Alexandra Palace Theatre

How Theatres Trust's support helped bring a historic theatre back to life 

Alexandra Palace was designed as a ‘Palace of the People’, to provide entertainment and recreation for the masses. One of the most architecturally significant and historic parts of the entertainment complex is Alexandra Palace Theatre, which as well as being one of London’s oldest theatres also contains a rare example of wooden stage machinery both below stage and in the fly tower.

Originally opening in 1873, things did not get off to the best start for Alexandra Palace Theatre, when the theatre along with the rest of the complex promptly burned down just a couple of weeks later. It was rebuilt with its second incarnation opened in 1875. Over its first half century, it hosted a mixture of live performances and then later cinema, but as theatre audiences declined, it closed in 1934. The building was leased first to the BBC and then Open University, but sat empty from 1981, falling into an increasing state of disrepair.

We added Alexandra Palace Theatre to our Theatres at Risk Register in 2006, when we started our flagship profile-rising campaign. At that point, it had not been a theatre for more than 70 years, the building fabric was deteriorating, and it was unsafe to use, but there was enormous support to see the building returned to its original use.

We supported Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust with its ambition to restore the East Wing of the Alexandra Palace, with the theatre as its centrepiece, including early-stage advice on the viability study for the theatre and providing letters of support for its major fundraising campaign. Significant grants were secured from Heritage Lottery Fund and Haringey Council.

Alexandra Palace Theatre reopened to the public on 1 December 2018, following a six-year renovation project, and confident that its future had been secured, we removed it from the Theatres at Risk Register in January 2019.

This case study was produced as part of our Fifty@50 campaign to mark our 50th anniversary in 2026. 

Photo credit: Alexandra Palace Theatre