TheKiln Theatre (formerly theTricycle Theatre) is atheatre located inKilburn, in theLondon Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as new writing, political work and verbatim reconstructions of public inquiries.
The theatre was founded in 1980 by Ken Chubb and Shirley Barrie.[3][4] The current artistic director is Amit Sharma, who succeededIndhu Rubasingham, in December 2023, who in turn had succeededNicolas Kent in 2012.[5]
The theatre's name was changed from the Tricycle to Kiln Theatre in April 2018.[4]
The theatre opened on theKilburn High Road in 1980 as the permanent home of the Wakefield Tricycle Company, a touring theatre company that was known for producing British premieres, new writing, children's shows and theatre for the community in London and south-east England. The Wakefield Tricycle Company had been started in 1972 by Ken Chubb andShirley Barrie, performing initially in a room behind thePindar of Wakefield pub inKing's Cross. The name Wakefield Tricycle Company was adopted as a pun on theWakefield Cycle ofmystery plays, the pub's name and the fact that the initial company had three members.
The company commissioned new plays which it presented at arts centres around the country and then brought into small London theatres, such asThe Bush andKing's Head. The Wakefield Tricycle produced more than 60 plays including works bySam Shepard,John Antrobus,Olwen Wymark and co-founder Barrie.[3][6][7]
After securing the support ofBrent London Borough Council, theGreater London Council andArts Council England, the company was given a lease and began converting the Foresters' Hall on the Kilburn High Road into the Tricycle Theatre ("Wakefield" being dropped from the company's name at this point), opting for this space due to the lack of local entertainment facilities for the residents of Kilburn at the time. The Foresters' Hall, which was built for theAncient Order of Foresters, had previously been used for various purposes, including as a cinema and as a music and dance hall and as temporary offices for Brent Housing Department and Rent Tribunal.[3][6][7]
The then 235-seat[2] auditorium, designed by architect Tim Foster and theatre consultantIain Mackintosh, was modelled on theGeorgian Theatre Royal inRichmond, Yorkshire. It was built using free-standing system-scaffolding that supported padded benches rather than individual seats. The pre-existingproscenium arch was in front of a stage so shallow as to be almost useless, so a large apron was built to take the acting area out into "the courtyard", leaving the old stage as almost a backstage area, frequently unused in productions, but leaving the theatre with the oddity of a proscenium arch framing a small rear, inner acting area.[8]
In 1987, the theatre suffered a devastating fire that spread from a neighbouringtimber yard and which seriously damaged the building. However, after extensive fundraising, the theatre was rebuilt and reopened in 1989, with only minor alterations.[9]
In 1998, a 300-seat[2] cinema was added to the complex, and in 2001 the Creative Space was built for the theatre's extensive education and community work. All stages of the development were designed by Tim Foster Architects (now Foster Wilson Size).[1][10]
In July 2016, the theatre began to refurbish the theatre auditorium and front of house spaces, led by Chapman Architects.[11] In April 2018, the theatre announced its planned reopening in September 2018, as well as the 2018/19 season of plays.[12]
The refurbished building opened on 5 September 2018 with:
A new auditorium with a flexible stage
Increased capacity in the auditorium (292 seats) and individual seating
Eight wheelchair positions within the auditorium with access at stalls level and increased accessibility in front of house and backstage areas
Additional toilets
New façade and street-facing café
Technical bridges and increased access to technical equipment[13][14]
In April 2018 the theatre was renamed as Kiln Theatre. Artistic director Indhu Rubasingham said that the new name helped strengthen the venue's association with the Kilburn area and that kilns also have a relationship with all cultures around the world, and are symbols of creativity and culture.[15] Following this, a public petition was launched arguing that the name change was "unnecessary, costly and squanders the established reputation of The Tricycle".[16][17] As of July 2018 the petition was reported to have received over 2,000 signatures.[18] The theatre received public support from various industry professionals, including an open letter inThe Guardian from actorsJim Carter andImelda Staunton and articles from criticsLyn Gardner and Matt Trueman, as well as arts writer Jessie Thompson.[19][20][21][22] In September 2018The Stage published an open letter in support of Kiln Theatre, including signatures fromRichard Bean,Moira Buffini,Dominic Cooke,David Eldridge,Rebecca Lenkiewicz,Simon Stephens andErica Whyman.[23]
In 1984, co-founder Ken Chubb turned leadership over to new artistic director Nicolas Kent, who had previously brought a successful production ofPlayboy of the West Indies by Mustapha Matura to the theatre with theOxford Playhouse Company. Ken Chubb and Shirley Barrie returned shortly thereafter to their native Canada, where they have continued working in theatre and education.[3][6][7]
In 2012, the role of artistic director was taken over byIndhu Rubasingham,[27] who had previously worked as a guest director at the theatre working on shows such asStarstruck byRoy Williams (1998),Fabulation byLynn Nottage (2006),The Great Game (withNicolas Kent in 2009) andDetaining Justice byBola Agbaje (2009).
