| RADA Studios | |
|---|---|
| Chenies Street,London | |
 RADA Studios | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Drill Hall |
| Location | |
  RADA Studios Location within London | |
| Coordinates | 51°31′14″N0°07′57″W / 51.520556°N 0.1325°W /51.520556; -0.1325 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1882 |
| Built for | War Office |
| Architect | Samuel Knight |
| In use | 1882–present |
RADA Studios (formerlyThe Drill Hall)[1] is a theatrical venue inChenies Street inBloomsbury, just to the east ofTottenham Court Road in theWest End of London. Owned by theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the building contains rehearsal rooms, meeting rooms, and the 200-seat Studio Theatre.[2]
The building was designed bySamuel Knight as the headquarters of theSt Giles's and St George's Bloomsbury Rifles and completed in 1882.[3] It has a notable artistic history: in the 1900s,Sergei Diaghilev and theBallets Russes rehearsed there.[3] The Bloomsbury Rifles amalgamated with the1st Middlesex (Victoria and St George’s) Volunteer Rifle Corps and moved out to theDavies Street drill hall in 1908.[4] In their place the12th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (The Rangers) took over the Drill Hall in Chenies Street on 25 June 1908.[4] The battalion was mobilised at the Drill Hall in August 1914 before being deployed to theWestern Front.[5]
When the London Regiment was broken up and the battalions reallocated to other units in August 1937, the hall became the home ofThe Rangers, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps.[4] During theSecond World War the hall was used forRalph Reader'sGang Shows.[3]
In 1947, following another re-organisation, the unit based at the drill hall was renamedThe Rangers, The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own).[4] However, in 1960, after the Rangers amalgamated with theLondon Rifle Brigade the hall fell vacant.[6]
In the 1960s the building was used as an art gallery for theTate Gallery’s exhibition of theMcAlpine Collection.[3] It started to be used as an arts centre for Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia in 1977,[3] and became a theatre, the Drill Hall, in the 1980s after many years of being used as a rehearsal hall. From 1984, the Drill Hall particularly supported production of theatrical and artistic works withgay and lesbian themes.[7] In 2007, the Drill Hall, with an annual turnover of £1.25 million, was supported with £250,000 ofArts Council funding, but late in 2007, the Arts Council announced it was withdrawing this funding to concentrate its funding on other ventures. (Similar fates befell 194 other arts organisations.)[7]
The Drill Hall was home to TheMusical Theatre Academy from 2009 to 2011. Thetriple threat theatre college is now located atBernie Grant Arts Centre.[8]
In January 2012, RADA acquired the lease of the venue from Central London Arts Ltd, who had run The Drill Hall for 30 years.[3][9] RADA's objectives in acquiring the lease included the possibility of hiring out the central London rehearsal and studio space as a "further opportunity for income generation and sustaining the charity as it continues into its second century of operation."[3] Central London Arts then began trading as Outhouse London, with the intention of continuing to produce large-scale theatre and community-theatre events across London and the UK.[3]
The entire venue is available for hire from RADA.[10] The 200 seat Studio Theatre has been utilised by theBBC as a studio for recording radio shows, such asCabin Pressure,[11] in front of a live audience.[12]
