Ancient ruins in south-east London launched as an open-air theatre by performer Nancy Sullivan

Actor and director Nancy Sullivan has announced that she will be opening an outdoor theatre in the ancient ruins of an abbey in south-east London.

Launching in August at the former Lesnes Abbey in Abbey Wood, Sullivan’s outdoor theatre will be called ‘The Ruined Theatre’ and is being backed by notable theatre figures including Sir Tim Rice and Jonathan Harvey.

Launching the theatre will be a family production of Dennis Kelly’s Our Teacher’s a Troll, which will run from 12 – 22 August. 

Sullivan hopes that The Ruined Theatre will be able to return every summer, and will begin fundraising in order to run a full season for 2022. The theatre will have a focus on accessibility and outreach, and will provide discounted and free tickets to local residents. 

The stage will be set in traverse with the audience members seated among the ruins. The theatre has capacity for 240 people with social distancing restrictions in place and up to 500 when they are hopefully removed later in the summer. 

As part of an outreach programme, schools in the local area will be working with the theatre to design flags that will be displayed as part of Our Teacher’s a Troll, which is going to be directed by Sullivan. The schools involved will then receive £5 tickets to the show.

Bexley Council and Peabody Housing Association are working together with The Ruined Theatre to provide 300 free tickets to local families and discounted tickets to residents who live within a 1.5 mile radius, to encourage those who usually wouldn’t be able to attend to see live theatre. Bexley Council have also provided the space free of charge.

In addition to this, The Ruined Theatre will also run a creative mentorship programme providing local people with the opportunity to shadow creatives involved in the production, such as movement director Tinovimbanashe Sibanda, puppet designer Maia Kirkman-Richards and set designer Alice McNicholas.

Sullivan raised £40,000 to get the venture off of the ground and along with funding from the Arts Council and Thamesmead Community Fund grant, she hopes that she can fundraise enough to bring the project back in future years. 

Patrons of the theatre are Jason Haigh-Ellery, Jonathan Harvey, David Thaxton and Baker Mukasa, with sponsors of the theatre including Sir Tim Rice, Big Finish Productions, Alan Peterson, Harriet’s Trust and One Penny Theatre Company.

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