Cochrane Theatre

Cochrane Theatre

Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre
Cochrane Theatre
Location	Southampton Row London, WC1 United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°31′08″N 0°07′14″W / 51.518889°N 0.120556°W
Public transit	Holborn
Owner	University of the Arts London
Designation	UK
Capacity	314 seated
Current use	Empty
Construction
Opened	1963[1]
Closed	2012[1]
Years active	49
Architect	LCC Architects' Dept[1]

The Cochrane Theatre was a receiving and producing theatre situated in Holborn, London, that opened in 1964.^[1]

History

The theatre opened in 1963 and was named after its founder, Jeannetta Cochrane, who was a theatre practitioner specialising in costume and scenery design at the Central School of Art and Design, now part of the University of the Arts London. Through her persistence, Cochrane persuaded the London County Council to build a theatre attached to the school. The theatre has a traditional proscenium arch and fly tower consisting of 41 counterweight flying bars, orchestra pit and a fully functioning paint frame (a rarity in London theatres).

The Cochrane closed in January 2012 when Central St Martin's moved to a new site near King's Cross (unifying what had been disparate locations for different parts of the college), with the new venue having its own theatre, the Platform Theatre.^[1]

TFI Friday

In June 2015 Channel 4 made a TFI Friday special at the theatre and following it's success an entire series of ten shows in October - December 2015 were produced live. The set has since been dismantled and there are no plans to make any new shows, due to Evans' new Top Gear role.

Cochrane Theatre was chosen for the new series as the original location of Riverside Studios where the show was filmed has been demolished and is being redeveloped, due for completion in the autumn of 2017.^[2]

References

1. "Cochrane Theatre", The Theatres Trust. Retrieved 2012-10-20.
2. George Bevir (2015-06-12). "Finding a new home for TFI Friday". broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-08-02.