Rubasingham stepped down in December 2023, to be replaced by Amit Sharma.[5]
From 1994, during the tenure of Nicolas Kent as artistic director, the theatre established a reputation for its distinctive "tribunal plays" based on verbatim reconstructions ofpublic inquiries.
In 1999, the theatre's reconstruction ofThe Stephen Lawrence Inquiry – The Colour of Justice received critical and public acclaim,The Guardian calling it "the most vital piece of theatre on the London stage".[29] It went on to play for two weeks atTheatre Royal, Stratford East and transferred to theVictoria Palace in theWest End. It completed a national tour in 1999 which included the Belfast Festival and theNational Theatre.
In 2003,Justifying War – Scenes from theHutton Inquiry opened at the theatre.[30]
In 2004, the theatre producedGuantanamo:Honor Bound to Defend Freedom written byVictoria Brittain andGillian Slovo from spoken evidence, which transferred to theNew Ambassadors Theatre in the West End[31] and the Culture Project in New York (whereArchbishop Desmond Tutu appeared in the production). In 2006 the theatre presented a performance of the play at the Houses of Parliament and also on Washington'sCapitol Hill. It has since been performed around the world. Through the "Guantanamo Reading Project" there have been 25 community productions of readings of the play in the United States.
In 2007,Called to Account – the indictment of Tony Blair for the crime of aggression against Iraq – a hearing was staged at the Tricycle with evidence from American political lobbyistRichard Perle, the Chilean Ambassador to theUnited Nations Security Council in 2003,Juan Gabriel Valdes, and ex-Cabinet MinisterClare Short.[33]
In 2010, Nicolas Kent, Indhu Rubasingham and the Tricycle Theatre were awarded a Human Rights Award fromLiberty[34] for "their proud record of highlighting some of the most important human rights issues of the day". The award named several of the tribunal plays.[35]
Most of these plays have been broadcast by the BBC on radio or television,[36] and have together reached audiences of over 30 million people worldwide.[citation needed]
Moonlight & Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson (September 2007 − 3 November 2007; revived 2 July − 2 August 2008)1*Doubt: A Parable byJohn Patrick Shanley (22 November 2007 − 12 January 2008)
Let There Be Love byKwame Kwei-Armah (17 January − 16 February 2008; revived 5 − 30 August 2008)
Not Black and White byRoy Williams,Kwame Kwei-Armah andBola Agbaje (8 October − 19 December 2009), a season of full-length plays looking at 21st-century London from a black perspective
Greta Garbo Came to Donegal (7 January – 20 February 2010) byFrank McGuinness
Women, Power and Politics (4 June − 17 July 2010). Following the2010 General Election, the Tricycle presented a season of twelve new plays that examined both the history of women's role in politics, and the complex issues surrounding women's participation and role in contemporary governments
The Bomb – a partial history with plays by Lee Blessing, John Donnelly,Elena Gremina, Amit Gupta, Zinnie Harris, Ron Hutchinson (9 February – 1 April 2012)
Lover's Rock Monologues, the story of how a subgenre of reggae born in the UK defined a generation in the late 1970s and 1980s and had huge impact on British pop culture (9–14 July 2012)
Jazz at Cafe Society, a show about the 1940s New YorkCafe Society nightclub, written and produced byAlex Webb, narrated by DJ and BBC Radio presenterMax Reinhardt and featuringGwyneth Herbert, Alexander Stewart andChina Moses (16–21 July 2012)
Red Velvet, a world premiere of a play byLolita Chakrabarti and directed by Indhu Rubasingham. It was based on the life ofIra Aldridge, the first black actor to play Othello on a London stage in 1833 (played 11 October – 24 November 2012; revived 23 January 2014 – 15 March 2014; transferred to New York 25 March – 20 April 2014[38]). The production received awards for Most Promising Playwright and Best Actor at theEvening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Awards,[39][40] and transferred to theWest End in 2016 as part of theKenneth Branagh season at the Garrick.[41]
The Arabian Nights byMary Zimmerman, adapted fromThe Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night (30 November 2012 – 12 January 2013)
Paper Dolls by Philip Himberg, a play about a Filipino drag act inTel Aviv (28 February – 28 April 2013)
