Plan Submitted to Bring Streatham Hill Theatre Back as a Commercial Venue
A consortium led by theatre director Thom Southerland has published plans to restore Streatham Hill Theatre in south London and reopen it as a commercial theatre. WhatsOnStage reported the business plan on 12 November 2026.
The group includes theatre designer Morgan Large. It wrote the plan with theatre groups including Troubadour Theatres. The full business plan has gone to the building's owners and other interested parties, and a short summary is now public.
The plan proposes a venue that would cover its own costs. Commercially viable means it would aim to pay its way from ticket sales and bookings. The theatre would host touring musicals, plays, dance, family shows, an annual pantomime, comedy, live music, concerts, cabaret and special events.
The building opened in 1928. It was the last theatre designed by the architect WGR Sprague. It staged shows until 1962, when it was converted into a bingo hall.
It is a Grade II listed building, meaning it is protected as a structure of special interest. It was listed in 1994. It also appears on the Theatres Trust's Theatres at Risk register, which tracks theatres the trust considers in danger of being lost.
The owners, Ruach City Church, applied to Lambeth Council in April 2025 to change the building's use to a place of worship. A change of use is a formal planning change that alters what a building is legally allowed to be used for.
Campaign group Friends of Streatham Hill Theatre opposes that application. It wants the building restored as a working theatre.
That leaves two different futures on the table for a building that has not staged a show in more than six decades. One is a commercial theatre with a year-round programme. The other is a place of worship. The consortium's plan is the first detailed proposal for the theatre's use in the public record, and the Friends' campaign is the main voice pressing for a return to theatre.
