Leatherhead Theatre

Located in Leatherhead, Surrey. The Thorndike Theatre, (named after actress Dame Sybil Thorndike) was built as a replacement to the Crescent Cinema on the same site(it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). In 1969, architect Roderick Ham drew up plans for the new Thorndike Theatre. The auditorium has a bare brick finish and 530 seats and is considered one of the best theatre designs of its time.

In 1995 the Thorndike Theatre began screening films as well as live performances, but the management company went bankrupt and the theatre closed in mid-1997. At the end of 1997, it was taken over by Screen Works to become a 180 seat cinema, using only the rear seating area, but this was a short lived venture. It then was used by religious groups for meetings.

Re-named Leatherhead Theatre, it re-opened in 2001. The main auditorium now has 512 seats and there is a studio theatre seating 80 and a 40 seat conference room.

The building was designated a Grade II Listed building in 1999.

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Biffaskin on January 19, 2020 at 1:51 pm

This is strange, as Surrey County Council offered the vacant site of the former Crescent Cinema to build the new theatre, as the town’s only other repertory theatre, the former Ace Cinema had become too small for the company operating from there. So, I think that this text is incorrect, it’s a new build, on an older cinema site, not altered as it says here.