Soho Theatre Walthamstow revives a historic landmark as a comedy Mecca

The Granada cinema may have been too grand for the Walthamstow of late 20th-century London, and too onerous to refurbish when it closed in 2003. But for a cultural heavyweight in Soho bursting at the seams, it proved the perfect project. The 150-seat Soho Theatre, a favourite of comedy buffs and West End denizens, has rescued the Depression-era East London venue where Alfred Hitchcock fed his love of film and the Beatles, Buddy Holly, The Who and The Rolling Stones played in the 1960s. Today, the Grade II* listed building reopens as a ‘big sister’ of the Dean Street destination, with six times the capacity and a clean, white makeover — nine stops and 40 minutes away by Tube.

After a passionate campaign to save the building from demolition, Soho Theatre director Mark Godfrey, a local Walthamstow resident, partnered with the council to purchase and transform it. Working for five years with Willmott Dixon Interiors and architects from Bond Bryan, they modernised the original Cecil Masey exterior with a clean, simple marquee and fresh, new windows accentuating the prominent gable.

Inside, the ornate pillars, coffered ceilings and dramatic staircases remain from the original concept by theatrical designer Theodore Komisarjevsky, who was inspired by the Alhambra in Granada and prompted the theatre’s exotic name. The theatre hall itself was restored by Pilbrow & Partners with steeper seating and improved circulation. Historic paint colours were chosen by theatre designer Jane Wheeler of Jane Janey to match Komisarjevsky’s style: deep greens, dusty reds, browns and a bubble-gum pink for the double-height lobby and upper foyer. These informed gilded interior accents and deep-pink velvet upholsteries.

The new layout has made way for a bar inside the auditorium, as well as studio space and technical facilities, a first-floor restaurant and additional bars within easy reach of every patron during the interval crush. The license will extend until 2 am.

Programming begins immediately with a week-long residency by Natalie Palamides and her comedy show WEER.