Stars say goodbye to Islington's King's Head pub theatre

As audience members sat on the bum-numbing red benches for the last time, past performers reminisced about broken backstage toilets and cramped dressing rooms, but praised the "wonderful atmosphere," and said founder Dan Crawford helped kickstart their careers.

In a video message, Withnail and I star Richard E Grant said a lunchtime play in 1982 in the back room of the Upper Street pub gave him his first professional break in London.

Islington resident Mark Gatiss performed an extract from Boys in The Band at the final show at King's Head pub theatre. (Image: Jake Bush)

He said: "From that I got my first agent and subsequently my first big break, so I'm indebted to the King's Head Theatre pub for that."

Joanna Lumley wrote recalling the leaking roof that "once rain fell so steadily on the audience's heads that they made umbrellas of their programmes".

She also remembered getting ready in the toilet before performing in Noel and Gertie.

"We all changed together every night, normal feelings of modesty were banished. But there was something about the King's Head that made it the happiest place to be on a May evening in 1983," she said.

Actor and playwright Steven Berkoff recalled how his play East was staged at the theatre in 1975. (Image: Jake Bush)

Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, French&Saunders, Lily Savage, Clive Owen, Eddie Izzard, Imelda Staunton and John Hurt are among the names who have trodden the theatre's boards over 53 years.

Under Crawford's 40-year tenure, he championed work by Victoria Wood, Steven Berkoff, Tom Stoppard and V (formerly Eve Ensler) with many productions transferring to the West End. Artistic director Adam Spreadbury-Maher won an Olivier award for his Opera Up Close production of La Boheme, and began the theatre's current association with LGBTQ+ work.

Hampstead actor Dame Janet Suzman performed an extract from Athol Fugard's Hello and Goodbye which she starred in with Sir Ben Kingsley (Image: Jake Bush)

The tiny venue is moving just metres away into a purpose-built fully accessible theatre in Islington Square, with 200-seat auditorium and 80-seat comedy and cabaret space.

The new theatre should be ready by New Year, and meanwhile Young's Brewery, which owns the Grade II-listed Victorian pub, is said to be planning a refurb, including turning the performance space into a dining room.

Sherlock star Gatiss, who lives nearby, performed an extract from Boys in the Band with husband Ian Hallard. The pair have long supported the venue, with Gatiss previously commenting: "I’ve lived in Islington for 25 years and I’ve been going to the King’s Head all that time with many fond memories. It’s not just a pub theatre, it’s a genunine community space, the traffic of people to the theatre is part of the lifeblood of Upper Street. It’s that rare thing, a proper arts hub for directing, writing, stage management, the whole caboodle."

In true King's Head style, performers and audience mingled in the bar after the show as they bid farewell to the pub theatre (Image: Jake Bush)

Dame Janet, who lives in Hampstead, recalled performing Athol Fugard's Hello and Goodbye in 1973 with Ben Kingsley, when the freezing actors warmed their hands backstage on a coal fire.

"He wasn't a Sir and I wasn't that other thing, we were just starting out, but there was a wonderful atmosphere," she said.

Primrose Hill actor Annabel Leventon, who appeared in a sold-out run of Spokesong in 1976, described the broken toilet, which meant climbing onto a roof and through an upstairs window to take a pee during the interval, rather than walk through the audience.

She said: "It was wonderful and intimate, but backstage was not so wonderful. I hope we manage to take the atmosphere with us, which is not an easy thing to do."The Grade II listed Victorian pub which dates back to 1860 will get its rear room back and plans are afoot for a refurb to open it up as a dining space. (Image: Simon J Webb)

Berkoff, whose film roles range from Rambo to Beverley Hills Cop and Octopussy, recalled how his play East premiered at the King's Head in 1975 and how he went on to stage other plays there.

He said: "I always felt it was a sanctuary for people who were outside the mainstream. If you were odd, or an innovator, Dan's was a place where you were accepted. He gave us underdogs hope and a bit of light - even though the terrible, dirty, grubby, dressing room was only the beginning of it."

Executive producer Sofi Berenger promised the dressing rooms in the new venue "might be a touch better". He said: "Today is about celebrating the theatre and its 53 year legacy that all of your have been such a big part of. As we look ahead to upgrading it into the 21st Century, we hope not to lose the charm and soul that has made such an atmosphere in this building."

The King's Head has launched an Angels of Angel Fund to help produce ambitious, high quality productions.