the campaign went in. After all, he was part of a group that worked with the Soho Theater to save the building before the Waltham Forest Council came on board, and after a long process they bought it in collaboration with the theater in 2019 and the restoration could begin. This shiny miracle of 1000 seats is the result.
“It was a building that meant a lot to the locals, and there was this really passionate campaign to save it,” says Godfrey. “Our vision was that we could respect the inheritance of the building, but reinvent it in the future as a local theater with a national profile.
We have made it to an event location with 1000 good seats and not with the old cinema and made it into an event location for live performance. There is beauty, but there is also comfort. All seats are new and very comfortable, and they all have great legroom and they all have a cup holder! I hope it will be like a premium -west end experience, but too much lower costs. “
Babalola was born in the area and knows what such an event location for people can mean, not only as a meeting point, but as an inspiring symbol.
“East London and in particular this district have two special things about it:” He says: “Number one, it is one of the most multicultural parts of the city, and number two, there are more creative people who deal on the apartments, as well as in other parts of Londons, the combination of multi-cultures and creative people, which they urgently need, and compensation.
When I was born and grew up in this district, I always wanted a theater in our district. We went to the Stratford Theater to get Pantomime or the Hackney Empire. But what I really wanted was a theater in my district. To be honest, I would have been satisfied with a hall, but we had the ninth miracle of the world!
The fact is, however, that for everyone like me who grew up, creative things, street dance courses, music lessons, but not really a basis, amazing. “
A scheme that you will run here at this level are the most important playwrights in which Schulkid can get their work on stage. Workshops, inconversation sessions and these decisive panto will write for Christmas. “We no longer have a pantomime in the district for over 50 years and it is something that has been needed for a long time.”
But it is not only creative inspiration, it is also the economic benefit in the region. Godfrey says: “One of the real drivers is the economic regeneration and the creation of jobs. We have created 100 new jobs in the district, and 70% are locals. We recently had a training day, and it was just fantastic to see so many locals in the first job in -th culture sector.
Another example is that we have many bars and our own camp called Neon warehouse here and that is brewed by a family company from Brauer on site in the district. The order that we were able to give them both for the Soho Theater Bar in Dean Street, and here means that they were able to invest in new devices in their brewery and also create an apprenticeship training scheme.
This is cultural -controlled regeneration, and I think that’s a really important part of it. “
In fact, and when the program with Natalie Palamides’ romantic dramedy, Weer, begins, you can bet that all eyes are faced with Walthamstow. “It is only 20 minutes from Oxford Circus!” Reminds Babalola.
Take a look at the full event program for Soho Walthamstow.
