It’s act two for King’s Head at its new home
Theatre’s base has six floors that includes a 220-seater auditorium, two bars and a late-night cabaret space
Friday, 12th January 2024 — By Isabel Loubser
Sofi Berenger, acting CEO and executive producer, at the new King’s Head theatre – just around the corner from its original home in Upper Street
ISLINGTON’S long-running pub theatre has reopened after finding a new home around the corner in Upper Street.
The King’s Head opened at 115 Upper Street in 1970 and many members of Britain’s acting elite went on to tread the boards there, including Hugh Grant, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and Alan Rickman.
Its new base has six floors that includes a 220-seater auditorium, two bars and a late-night cabaret space.
Sofi Berenger, the acting CEO and executive producer, told the Tribune: “I spent so long telling people what the vision was and giving people tours when the building was just a concrete shell. The moment when the set was in and the seats were out, I was just like, ‘Oh, wow, we’ve done it. It’s a theatre’.”
The new theatre will also act as a multi-use space for the community. Ms Berenger hopes that one of the bars will be used as a co-working space during the day. There will also be an art exhibition in the entrance and a book exchange at the box office.
While the King’s Head is a “predominantly LGBTQ+ theatre”, said Ms Berenger, it is most importantly there to be a “safe community space”.
