The Other Palace

How Theatres Trust's support helped secure a viable future for a new West End theatre

With a 312-seat main auditorium and 120-seat studio, The Other Palace provides flexible spaces for new and cult musicals and sits between full-scale West End theatres and fringe studios, enabling it to provide a good R&D pipeline between fringe and commercial scales.

However, without Theatres Trust’s involvement, this essential addition to London’s theatre ecosystem would not have been built.

When the Westminster Theatre was destroyed by fire, Theatres Trust fought for a suitable replacement theatre to be included in the mixed-use development proposed for the site.

Theatres Trust worked to ensure that the theatre element, which sits beneath residential units, was viable and fit for purpose. Theatres Trust’s intervention was instrumental in securing a robust Section 106 agreement and lease arrangements, which ensured the long-term viability of the theatre within the approved scheme.

The theatre opened in September 2012, at that time the first new theatre to have opened in central London in 30 years. It was named the St James Theatre as a nod to an earlier theatre on the same site but became The Other Palace in 2017.

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

Photo credit: Craig Sugden