Handbagged byMoira Buffini, directed by Indhu Rubasingham (October 2013). In 2014Handbagged transferred to theVaudeville Theatre in London's West End,[43] and the Tricycle Theatre received anOlivier Award for "Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre".[44] The play was nominated for anOlivier Award for "Best Comedy" and went on national tour in 2015.[45]
The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania byAdam Bock (19 June − 26 July 2014)
The Kilburn Passion by Suhayla El-Bushra, presented by the Young Company's 19–25 Ensemble (5 – 9 August 2014)
The House That Will Not Stand byMarcus Gardley (9 October – 29 November 2014)
White Teeth by Stephen Sharkey, adapted from the novel byZadie Smith (world premiere, 26 October – 22 December 2018)[57]
Approaching Empty by Ishy Din (co-production withTamasha and Live Theatre, world premiere, 9 January – 2 February 2019)[58]
The Son byFlorian Zeller (UK premiere, 20 February – 6 April 2019). This show transferred to the West End in Aug-Nov 2019, produced by Fiery Angel and Gavin Kalin Productions.[59]
In August 2014, the theatre informed theUK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF) that it could not host the festival in 2014 (as it had done for the previous eight years) if the festival accepted a £1400 grant from theIsraeli Embassy in London, as the theatre did not think that the festival should accept funding from any party to the then ongoingconflict in Gaza.[79][80] The theatre offered to make up the loss itself but the festival's chief executive director Stephen Margolis dismissed this offer as a "publicity stunt", saying that artistic directorIndhu Rubasingham had also demanded to scrutinise the list of films to be shown.[81] The decision led to accusations ofanti-semitism andThe Jewish Chronicle described the decision as "open racism".[82] Rubasingham drew attention to her own and the theatre's record, adding: "I am not anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli".[83]
Nick Cohen, writing inThe Spectator, accused the Tricycle of inconsistency, as other groups' or events' funding had not, he claimed, previously been examined in this way. Cohen also pointed out that the theatre acceptedArts Council funding during times that the UK was actively involved in military conflicts.[84] In an editorial,The Guardian said that the theatre had made "a bad error of judgment".[85]Sajid Javid, theSecretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was reported as saying that the theatre had been "misguided" in demanding the festival drop its sponsorship by the Israeli Embassy.[86]
Theatre directorsNicholas Hytner andRichard Eyre both supported the Tricycle's stance and deplored those who had misrepresented that position.[87] Hytner also said "Rubasingham and the Tricycle board could not have made clearer their commitment to Jewish culture ... It is entirely understandable that they felt obliged to insist that no government agency should sponsor the festival. The Tricycle ... has a clear responsibility to make no statement about the dispute that is behind the current conflict. It greatly saddens me that the UKJFF have unwisely politicised a celebration of Jewish culture".[79]
However, in a joint statement on 15 August, the UKJFF and Tricycle Theatre said: "Some weeks ago the UKJFF fell out, very publicly, with the Tricycle over a condition imposed by the Tricycle regarding funding. This provoked considerable public upset. Both organisations have come together to end that. Following lengthy discussions between the Tricycle and UKJFF, the Tricycle has now withdrawn its objection and invited back the UK Jewish Film Festival on the same terms as in previous years with no restrictions on funding from the Embassy of Israel in London." The 2014 festival did not take place at the theatre, but it was suggested that the Tricycle might hold some UKJFF-related events later in the year.[88][89][90][91]
In May 2015, the Tricycle Theatre's chair, Jonathan Levy, issued an apology in a piece published inThe Jewish Chronicle, saying that the theatre had taken the wrong decision when it had asked UKJFF to return to the Israeli Embassy the £1400 funding it had received and that it was now seeking ways to rebuild mutual trust with the Jewish community.[92]
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Brondesbury
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