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Designs for The Red Crate at Theatre Royal Stratford East (Photo: Haworth Tompkins)

Designs for The Red Crate at Theatre Royal Stratford East (Photo: Haworth Tompkins)

Stratford East to build new theatre

First Published 23 September 2014, Last Updated 24 September 2014

The Theatre Royal Stratford East is to build a second performance space inspired by the National Theatre’s Temporary Theatre.

The Red Crate, as the East London sister to the space formerly known as the NT Shed will be named, is planned to open in 2015 and stand for a decade.

Building the new space, which will cost £4.5 million that the theatre is yet to raise, will allow the Theatre Royal Stratford East to increase the number of performances it holds each year by 92%.

Speaking about the project, Kerry Michael, Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Stratford East, said: “We are situated in the borough with the lowest arts engagement in England and yet we have achieved over 90% capacity at our box office this year. It is clear there is huge enthusiasm and demand for our new work, which speaks to our audiences. With The Red Crate we hope to feed this desire from our local community and arts goers from across the capital.”

The new eco-theatre will seat an audience of 220 and stand opposite the Theatre Royal Stratford East in Theatre Square. A public consultation on the plans will be held this autumn.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: “The Red Crate is a groundbreaking venture for Theatre Royal Stratford East, resulting from a new relationship between them and the National Theatre, which will add to the burgeoning cultural quarter that is developing in east London as a legacy of the 2012 Games. With our plans for Olympicopolis in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park it will be another reason to visit and help fulfil our commitment to achieving the economic, social and cultural potential of the area.”

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