The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is searching for a unique space to stage a piece of brand new writing which will be performed by its young company next year. It’s an exciting opportunity for the theatre to revitalise the concept of live performance and enable young people the rare chance of performing in an unconventional space.

The Queen’s Theatre is reaching out to anyone who knows of any abandoned warehouses, old buildings, industrial lockdowns, unoccupied shop units or other empty spaces within a 25 minute car journey from the theatre. The theatre is situated on Billet Lane, Hornchurch (RM11 1QT). The theatre is willing to discuss potential spaces further afield if it meets the requirements. All venue proposals must meet health and safety regulations.

The space should ideally be available for a few dates between 12 and 18 February 2018, but the theatre is flexible throughout February into early March.

If you would like to propose a space please get in contact with Joe as soon as possible by emailing him at joer@queens-theatre.co.uk

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch was delighted to recently win the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre award in the East for the second year running, in the UK Theatre Awards, in association with Smooth Radio.

Box Office Manager Jan Sullivan, Deputy Box Office Manager Julia Jones, Marketing Manager Sarah Soliman and Audiences and Facilities Assistant Manager Peter Thorne attended the ceremony, held at London’s historic Guildhall on Sunday 15 October, where they were honoured to collect the award.

The Queen’s Theatre was among 12 regional winners and the awards, voted for by the public, are a wonderful opportunity for audiences to celebrate their local theatres.

Mathew Russell, Executive Director at the Queen’s Theatre said, ‘We are overjoyed to have retained our title as the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre in the East. Thank you to everyone who voted for us and to all the staff at the Queen’s Theatre, whose continuing dedication and professionalism has earned us this award. We’re making great developments to our rich programme of work, offering an increasingly diverse and affordable programme of quality entertainment all year round to appeal to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.’

At the ceremony, the Queen’s Theatre team rubbed shoulders with showbiz luminaries, including actress Sharon D Clarke (The Lion King, Chicago, We Will Rock You) who hosted the event and actor Joseph Millson (Royal Shakespeare Company). The event also saw theatre critic, writer and journalist Lyn Gardner awarded with the Outstanding Contribution To British Theatre 2017 award by Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Emma Rice. The group were also treated to a performance by Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which scooped Best New Musical and Best Performance in a Musical. It transfers from Sheffield Theatre to the West End in November.

The full list of winners of this year’s UK Theatre Awards can be found here

Our co-production of The Ladykillers opened this week and has left audiences and critics ‘crying with laughter’. High praise has also been given to the show’s inventive set which sees Mrs Wilberforce’s house rotate 360 degrees and open out like a book.

The Reviews Hub rated the production four-stars and said ‘Forget Alec Guinness. Forget Tom Hanks. This is an ingenious stage version of William Rose’s classic Ealing comedy’.

Romford Recorder was left ‘snorting with laughter’ and applauded the production for bringing ‘the house down [with this] laugh out loud crime caper’.

Here’s what the other critics have been saying:

‘One of the best I have seen at the Queen’s Theatre’ Phoenix FM

‘Had me chuckling through most of the night’ Hornchurch Life

‘The perfect night out’ Grapevine

‘This is a fine ensemble, with some perfectly rounded characters providing many laughs’ British Theatre.com

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch co-produced this side-splitting comedy with Salisbury Playhouse and New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich by arrangement with Fiery Angel Limited, London.

The Ladykillers runs at the Queen’s Theatre until Saturday 21 October. For more information and tickets call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or visit: https://queens-theatre.co.uk/whats-on/show/the-ladykillers/

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is proudly celebrating Black History Month throughout October with a rich programme of live entertainment, celebrating the diversity in Havering’s communities.

The programme begins with energetic jazz percussionist and vocalist Frank Holder and his Band on Friday 13 October at 2.30pm. Performing a mixture of jazz tunes, popular classics, swing and easy listening melodies, an afternoon in Frank Holder’s company is a must for any jazz lover.

A centenary musical tribute to one of America’s most beloved female jazz singers, Ella Fitzgerald, will be given by vocalists Sue and Jeff Short on Sunday 15 October at 3pm.

The legendary singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone criss-crossed our lives for five decades with songs such as My Baby Don’t Care, Ain’t Got No, Feeling Good and I Loves You Porgy. Audiences will have the chance to experience her life story in song and spoken word with Claudina Edwards on Sunday 22 October at 7.30pm, a regular performer at the theatre.

The Creole Brothers will be turning up the heat on Tuesday 24 October at 8pm with a powerful, pulsating blend of British folk and roots from Cajun and Creole Louisiana. Full of driving beats and earthy passion, this is music with its dance shoes on!

The final show in the programme is Soul Legends, a feel good celebration of the genre featuring hits by Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and more. Audiences can jump aboard the soul train on Sunday 29 October at 7.30pm.

