Arcola theatre
In darkest, trendy Dalston is the Arcola theatre. Getting there is a pain as there’s no obvious tube. Nearby stations are Dalston Junction and Dalston Kingsland (both Overground) and there are many buses (149, 6, 242, 30, 277, 38, 56, 243).
It’s housed in a converted factory and there are two spaces: the larger venue upstairs and the smaller studio (a little claustrophobic perhaps?) downstairs.
Productions are always interesting. Tickets may be around the £20 mark, maybe a little more, depending.
The bar and bar staff are great, though the choices are limited.
We especially love their summer opera festival (Grimeborn), with often unknown operas or well-known stuff presented in a new way, deconstructed as it were. Don’t expect huge productions, but you can fit two shows in on an evening with time between them for a beer.
Two warnings:
- eating places in and around vary considerably in quality
- uncomfortable seats for long periods. Also, sometimes you have to go outside and then back in again to get into the auditorium, not fun in the rain.
There are many theatres in converted spaces across London. We give an horourable mentions to the Tower Theatre and the Bush Theatre.
The Arcola Grimeborn link is for 2024.