The Yard Theatre

The Yard Theatre is a theatre in a converted warehouse in Hackney Wick in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It programmes theatre and performance, nightlife, and works with young people and its local community.^[1]

The Yard Theatre

Address	Unit 2A Queen's Yard, Hackney Wick London United Kingdom
Public transit	Hackney Wick
Type	Non-profit producing theatre, music venue, community organisation
Capacity	110 seats
Construction
Years active	2011–present
Architect	Practice Architecture
Website
www.theyardtheatre.co.uk

History

The Yard was founded by Artistic Director Jay Miller in 2011, with support from Tarek Iskander, Sasha Milavic Davies and Alex Rennie. They worked with architectural firm Practice Architecture to convert a disused warehouse into a theatre and bar.^[2] Originally intended to have a 3-month life-span, The Yard became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in 2017.^[3] In 2016 it took over management of Hackney Wick community centre Hub67,^[4] and in 2019 took on The Hall in East Village, London Borough of Newham.^[5]

Awards

The Yard was awarded the final Peter Brook Empty Space Award in 2017,^[6] as well as the Dan Crawford Innovation Award in 2012.^[7]

Programme

Shows that originated at The Yard include Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum Dreams, which later transferred to the National Theatre and became the hit BBC show Chewing Gum. Its successful nightlife programme has been featured in national press,^[8][9][10] and in the New York Times.^[11]

Recent theatre productions include a gender-swapped production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible,^[12] the premiere of Pulitzer Award-winning writer Clare Barron’s Dirty Crusty,^[13] and an entirely digital day of online performance, Yard Online.^[14] From March 2020, The Yard took all of its community and young people's work online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[15]

The Yard reopened post-pandemic with a season featuring Gracie Gardner's Athena, directed by Grace Gummer in conjunction with the National Theatre, alongside Lanre Malaolu's SAMSKARA and Dipo Baruwa-Etti's An unfinished man. This was followed by The Flea in 2023.

References

1. "About us | The Yard Theatre". theyardtheatre.co.uk/.
2. "Practice Architecture | The Yard Theatre".
3. Gardner, Lyn (27 June 2017). "Diversity is the real winner in Arts Council England's new round of funding" – via www.theguardian.com.
4. "HUB67 | The Yard Theatre". theyardtheatre.co.uk/.
5. Krook, Alex. "The Hall | The Yard Theatre". theyardtheatre.co.uk/.
6. "Peter Brook Empty Space Awards to end as 2017 winners announced | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com.
7. "Empty Space… Peter Brook Awards – Winners 2012 |". WestEndTheatre.com - London Theatre Tickets.
8. Hall, Jake (16 March 2020). "Celebrating five years of Dalston's queerest, most hedonistic rave".
9. Anderson, James (8 January 2020). "The new free beauty newspaper from CSM students".
10. Coldwell, Will (21 February 2017). "10 top tips from our London correspondent" – via www.theguardian.com.
11. Williams, Holly (3 February 2019). "It's a Theater, With Craft Beer and D.J.s Until 6 a.m. (Published 2019)". The New York Times.
12. "'The Crucible' review".
13. "Dirty Crusty review: Messed up and magnificent anti-romcom". Evening Standard. 30 October 2019.
14. "Yard Online review – switch on your mobile and take a seat on your toilet". the Guardian. 18 May 2020.
15. Chant, Holly (19 May 2020). "Hackney Wick theatre puts on digital festival to showcase its young people's programmes". Hackney Gazette.

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