Millfield Theatre

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Millfield Theatre
Millfield Theatre

Address	Silver Street, Edmonton
City	London
Country	United Kingdom
Capacity	362
Opened	1988
www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk
	Coordinates: 51°36′59″N 0°04′43″W / 51.6165, -0.0787

Millfield Theatre opened in 1988 in the grounds of Millfield Centre on Silver Street in Edmonton, North London. It seats up to 362 in a variety of stage layouts.

The Theatre has a lively and broad based programming policy and presents drama, dance, musicals, alternative cabaret, variety, popular music and children's events. Millfield also presents a major professional pantomime which is produced in-house.

Millfield Theatre is owned, managed and funded entirely by London Borough of Enfield. It has 12 full time staff working on site at the theatre, and employs many more casual staff. Ushers at the theatre are all volunteers.

Millfield Theatre is marketed under the umbrella of Millfield Arts Centre, which encompasses Millfield Theatre and Millfield House. Millfield House contains rooms which are available for hire, and also plays host to a number of educational classes and workshops for children and adults. This is marketed under the banner of Millfield Education.

1 History of Millfield House
2 Programme
3 Transport
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History of Millfield House

Millfield House

The house is first mentioned in 1796 when it belonged to John Wigston of Trent Park. Later that year it was let to the Imperial Ambassador of the German Empire. The house was valued at £6,300 by 1828, when Robert Mushet of the Royal Mint died there.

The house was sold in 1849 to the Strand Union Guardians for a school for London workhouse children, and over the next 40 years several extensions were made to the house which by 1897 housed 400 children. The school was partly self- sufficient complete with two meadows, cultivated land and a herd of cows and some pigs. The children were taught trades; the boys, tailoring, shoe making and carpentry; the girls, housework, needlework and laundering.

In 1913 the school closed and by the beginning of WW1 housed Belgian refugees. The house was converted into the St Davids Hospital for Epileptics in 1915 by the Metropolitan Asylums Board

By 1971 the house was acquired by the London Borough of Enfield, who renovated and demolished some of the work house buildings, although a lodge and outbuildings from that period remain as well as an early 20th century lodge. The house was re-opened as an Arts Centre in 1979 and the whole complex includes the Millfield Theatre and the Weir Hall library. In the gardens one the few remaining communal air- raid shelters in Enfield can be found, adjacent to the garden is the St David's play area.^[1]

[edit] Programme

The theatre plays host to professional and amateur shows throughout the year. Most shows at the theatre are professional shows which the management bring in for a fee, or a split of the ticket sales. When hired, the venue offers the ability to sell tickets through its own box office, subject to a commission.

The majority of the professional shows that the theatre hosted in 2007 were music related, with a small number of stand up comedians and dramas. The theatre hosts a professional pantomime, Cinderella, which opens on Thursday 27 November. Neville Hutton as Buttons in this production.

Artists due to play at the theatre in the Autumn 2007 season include Jenny Eclair, Milton Jones, Linton Kwesi Johnson, The Zombies, China Crisis, Georgie Fame and Elkie Brooks.

[edit] Transport

The theatre is located close to the Great Cambridge roundabout, where the North Circular and A10 meet. The nearest railway station is Silver Street, and the following London Bus routes serve the area: