We are BOLD Theatre founded by Sarah Davey Hull (see our history below).
BOLD Elephant is our current building, in London SE1, we run under a meanwhile lease.
BOLD is a SPACE TO CREATE –
a REHEARSAL SPACE:
We rent out welcoming, light filled rehearsal spaces upstairs with, what we would call, amiable contracts & welcome!
We also offer writing rooms, self-tape rooms, mentoring and co-working space, to theatre freelancers, free.
a PERFORMANCE SPACE:
BOLD Theatre has primarily been interested in immersive theatre, responsive to the space we inhabit. Do see info on our films & shows made in the building: BOLD Beginnings, What They Forgot To Tell Us and The Foreigners’ Panto.
a COLLABORATIVE SPACE:
100% of our profits go into the schemes we run (BOLD Makers, BOLD Playwrights, Southwark BOLD Resident Artists, BOLD Wednesdays, mentoring, play readings) as well as supporting small independent companies and freelance theatre makers to have space to create. We are interested in a more equitable theatre landscape.
We seek to create a building of belonging where all feel some kind of ownership – where the kettle is on and tea/coffee is free! You are welcome to pop by and see what is on offer!
BOLD Elephant & Castle emerged from the bold & saucy theatre company, created by Sarah Davey Hull (1965 – 2022). Sarah tragically passed away this year but her legacy lives on in this building and the community she created in theatre over the last 25 years.
This was a new venture for Sarah, and the beginning of a new chapter in her creative life. We have all been knocked off course by the desperately sad news of Sarah’s death. However this new adventure in repurposing empty buildings into creative performing arts spaces, is a fresh direction and so the BOLD company will continue the work of Sarah in the creation of new theatre work. So, BOLD is going through a process of transformation.
We will be carrying on Sarah’s work – her legacy – here at BOLD, with the projects and subjects that were close to her heart. We look forward to inviting you in once more.
We have transformed a 1950s office block, originally a brewery and more recently a recruitment and employment agency, into BOLD Elephant, a daring, playful and exuberant experiment for site-specific and immersive theatre making.
Our vision is for theatre makers and audiences to come together, create and thrive in an inspiring space. It is important that this is a space to create for everyone, that it is inclusive to any and all artists.
While our residency in the building may be temporary our plan is to be sustainable, so when our lease expires and we have to move on, we simply pack up everything, move it and reuse it in the next space we find.
We currently receive no funding and survive largely on the hire of our rehearsal spaces and the masses of unpaid work our Associates and team members do, so if you or anyone you know would like to offer their support in resource or money please be in touch. There is so much more we’d like to do and need others to work with us to do it!