What's On at Lion and Unicorn Theatre

(Above the Lion & Unicorn Pub) 

42-44 Gaisford St

Kentish Town

London NW5 2ED

In 2019 Proforca Theatre Company took over the management of this 60-seat black box studio based above the newly renovated Lion & Unicorn pub. Led by Artistic Director, David Brady, Proforca are developing a programme of new work, promising exciting adventures. They plan to feature up and coming theatre makers offering them hands on experience after the company rapidly built its own reputation touring Off West End productions including Reading Gaol and Feel.

Set right in the heart of Kentish Town, with easy public transport links.

Nearest Tube: Kentish Town (Northern Line)

National Rail:  

Kentish Town (Govia Thameslink) Kentish Town West (London Overground)

Bus Routes: 134, 214, 393, C2, N20

The theatre plays host to a wide variety of contemporary plays, new writing and are home to the acclaimed Camden Fringe Festival every summer. The emphasis is on dynamic new writing from enthusiastic theatre-makers with GREAT stories to tell. 

A warm and welcoming pub in the heart of the bustling historic Kentish Town High Street, in North London. Offering traditional pub food and seasonal specials, with a wide selection of beers, cask ale and premium wines. In the winter it has a beautiful fire and all year round you can take advantage of their heated beer garden. 

For Theatre makers: 

Proforca offer a theatre space to make and perform your work in a prestigious Zone 1 location, Favourable hire terms. Free rehearsal space (for longer runs) - by arrangement.  

The ethos is to enable you to have your own unique take on theatre and BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE. 

They take long runs (2/3 Weeks) for promising brand-new work, Short Runs, Scratch Nights & one-off performances, R&D, Ed Fringe previews and other short works - Anything weird and wonderful – just send them your ideas!

For theatre goer –

Look out for children’s shows, rarely available in pub theatres. 

PROFORCA THEATRE COMPANY formed in 2015 and their shows have included original work “If I Go”. “Saucy Jack & The Space Vixens” (2016), “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Reading Gaol” (2017), (2018) and the critically acclaimed productions of “Feel” and “Feel More” (2018 and 2019). Their work has been performed at the Ye Olde Rose & Crown Theatre, The King’s Head Theatre, The Space, Hertford Theatre, The Albany Theatre Coventry, Theatre N16, Upstairs at the Western and of course, the Lion & Unicorn Theatre. 

Proforca assumed responsibility for managing the Lion & Unicorn Theatre in March 2019 led by Artistic Director David Brady. 

Cutting the Strings Theatre Company, which is headed by Chris Mellor ran the venue for three years 2016 – 2019. Largely offering a Producers’ service.

Lion & Unicorn Theatre relaunched on March 12th, 2019 under new management led by David Brady, Artistic Director of Proforca Theatre Company. Meeting David for the first time in the convivial surroundings of the Lion and Unicorn pub, he is rather easy to spot. He’s the one with beaming face, pleasant and open manner, clearly eager to talk about this new venture.  

“Last March we performed FEEL here” he explains and kindly remembers that we gave it a great review. This show stormed the theatre with its London themed love stories with bite. Not surprisingly, the pub manager remembered the stir it caused and invited the company back to run the theatre. David explains the full story: 

 “We had a great run with FEEL and FEEL MORE in March and then in November we got a call from the pub to come in and chat to them. I thought at the time they might want us to organise an event or help out but actually it was to offer us the opportunity to take over. I thought about it for about half a second before we said yes …”   

The aim is to put Lion and Unicorn Theatre on the map and make it a “destination” fringe theatre venue. Proforca Theatre Company has taken tenancy from Young’s Brewery so that he has full artistic control. His response? “It’s simultaneously both brilliant and amazing opportunity but also a massive challenge”.  

Unlike in its previous incarnations where the theatre was operated as a venue for hire, Proforca plan to run the venue as a programmed theatre space with a much greater eye for the detail and a more hands on approach. “The pub have been brilliant", says David "Phil Daley and his team are really great to work with, and we want to repay the trust they’ve given us through the honour of being able to manage the venue.” 

