In 2023 we took on 258 Kingsland Road and set about creating Playhouse East. The place was dilapidated, with a rotten roof that was collapsing — and we didn’t know the first thing about fire regulations.

One year later we’ve filled our 15 studios with creative companies and individuals to help fund our real ambition: to build a hub for world-class new writing and production.

We started the year with our first in-house production, Casserole, developed through an improvisational writing process. We’re now developing eight new playwrights through the Writers East programme, as well as our next full-length play, currently called Builders.

It’s our fundamental driving idea that theatre and film should be created in community with others. Making work through improvisation demands the presence of writers, actors, and directors in the same room — and by reducing the distance between them, we create the conditions for great things to happen.