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch champions diverse strands of work all year round and is delighted to be offering a platform to some of the best tributes within black history.

For more information about these events and to book call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or visit https://queens-theatre.co.uk/whats-on/

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is delighted to be named as the regional winner in the East for the second year running as the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre, in this year’s UK Theatre Awards, in association with Smooth Radio. The theatre is proud to be recognised for its excellent level of customer service by the general public, offering all visitors a warm and friendly welcome.

The theatre is among 12 regional winners announced by UK Theatre who are invited to the annual UK Theatre Awards ceremony on Sunday 15 October at London’s historic Guildhall, where the overall winner will be announced.

Mathew Russell, Executive Director at the Queen’s Theatre said, ‘We are overjoyed to have retained our title as the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre in the East. Thank you to everyone who voted for us and to all the staff at the Queen’s Theatre, whose continuing dedication and professionalism has earned us this award. We’re making great developments to our rich programme of work, offering an increasingly diverse and affordable programme of quality entertainment all year round to appeal to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.’

This year’s nominations demonstrate the breadth and depth of outstanding talent and achievement in theatre and the performing arts throughout the United Kingdom, on and off stage. The full list can be viewed at www.uktheatre.org

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is excited to be co-producing a new side-splitting adaption of the much-loved Ealing classic comedy, The Ladykillers, which runs at the theatre from 3 – 21 October.

The farcical production has been written by Graham Linehan who is best known for penning the hugely popular TV sitcoms Father Ted, The IT Crowd and Black Books. Based on the 1955 film of the same title featuring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers, this exuberantly inventive play features a captivating and ingenious rotating set.

When Mrs. Wilberforce puts a sign in her newsagent’s window advertising ‘A Room to Let’, she’s delighted when the mysterious Professor Marcus proclaims it perfect for rehearsing his unorthodox string quintet. She soon discovers that she is not making tea for a motley band of musicians, but harbouring a hardened gang of criminals and conmen planning the great Kings Cross Train Robbery!

The cast includes Graham Seed as Major Courtney best known for his role playing Nigel Pargetter in the BBC’s The Archers. Other TV credits include Mr Trevitt in ITV’s The Durrells and his stage credits include Yes, Prime Minister (Tour); Ann Penfold as Mrs Wilberforce whose credits include The Taming of the Shrew (Royal Shakespeare Company), Deep Blue Sea (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and Saturday Sunday Monday (National Theatre) and Steven Elliot as Professor Marcus, whose film credits include the title role in The Watcher in the Woods with Anjelica Huston, and whose theatre appearances include The Winter’s Tale (National Theatre), Measure For Measure (Royal Shakespeare Company) and The Devil Inside Him (National Theatre Wales).

Joining them will be Marcus Houden (The Tempest, Hope Theatre); Sam Lupton (Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre; Little Shop of Horrors, UK Tour; Avenue Q, UK Tour); Damian Williams (Hairspray, Leicester Curve) and Anthony Dunn (Calamity Jane alongside Jodie Prenger, UK & Ireland Tour).

Mixing slapstick and criminal capers to hilarious effect, The Ladykillers is a light-hearted piece of theatre that guarantees audiences leaving with a grin on their face.

Following the success of the co-production of smash hit comedy, Worst Wedding Ever in March, the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is excited to be working with The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Salisbury Playhouse again to co-produce this new stage adaption of The Ladykillers. Each tour venue will also be featuring a chorus of ‘older ladies’ from their own communities, who will play the friends of Mrs Wilberforce in Act One.

The Ladykillers runs at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch from 3 – 21 October. Tickets are £18 – £29 with £10 tickets available for under 26s at certain performances.  For more details and to book, call the Box Office on 01708 443333, visit the theatre in person or go online at queens-theatre.co.uk.

Enjoy ALL THREE of our in-house productions this autumn from just £14 per show. You’ll be able to get the best seats at the best prices with our Jump the Q season ticket, it’s the most cost-effective way for you to get your theatre fix in the coming months.

We’re kicking off the season with a British premiere of Ken Ludwig’s furiously paced farce, A Fox on the Fairway. It runs from 25 August – 16 September. We’re hugely excited to be presenting Ken Ludwig’s gloriously outlandish comedy to British audiences for the first time! This hilarious romp about love, life and a man’s eternal love affair with… golf is filled with slapstick, quick-fire wit and tongue-in-cheek humour. If you loved Lend Me a Tenor then this is for you.

The comedy continues with a side-splitting stage adaption of the much loved Ealing comedy, The Ladykillers (3 – 21 October). This production has been adapted by Graham Linehan – the writer of Father Ted, Black Books and The IT Crowd – and mixes madcap humour and criminal capers to hilarious effect. It tells the story of how an old lady discovers that the string quintet she has let a room out to is infact a hardened gang of criminals planning the great Kings Cross Train Robbery!