David has a clear vision that he wants to take some of the boundaries away. “We want to make sure we have a really wide and diverse programming of brave new work" says David.  "We’re giving a platform to new, young and emerging theatre makers. We want to create a really brilliant and supportive home for fringe theatre makers whoever they are and wherever they come from.” 

This leads on nicely to a discussion of the theatre’s new strap line, ‘Be who you want to be’. David says that it’s all about allowing theatre makers to have their own identity and for that to be respected regardless of where they have come from. The emphasis is on creating brave new theatre adventures for the widest possible audiences. 

“We’re a development lab for theatre makers who want to retain their identity. We don’t want to tell them who to be, but we want to help them on the next stage of their journey”. It’s this which David believes will bring in new audiences and allow different voices to be heard. Putting this theory into action, the theatre has already taken on two Associate Companies. BOXLESS THEATRE is a platform for under-represented artists fusing original new writing with physical theatre and FIGHT OR FLIGHT PRODUCTIONS like to question and play, battling convention through revisiting traditional tales or tackling original work. “Both Boxless and Fight or Flight have been integral to our journey, and it’s so brilliant to work with two companies that share our vision of what great fringe theatre can be" says David.

In addition, the theatre has also announced Associate Artists who will join The Lion & Unicorn Theatre for their inaugural year. Hannah Bates, Marcus Bernard, and Jack Albert Cook will work closely on a writer engagement programme as well as contributing work of their own, and Lauren Gauge rounds out the team as Advisory Director. For anyone keen to be part of this in future years the advice is to get to know the venue. “We really want to make the theatre and the pub a lively and thriving hub for creatives" says David, "so we really hope London’s brilliant theatre makers will join us for a cup of tea, revisit the venue, and see what we can do for them.” 

David is particularly keen on rewarding companies and individuals who have supported Proforca on its journey. One of the great things about the new venue is being able to make such gestures as offering low cost rehearsal space or mentoring and other practical support because David wants to give back to the theatre community. “We can all continue to grow and develop together by supporting each other, and we can be a real enabler of that process”, says David.  

David sees West End prices as a real problem. “Top end tickets for the West End are 150 quid and every aspect of your experience is stage managed. I think there’s less room for imagination. I’ve seen Les Misérables 5 or 6 times, but it’s the same experience every time. In fringe everything that you see is powered by the people that make the work and their ability to tell great stories with limited resources. It’s the power of performance that makes it so compelling.”

  

He also believes that as an audience member you generate half of the experience yourself. He refers to Proforca’s production of FEEL in which the stage design is quite simply set to allow audiences and performers to use their imaginations and allow the story to shine through. He’s conscious that in these times of polarised negativity, the political situation and austerity, the fringe uses economy to transport people. “It’s actually the engine that fuels your imagination and the audiences come with you on the journey”. 

Speaking of FEEL, David explains where it all began for him.  After the first director pulled out of Proforca’s inaugural show to move overseas, David stepped in. Known to be a risky decision, it was more about getting the job done at the time but theatre was something David wanted to do. “Finding something creative was something for me to have. I loved the idea of writing. I’d go to the Bush Theatre on Saturday afternoons, and felt jealous of creatives doing brilliant stuff. So, I thought I’m going to have to put money where my mouth is, do something with the intention of it getting made or it will never happen.”  

Lucky for David he had brilliant people on board who bought into what he was doing. “We always want to tell real human stories, honestly and in an optimistic way. A lot of our stories are drawn from the actors and creatives we work with and the brilliant people we have round us in London."

“Taking over the theatre is going to be a fantastic adventure, and we hope that everyone will come along with us for the trip of a lifetime. There’s lots of energy and excitement. Everywhere we go there are passionate, brilliant people wanting to give to others through their creativity. It’s infectious - you can’t help but be swept up by people doing brilliant things.”

We have come full circle to the theatre’s strap line and David’s feelings about London: “It’s that old story of coming to London to find yourself, isn’t it? London is truly that place of opportunity. It’s so competitive, unforgiving, and so fast, but it’s also so, so brilliant. It’s the one place in the world where you can be what you want to be.”

David Brady was chatting with Heather Jeffery, Editor of London Pub Theatres Magazine

@April 2019 London Pub Theatres Magazine Ltd

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