Loving London's Pub Theatres

Pints and Pinter? I'll drink to that

Theatre and alcohol don't necessarily have to be mutually exclusive. Take the excellent concept of a pub theatre - something London is very good at - where you can mix pints with Pinter, vino with veritas, and have a jolly good night out while you're at it.

To my shame, I've only recently tapped into the rich theatrical treasures that can be found in rooms above, beside and below a handful of London's pubs. Seems I'm a bit late in making this discovery. Turns out pub theatres have been something of a phenomenon ever since Dan Crawford set up the first of its type in 1970 - the "Rumpled American who made the tiny King's Head Theatre a venue to rival the best of the West End" - as The Times obit describes him.

In his honour we now have the Dan Crawford Pub Theatre Award - which most recently went to the Cock Tavern in Kilburn. A relative newcomer to the scene, the fringe theatre venue was set up in January last year under the artistic direction of Adam Spreadbury-Maher and has been making headlines ever since.

One of its resident companies, OperaUpClose, recently prompted the theatre's first West End transfer with its modern take on La Boheme. Not only did the show get rave reviews but it also holds the world record for being the longest running continuously performed staging of Puccini's opera. During the performance it was as if the small 40-seat theatre upstairs was too restrictive, so the action broke out into the pub below where bemused drinkers put down their pints and became part of the play.

The advantage of these small scale fringe venues is that, even though you're in the audience, you can feel like you're practically on the stage. I remember a particularly intimate experience at the Bush Theatre - find it above the unlovely O'Neill's pub on Shepherds Bush Green - when Joseph Finnes practically sat in my lap. This was rather ironic given the play was called '2,000 Feet Away'. Still, irony aside, the so-close-I-could-touch-him part is what I'll always remember (even if Joseph doesn't).

Another pub above a theatre that I'd highly recommend is the Canal Café Theatre - home to the famous weekly NewsRevue comedy nights. The pub's canal side locale in Little Venice is idyllic enough but add to that a small theatre above it and you've got all the ingredients for the perfect night out. A while back I went to see Best Man's Speech there only to discover that we, the audience, were to be part of the action.

Usually the mere hint of 'audience participation' is enough to put me off but this showed me it doesn't have to be a cringe inducing experience. Sitting at long white table-clothed tables we took on the role of the wedding guests as the best man unravels his time bomb - and I became all the more involved as a result.

My most recent discovery has been the Finborough theatre in Earls Court. Having driven past it hundreds of times I can't say I ever noticed that the Finborough pub had a theatre above it. But, sure enough, there for all to see is the masks of comedy and tragedy which tells us that, yes folks, there's a theatre here. The Finborough too has won the Dan Crawford Pub Theatre Award not once but twice - in 2005 and again in 2008.

Taking pot luck, I plumped for a play there called The Man, which - I only found out afterwards - starred Samuel Barnett, an actor who made his name in The History Boys. Again, there was interaction between audience and actor but in a clever way - and one that made the play change direction so no two nights are never the same. With the audience passing shopping receipts to 'Ben', we are - on the surface, at least - helping him do his tax returns. But as each remembered purchase prompts a memory Ben's personality and life story are revealed.

So if you thought that pubs were a fine British institution - next time it's worth taking a look to see if there isn't something even more interesting going on upstairs. Most likely you can take your pint in with you too.

Raising Lolly for the Lyric

With the emergency budget spelling cutbacks and belt tightening - especially for the arts - it's good to hear that the Lyric Hammersmith has come up with its own means and ways of raising funds. A recent party raised £64,000 in one night with a little help from rock band The Feeling, performances from the cast of the Olivier award winning show Spring Awakening, the Lyric Young Company and Brit nominated singer Will Young, who performed a one-off jazz set. Work on the extension to the Lyric’s existing building will begin autumn 2010, with expected completion at the end of 2011.

London, City of Romance

If you thought romance was dead here's a London love story that will warm the cockles of your heart. Twenty six-year-old banker Oliver Harkness, the Camden New Journal reports, proposed to girlfriend Priyanka Chaudhuri spelling out 'Priyanka will you marry me' in the shop window of Primrose Hill Books. It certainly beats bending down on one knee for originality. And - with Oliver admitting a weakness for Jilly Cooper novels - we're sure that Rupert Campbell-Black would approve.

Summer of Sport

Sports fans are spoilt for choice this summer, not only is it the World Cup but over in South West London at the All England Club Wimbledon has just started. The headlines so far include "the Queen visits Centre Court for the first time since 1977", "Murray will bow to the Queen", and "Federer two sets down on day one" - don't worry, the defending champion soon cut off the surprise winning streak from the world number 60, Alegandro Falla. Even the weather - so far - is playing ball.

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