In honour of the area’s illustrious theatrical heritage, the Tabard Theatre is reopening as Chiswick Playhouse. The Tabard brought important and innovative theatre back to Chiswick after a gap of over twenty years following the 1959 closure of the much-loved Chiswick Empire. A popular local venue, Chiswick Playhouse may be a small space but it has big ambitions and promises a fantastic opening season to mark its exciting relaunch.
Chiswick Playhouse will produce new work as well as reimagining classic stories. It will create its own in-house productions and bring shows of West End calibre to West London at a fraction of the ticket price!
Mark Perry, Executive Director of Chiswick Playhouse, comments, Having been a Chiswick resident myself for over 15 years, I’m aware of the remarkable history of artists and theatre practitioners that have lived and worked in the area. By changing the name, we want to demonstrate our pride in our local heritage and ensure that the local community recognises the venue as Chiswick’s local theatre.
We also want the wider London theatregoing audience to recognise our reputation as an exciting producing theatre, creating shows that will start in Chiswick and move on to other London venues and beyond. Lots of venues focus on types of work – new writing, musicals etc. Rather than genres, we want Chiswick Playhouse to be the breeding ground for the next generation of top creatives. As part of our first season we’re delighted to have rising stars Charlotte Westenra, Lucy Jane Atkinson and Phoebe Barran directing our in-house productions.
Launching Chiswick Playhouse’s inaugural season, from 30th October to 30th November, is the UK premiere of the revamped, brand-new version of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. After playing over 5,000 performances off-Broadway, this hilarious and poignant musical comedy was substantially re-written in 2018 to reflect the challenges facing the romantics of today. It is now presented for the first time in the UK with a stellar West End cast and direction from Charlotte Westenra (Kiss of the Spiderman, Donmar Warehouse; Frost/Nixon, Michael Grandage Company as Associate Director).
The course of true love never does run smoothly and with wonderful songs, outrageous comedy and heart-rending emotion, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is for anyone who’s fallen in, or out, of love. Following the joys and tribulations of first dates, marriage, and growing old, it will star George Rae (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and The Lion King, West End; Annie, UK tour) and Dominic Hodson (War Horse and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, West End; West Side Story, UK tour), alongside Laura Johnson (Hair 50th Anniversary, The Vaults and Hope Mill Theatre; Madagascar, UK tour) and Naomi Slights (Mamma Mia, West End; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Saturday Night Fever, UK tour).
Playhouse with exciting first season Chiswick Playhouse, 2 Bath Road, London W4 1LW
Press Night: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change – Tuesday 5th November
Chiswick Playhouse, 2 Bath Road, London W4 1LW
Chiswick Playhouse is located above the Tabard Pub. The nearest underground station is Turnham Green (on Piccadilly and District lines. The 94 from the West End, Notting Hill and Shepherd’s Bush stops outside and 267, 237, 391, E3 and H91 also stop nearby.
Tickets are available from the Chiswick Playhouse Box Office and www.chiswickplayhouse.co.uk.
@ChiswickPlay
