the queen's theatre, billet lane
1975 - 1997

In the wake of success in Station Lane it became obvious that a purpose-built theatre was not only desirable, but essential. Such an ambition inevitably led to much discussion but the authorities, the newly created London Borough of Havering, to their great credit, stood firm in their belief in the benefits of a purpose-built theatre. A further controversy occurred over the siting with many people believing that Romford was the obvious location. However, the decision was made to keep the theatre in Hornchurch where it had begun.

The Queen’s Theatre in Billet Lane has a mid-scale 506 seat auditorium arranged in continental style. It was opened on Wednesday 2 April 1975 by Sir Peter Hall when a full house of enthusiasts joined the celebrations.

- Opening Ceremony photographs
- Billet Lane building detail and photograph

This was followed by a splendid performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Under the new Production Direction of Paul Tomlinson, the Theatre Direction of John Hole and the support of the Theatre Trust the aim was to make the new theatre a centre of excellence. Everything that a theatre could provide would be provided for the population of Havering and the surrounding boroughs. In addition to the major productions in the main theatre, there were late night shows, street theatre, Sunday Jazz, guest concerts, youth drama groups and exhibitions in the foyer.

In April 1984 the Arts Council of Great Britain announced their withdrawal of grant aid to the Queen’s as part of their “Glory of the Garden” strategy. Like over 20 other producing repertory theatres in the country, the loss of grant meant that the Queen’s faced closure. However, unlike most theatres, the Queen’s survived thanks to an extensive petition presented to the Minister for Arts and Libraries, and the local “God Save the Queen’s!” campaign and crucially, an increase of grant from the London Borough of Havering.

The Havering Theatre Trust re-structured and formed a new Council of Management to manage the theatre. Bob Tomson was appointed Artistic Director and was faced with the challenge of seeking financial fortune at the same time as artistic opportunities in co-producing with commercial managements. This led to the Queen’s producing shows with “star” names for national tour and west end runs. In 1985 the Queen’s first production to embark on a national tour was Alan Bleasdale's comedy Having a Ball and by 1986 six major national tours were running simultaneously.

Unfortunately, while this policy produced short-term success, the theatre did not benefit financially. Blood Brothers transferred to the West End, where it is still playing today, bringing a great deal of kudos for the theatre, but criminally no financial return. After the lights had faded, the theatre was left stripped of assets and without any royalties to replenish stocks. While the borough’s support through this period was crucial to the theatre staying alive, the grant increased at below inflationary rates and was even cut in 1994/5. Throughout this time no revenue funding was received by the Queen’s from central arts funding sources.

The nineties was a decade of decline for the Queen’s. In order to produce work, the management was forced to pursue co-production partnerships with any small-scale, commercial producer able to fit in with the schedule. Artistic Direction was difficult if not impossible, seasons became imbalanced and there was no consistency of product. In addition, the fabric of the building was maintained at subsistence levels creating new challenges to keeping the theatre open.

By 1998, the theatre was playing to 25% audiences, frequently in deficit, ignored by central arts funding (now London Arts) and on the brink of closure. It was clear that radical changes had to be implemented in order to save the theatre and the borough rose to this challenge by committing £100K to the annual grant and by clearing the accumulated deficit.

- Queen's Theatre, Station Lane - 1953 - 1975
- Queen's Theatre, Billet Lane - 1975 - 1997
- cut to the chase... 10th Birthday - 1998 - 2008