PLAYHOUSE
EAST.
An independent theatre, working studios, and a proper café on Cable Street. Built by artists. Open to everyone.
Section 01 / About
Built by working
theatre
people.
Playhouse East opened in 2025 at 258 Kingsland Road, Haggerston — an independent venue for new writing, devised work and the long-form classes that grew the place in the first place.
The building holds an 84-seat theatre, three working rehearsal rooms, and a downstairs café-stage that runs late. We programme new writing because that's where the next decade comes from. We charge what we charge because the rooms have to pay for the rooms. And we hold mornings pay-what-you-can because the people who built this place still need somewhere to work.
It's the sister-venue to Actors East — the long-running East London acting studio — but Playhouse East has its own front door, its own programme, and its own audience.
Four ways
into the building.
Most people come for one thing — the rest is here when you need it.
Watch a
Show.
New theatre, festivals, late nights, work-in-progress and independent performance — most weeks of the year. Box office runs on Ticket Tailor.
Hire a
Room.
Three working spaces — daylight, mirrors, sound. Affordable rehearsal, classes, workshops, shoots and events. Pay what you can mornings.
Bring
Work Here.
Submissions, visiting companies, scratch nights and longer-form development. Open year-round, no submission fee. Splits 70/30 in your favour.
Train at
Actors East.
The acting studio that built this venue. Long-form Meisner, craft classes, writers' & directors' development. Separate site, separate door.
Sister studio
Actors East.
Actors
East.
Actors East is the acting studio that built Playhouse East. Since 2008 it has trained actors, writers and directors in East London — long-form Meisner, craft-based classes, and the working-artist development that grew, eventually, into a venue of its own. The studio runs on its own site, with its own door.
What's
on.
New writing, devised work, late nights and special events at 258 Kingsland Road. Listings update from a single source — easy to swap for a Ticket Tailor feed.
★ Featured this season— №01 / Programme · Multi-stage · 4 nights
WIP
Festival.
Four nights of work-in-progress from independent makers — five new pieces a night, twenty minutes each. Audience feedback after every show. Open submissions just closed; full line-up announced 18 Jan.
Hire a
room.
What
You Can
Mornings 09:00 — 13:00, studio hire is whatever you can spare. No application, no proof of anything. Just show up and work.
05.B · Studios
Three working
rooms.
Daylight, mirrors, sound. Real rooms — built for rehearsal, classes and the working day. Transparent pricing, no minimums, deposits on multi-day blocks only.
- The Playhouse · 84sPOA
- Studio Tardieu · Rehearsal£12 — 22 / hr
- Studio Brecht · Movement£14 — 24 / hr
- The Downstairs · 60c café-stagePOA
05.C · Events & classes
Workshops,
shoots, events.
Hold a class, run a shoot, throw a launch. The Playhouse for talks & screenings, Studio Tardieu for movement and workshop work, The Downstairs for parties & gigs up to 60.
- Workshops & classesFrom £10 / hr
- Photo & film shootsDay rate · POA
- Launches & eventsPOA · w/ bar
- Block bookings10% off · 5+ days
Find
us.
06.A · Visit
Walk in..
Box office opens 90 min before every show. Bar & café-stage open from 17:00 on show nights. The building is on the corner of Kingsland Rd and Forston St — look for the red dome.
06.B · Talk to us
Email
the right
desk.
Pick the inbox closest to what you're after — replies inside one working day for hire and submissions, three working days for press.
06.C · Open hours
What's open,
when.
The studios run all day, every day. Front-of-house and the bar open for shows in the evening; the café-stage runs late.