The trust, which acts as the national advice and advocacy body for UK theatres, has named 44 theatres across the country that are threatened by closure due to structural issues, safety concerns, or redevelopment plans.
Many of these theatres, the trust says, are of significant historical and cultural importance and could remain valuable community spaces if given the right support.
In north London, The Theatres Trust has identified two historic venues at risk: Tottenham Palace Theatre and the Intimate Theatre.
Tottenham Palace Theatre is the only complete example in London of a theatre by architects Wylson and Long, who reconstructed the Blackpool Winter Gardens Pavilion.
The Intimate Theatre in Palmers Green, originally built as a church hall for St Monica’s Roman Catholic Church in 1931 and was turned into the Intimate Theatre by the actor John Clements in 1935.
It was a repertory theatre from 1937 to 1987 and is now considered a rare survivor of a building that illustrates repertory theatre design in the inter-war period.
After he was demobbed, future James Bond star Roger Moore was a member of the repertory company, and earned about £10 per week.
In the late 1940s, the BBC televised 14 plays from the theatre.
The Theatres Trust says these venues could still remain valuable community spaces if given the right support.
In south London, the two theatres at risk are Streatham Hill Theatre and Borough Hall in Greenwich.
Streatham Hill Theatre is noted as one of south London’s most lavish “sleeping beauties” and is the last theatre designed by W.G.R Sprague, the architect responsible for some of London’s most stunning theatres.
Borough Hall in Greenwich is an important example of a 1930s municipal building, believed by architectural historian Pevsner to be “the only town hall of any London borough to represent the style of our time adequately”.
