An innovative new writing theatre and creative space for performing arts, music, TV and film opens in the heart of East London…
Playhouse East, a new creative arts hub with a 100-seat theatre and diverse studio spaces, has opened in Haggerston, East London. The unashamed ambition from husband and wife team, James Alexandrou and Avital Lvova, is to create THE home for new theatre and film.
The Playhouse theatre will house groundbreaking new writing under the same roof as their innovative acting studio Actors East, alongside various new creative studios fully serving everything from pre to post production for theatre, TV and film production.
Playhouse East is designed to challenge traditional routes to the industry by providing an accessible and collaborative space for emerging voices in theatre, film, and beyond. By offering flexible, cost-effective pathways—including a unique ‘pay what you can’ model for studio hire—the venue actively fosters a community where creative risk and high-quality production thrive side by side. The founders bring extensive creative industry experience to their new venture. James is a filmmaker, writer, theatre maker, and actor with a 27-year acting career, most notably in EastEnders and at The Globe, and 15 years in filmmaking.
He will be next seen on screen in Lewis Arnold’s Broken News and the Russo Brothers’ Citadel for Amazon. He also completed an MA in Directing Fiction at the NFTS (National Film and Television School). Co-founder Avital is an award-winning actress and theatre-maker, having been a two-time Fringe First Award Winner (2017 & 2018) and an Off West End Theatre Award: Best Female Performer nominee in 2017. Her recent acting work includes The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Sky) and Treason (Netflix). She is next seen starring as Elena Ceaușescu in Yasha and Leonid Brezhnev, representing Armenia at the Oscars 2025 in the Best International Feature category.
James and Avital:
“We intend to create a creative building that facilitates new work, from theatre to film, pre- and post-production. We are expanding our work in lowering the barriers to entry in the arts—supporting unfunded artists and focusing on producing quality new writing that puts outstanding acting at the forefront. Expanding on this, Playhouse East will become a centre for creative businesses that, like us, are dedicated to crafting original, high-quality work without traditional support—relying instead on our own ingenuity and resourcefulness.”
The 5000 sq ft building is a flexible, multi-use space designed to serve the needs of those in the performing arts, TV, and film production, including filmmakers, composers, and theatre and film
companies. On the ground floor, The Downstairs serves as a café and smaller events space where performances can develop before moving upstairs to the main theatre. Four ground floor studio spaces are currently occupied by commercial production company Autumn Works, a collective of prop makers and product designers, the headquarters of sunglasses designer Sub Sun, and sound designer Oliver Mapp. The ground floor also features a 350 sq ft rehearsal room Studio Tardieu.
Upstairs is The Playhouse, a fully adaptable 1000 sq ft theatre and main space for screenings, events, workshops, gigs, and more. The theatre’s inaugural production Casserole will run 12th- 20th December.
This funny and emotionally raw one-act play looks at ‘What happens when you come home to find your partner eating the last meal your mother made for you before she died’ . The production’s run at the Arcola Theatre earlier this year earned three Off West End Award nominations with rave reviews including being heralded as “The finest two-hander I’ve seen this year” (Fringe Review).
Other spaces upstairs are being used by Nuevoz Post, a Black female-led video post-production company working in high-end television, a seamstress vintage clothes designer, prolific British filmmaker Greg Hall who has regular features in Netflix’s top ranks, and Future Narratives Lab, a not-for-profit organisation that empowers young people in Europe through storytelling and ‘futures literacy’.
Playhouse East is progressing toward becoming a fully equipped centre to serve all aspects of film and theatre production, from pre- to post-production. The basement features Rumble post production, a brand new Dolby Atmos 7.1.4-enabled dubbing theatre, founded by Dan Hibbert, James Alexandrou, and Oliver Mapp. There is also the stunning Cellar Studio recording studio literally handbuilt by drummer/producer Sam Michnik, and next to him, electronic artist duo Once Twice.
Playhouse East’s sister company, Actors East, will also move into the building. Through the work of Actors East, the team have been able to subsidise over 8,000 hours of studio time for hundreds of unfunded individuals and companies since 2018, as well as facilitate hundreds of actor, writer, and director training sessions. In 2022, Actors East were ACE-funded to produce Writers East, a program to train four first-time working-class playwrights to create their first one-act play, culminating in an industry showcase.
Playhouse East will host a regular series of events, including new writing nights, jazz nights, cabaret, play readings and poetry evenings. The building will also be used by charity and not-for-profit organisations including Intermission Youth, a theatre company patronised by Mark Rylance that transform the lives of disadvantaged young people by equipping them with the tools to make positive life choices through theatre and Shakespeare.
PLAYHOUSE EAST- 258 Kingsland Road, London E8 4DG