Our world premiere of H.G.Wells’ sci-fi classic, The Invisible Man will give you goosebumps from 27 October – 18 November. This breath-taking thriller follows the journey of a scientist who discovers something that has quite literally never been seen before. Adapted by award-winning theatre maker Clem Garritty (Kill the Beast) this suspenseful escapade is filled with live music, illusion and adventure.

A Jump the Q season ticket provides savings of up to nearly 45% on the best seats for all three of these shows. Choose between a super-flexible Premium ticket for £52 or a super-affordable Saver for just £42 for the whole season! Offer ends Saturday 16 September 2017

For more information and to book your Jump the Q season ticket click here or phone our Box Office on 01708 443333.

Vote now to be in with a chance of winning £200 in Theatre Tokens!

Voting has begun to find the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre 2017 in Association with Smooth Radio and the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is in the running!

The UK Theatre Awards are the only nationwide Awards to honour outstanding achievement in theatre throughout the UK. There are many aspects that help shape your experience when visiting the Queen’s Theatre; a friendly chat with Box Office staff, enjoying a delicious coffee in the cafe, feeling like you’re part of your local community, or being entertained by the panto! The public vote gives you the chance to celebrate your local theatre and all it does to welcome you.

Click here to Vote 

Every person that votes will be able to opt-in for the chance to win £200 in Theatre Tokens.

It’s been a joy to have had so many people interact with our theatre in the last year. We’ve welcomed 210, 711 people through our doors and it’s been fantastic to have a record-breaking number of people participating in our classes and workshops – 24,631 to be exact!

The winners of this year’s award will be decided by a public vote, which opens from Wednesday 9 August and finishes at 12 noon on Tuesday 19 September.

The 12 Regional and National winners of the vote will be announced on Friday 29 September. The overall winner of the award will be announced at the UK Theatre Awards on Sunday 15 October at London’s historic Guildhall.

The Queen’s Theatre is one of more than 175 venues across the country competing to take home the coveted title. Last year, the Queen’s Theatre was crowned Most Welcoming Theatre in the East and it would be thrilled to collect the award for the second year running. On winning the award, Artistic Director Douglas Rintoul said, ‘We are working hard to be as welcoming and accessible a venue as possible – our customer service is warm and efficient, we have a fantastically vibrant and varied programme of entertainment in place with something for all ages and interests. We are striving to reach out and welcome many more members of our beloved community, who may not have previously felt able to visit the theatre.’

If you’ve had a positive and memorable experience here at the Queen’s Theatre then please cast your vote now.

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch will be opening its doors to the public once again this year as part of the London Open House scheme on Saturday 16 September from 1.30pm – 5pm.

As a busy producing theatre, visitors will be surprised just how much goes on behind the scenes. By participating in a backstage tour guests will have the rare chance to discover Norman Brooks’ 1975 theatre architecture as well as learn more about the hidden elements that go into creating professional theatre.

Free guided adult backstage tours will take place at the Queen’s Theatre at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and specially adapted backstage tours for children featuring games and activities along the way are at 2pm and 4pm. The children’s tours are suitable for those aged 4 – 10 years.

Tickets to the tours are Free but places must be booked in advanced by calling the Box Office on 01708 443333.

Opened by Sir Peter Hall the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is a robust example of 1970s civic architecture and a vibrant and successful producing theatre. It is just one of over 800 buildings, walks, talks and tours in the Open House programme. Open House London is a city-wide celebration of the buildings, places and neighbourhoods where we live, work and play.

For more information click here

The British premiere of Ken Ludwig’s hilarious farce A Fox on the Fairway opened this week at the Queen’s Theatre and has left critics laughing and leaving in high spirits.

The Daily Mail expressed that the ‘theatregoers were chuckling and happy’ at this ‘amusing farce’.

London Theatre 1 gave the comedy four-stars and said it was a ‘comical and entertaining production’.

It was compared to some of the nation’s favourite British sitcoms by Hornchurch Life who claimed the show was ‘very much on par with classic British comedies’ and that ‘there isn’t a minute when you aren’t left laughing’.

Here’s what the other critics have been saying:

‘Will have you in uncontrollable laughter’ Yellow Advertiser

‘Production values are pleasingly high’ Reviews Hub

‘Hilarious’ Traffic Light Theatregoer

‘It’s great fun’ Anne at the Theatre

A Fox on the Fairway runs at the Queen’s Theatre until Saturday 16 September. For more information and tickets call the Box Office on 01708 443333 or visit: https://queens-theatre.co.uk/whats-on/show/a-fox-on-the-fairway/