Theatre of ideas and disruptive panache...
We take great pride in the shows we create, produce, curate and support. Be it our long standing Jazz In The Round events, shows and festivals that we produce and stage ourselves, shows that are here as part of our early career development platform Theatre Maker, or those we invite to be part of our eclectic programme.
Sometimes risky, often controversial, frequently left of centre, but always hand picked and a conversation starter. And more often than not, a piece of work you won’t find anywhere else.
We also programme great people with ideas that excite us. People and companies that we trust, who support new talent, who bolster their community, and who choose our space to showcase their work.
We pride ourselves on being the best value theatre - seat for seat - for companies and artists to bring their shows to, and for being a theatre that supports new and developing companies and artists by providing them an affordable, zone 1, flexible space in which to grow, to thrive and to learn. In turn they embrace our willingness to take a risk, which keeps companies coming back. In fact, we probably have more people through the door, using our space, and bringing in new audiences, year on year, than any other theatre venue in London.
GET INVOLVED
THEATRE OF IDEAS: If you have something you want to be considered as part of our programming strand, have a look at our Bring A Show page and get in touch!
THEATRE MAKER: A community of classes, scratch nights, readings and perfomance opportunities.
- CLASSES & WORKSHOPS - designed with the theatre maker in mind, focusing on new skills and getting new work on its feet.
- THEATRE IN THE POUND - A monthly scratch night of new drama, writing, cabaret and all things theatrical, helping artists develop their work with support and feedback.
- NEW STUFF - Monthly Rehearsed readings of new work, helping artists develop their work with support and feedback
FESTIVALS: The heart of fringe theatre. And a great way to get some new work on its feet without breaking the bank
- CAMDEN FRINGE - London's biggest fringe festival, and one we have been a proud venue at for many years. MORE INFO
- VOILA! EUROPE - Our annual multilingual theatre festival. MORE INFO
It’s time for The Fringe to regain its agility and reckless streak; to offer up to the minute social and political critique and respond to the social, political and economic changes we face.
London theatre is buzzing with innovative, brilliantly staged shows but we live in changing and deeply challenging times: what new ideas can we reach for?
Where can new voices be heard?
We need a Fringe that thinks and walks and talks and takes risks as well as gets bums on seats.
The Cockpit has grown to the right size to have an independent voice: small enough to be light on it's feet and responsive to contemporary events but also a multi-space hub used by a wide range of theatre activists. We need London fringe theatre to be global enough to address the collapse of old assumptions about the place of markets, states and the politics of left and right on the one hand - and the proliferation of transformational technologies, social movements and new kinds of communities and relationships on the other. It also needs to be local enough to talk about the kind of city London is, the lives Londoners lead, the future we want for our city and the people we want to be.
People have already told us they want The Cockpit to act as a meeting place, an ideas exchange and a dating agency for people and projects. Theatre of Ideas exploits the venue’s unique physical flexibility, capacity for fast event turnaround and studio and meeting spaces and build on the potential for cross-over between our theatre, music and classes activity strands.
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