BELLA BARTOCK, our resident culture vulture, got out her rouge and party frock to enjoy another evening at the Spread Eagle Theatre, which is celebrating its first birthday
As I make my way past East Croydon Station, taking great care not to get my heels stuck in those ghastly tram tracks, I cannot help but feel a little sadness within when I pass the site of the old Warehouse Theatre, which did so much for contemporary and pioneering theatre.
For the moment, though, the Spread Eagle Theatre, celebrating its first anniversary, has gone some way to fill the gap with its (sometimes too) intimate atmosphere. It’s autumn and winter season offers 17 nights of comedy and drama, with Five Rounds Rapid’s production of The Complete History of the BBC (Abridged) completely a two-night run in the room above the pub on Katharine Street tonight.
Actors Alix Cartwright and Bob Sinfield, as a sad old man and his tolerant wife, offer more nostalgia than hilarity in recounting the BBC’s history, the small performance space working well as the play’s setting of a very modest museum of BBC memorabilia in a garden shed.
The jokes brought gentle smiles that were broadened more as the audience picked up on references to programmes that they had seen in their lifetime than read about in history books.
The strongest reaction came to references to Margaret Thatcher, so you’ll know now a little about the audience.
For £10 a ticket and a convivial atmosphere the show offers better value for money than steeper prices across at the nearby Fairfield Halls, and especially so compared to other shows back up in London.
Coming to Croydon
- Open House London weekend, Sep 20-21
- David Lean Cinema: A Night At The Cinema in 1914, Sep 22
- Activity to Work back-to-work workshops, Sep 23
- David Lean Cinema: Jimmy’s Hall, Sep 25
- Streatham Common 6M race, Sep 27
- Fancy dress family funday, Sep 28
- Ukrainian choir concert, St John’s Shirley, Sep 29
- Tree Sides, Spread Eagle Theatre, Oct 2-4
- The Goon Show, Spread Eagle Theatre, Oct 8-11
- Norwood Society Talk: From Fire Station to Theatre, Oct 16
- Cinema Ruskin film show, Oct 18
- South Croydon business breakfast, Oct 18
- Croydon 10km road race, Oct 19
- This Was The World and I Was King, Spread Eagle, Oct 23-25
- Albert Einstein – Relativity Speaking, Spread Eagle, Nov 12-15
- South Croydon business breakfast, Nov 15
- Norwood Society Talk: Lambeth’s Archives, Nov 20
- Choose Your Own Documentary, Spread Eagle Theatre, Nov 21-22
- The Last Sense of Sudden, Spread Eagle Theatre, Nov 27-29
- Ghost Stories for Christmas, Spread Eagle Theatre, Dec 3
- Fog Horn Funnies, Spread Eagle Theatre, Dec 6
- South Croydon business breakfast, Dec 13
- South Croydon business breakfast, Jan 24
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