Ovalhouse formerly called Oval House Theatre is an Off-Westend theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 led by joint Directors of Theatre Rebecca Atkinson-Lord and Rachel Briscoe in the London Borough of Lambeth

London Borough of Lambeth

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...

. Renowned for its work with marginalised artists, Ovalhouse attracts an extremely diverse audience from across London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

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Formed of two theatre spaces, the Theatre Downstairs (up to 200 seats) and the Theatre Upstairs (70 seats), Ovalhouse also has a cafe-bar, gallery space and four rehearsal rooms available for public hire. Since 2011, the cafe-bar has also been used as a venue for regular live-music and spoken word events as part of the artistic programme.

In addition to the professional theatre programme, Ovalhouse has a sector-leading Participation and Youth Arts department working with young people and vulnerable adults. The Ovalhouse 33% London programme offers an alternative route into professional theatre practice for aspiring artists aged 18-25.

Founded in the 1930s by graduates of Christ Church College Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, notable artists who began their careers at Oval House Theatre include Howard Brenton

Howard Brenton

-Early years:Brenton was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, son of Methodist minister Donald Henry Brenton and his wife Rose Lilian . He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and read English Literature at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. In 1964 he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal...

, Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...

, Stella Duffy

Stella Duffy

Stella Duffy is a writer and performer born in London who spent her childhood in New Zealand before returning to the UK.-Biography:Born to a New Zealander father and an English mother, Duffy is the youngest in a family of seven children. The family moved to New Zealand when Duffy was five, and...

, Tamsin Greig

Tamsin Greig

Tamsin Greig is an English actress principally known for two Channel 4 television comedy parts: Fran Katzenjammer in Black Books and Dr. Caroline Todd in Green Wing...

, David Hare (who worked at the theatre as a Stage Manager) and Tim Roth

Tim Roth

Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...

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Ovalhouse is located at 52-54 Kennington Oval, London, SE11 5SW.

Productions

• 1 November - 19 November 2011, Tomboy Blues - The Theory of Disappointment by mars.tarrab
• 15 November - 3 December 2011, Taniwha Thames by Shaky Isles and Stella Duffy
  Stella Duffy
  Stella Duffy is a writer and performer born in London who spent her childhood in New Zealand before returning to the UK.-Biography:Born to a New Zealander father and an English mother, Duffy is the youngest in a family of seven children. The family moved to New Zealand when Duffy was five, and...
  
  
• 22 November - 10 December 2011, Same Same by Shireen Mula

Previous productions

• 17 October - 23 October 2011, CASA Latin American Theatre Festival
• 26 October - 12 November 2011, Lagan by Stacey Gregg
• 21 June - 10 July 2011, Fixer by Lydia Adetunji
• 25 May - 15 June 2011, Little Baby Jesus by Arinze Kene
  Arinze Kene
  -Career:Kene has appeared in stage productions such as playing Simba in The Lion King, Daddy Cool, and in June 2009 played strutting lothario Raymond LeGrendre in the musical Been So Long, based on Ché Walker's 1998 play, which opened at the Young Vic...
  
  
• Full Archive of past events available from the Ovalhouse Archive http://www.ovalhouse.com/whatson/archive

External links

• Ovalhouse official site
• Ovalhouse Archive