Southwark Playhouse Borough Reviews Summary

Performance Quality

Pros:

• "A fiercely intelligent and emotionally engaging new musical, 'Then, Now and Next'."
• "Mother Courage and her children is a famous play superbly performed and acted at the Playhouse."
• "I saw the Curious case of Benjamin Button in June and was blown away with the performance."
• "The most intense theatre experience ever, great quality for the price."
• "Absolutely Brilliant. Loved the adaptation. Actors were cast perfectly. Amazing singers that blew my mind."
• "Current play Afterglow is brilliantly performed."
• "Exquisitely observed. Sensitively written. Outstandingly convincing performances from all three actors."

Cons:

• "But they really need to test the sound/mic set up because half of the cast couldn't be heard and I was third row."
• "With Bananaman we could barely understand any lyrics as the actors had to shout over the full on music; with Pippin there was so much reverb in the first half we were tempted to leave."
• "Unfortunately the show we saw had ear splittingly high volume sound cues but that will vary depending on the individual production of course."
• "Was a play of 2 halves really, first half was a clunky set up which felt a little long and in need of tightening."
• "Unfortunately this performance did not live up to the many enjoyable visits I've made to the Playhouse this year."
• "Not very good, uncomfortable chairs, very small."
• "And the toilet smell wafted into the theatre space!"

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Friendly staff and a cosy venue. Smooth ticketing."
• "The people there were very friendly and helpful."
• "The staff are superb, as are the volunteer ushers."
• "Very friendly and helpful staff."
• "Ashers and Bar staff very friendly."
• "Staff were very friendly and considerate letting us into the show at the appropriate time."
• "A wonderful theatre with lovely, welcoming staff."

Cons:

• "After a mix up with tickets, found the staff to be EXTREMELY rude, unhelpful and nonchalant."
• "The front house manager at the Southwark Playhouse is extremely rude and unhelpful."
• "The managers assistant was very arrogant and rude and her body language almost racist!"
• "The front of house staff were unwilling to be flexible and we lost 1 hour of the show."
• "After a train delay we showed up 5 minutes late and despite the show (Prelude) being a matinee and not the sold outs the staff still wouldn't admit us and were flippant about it."

Facilities and Venue

Pros:

• "Local, friendly and with great ambience."
• "Excellent small theatre - worth negotiating Elephant and Castle to get there."
• "Such high quality productions in such modest facilities are delivered at bargain prices - a truly great theatre!"
• "Facilities are good, close to Elephant and Castle, Waterloo, and London Bridge."
• "Nice and close to Elephant and Castle underground."
• "Great location, friendly local theatre with great beers on draft."
• "Everything is wheelchair accessible."

Cons:

• "The toilets were small and crowded and falling behind a bit."
• "Auditorium far too small and very cramped and uncomfortable when you have to sit for 1hr 40 mins without moving it spoilt the play for me."
• "Very cramped theatre space and smells of damp/mildew."
• "The bar is very limited. There is only one tiny bar to cater for the whole thing."
• "The venue's policy of prohibiting people to return to their seats in case they have to use the toilet is unbelievably awful."
• "The cafe serves what they call 'meals' but are in fact just microwaved chunks of frozen food with a bit of spinach on the side."
• "The prices for a soft drink was very pricey i.e a coke was £2.65..."

Atmosphere and Experience

Pros:

• "If you like small, intimate theatre experiences, this is it."
• "The atmosphere was friendly, with people of all sorts and age, drinks at the bar, volunteers helping you around and a stage in the middle so the actors were within an arm's reach."
• "I just loved the atmosphere of the place with the eclectic decoration and furniture."
• "Great fun. Great performance and made even better for being in such an intimate setting."
• "Lovely, warm and intimate setting."
• "Small intimate theatre with a bohemian vibe. The bar is quaint but great atmosphere where you can easy chat to others."
• "Brilliantly authentic play house with character, you get so close to the action its almost interactive."

Cons:

• "Stay clear from this venue!!!"
• "The only good thing is that only 5 minutes walk from Elephant and Castle underground station wouldn't go there again."
• "Lighting up cigarettes by the actress in this particular play had no bearing whatsoever in any remote way to contributing to the play/plot development of Yellowfin."
• "The disappointing thing about the Playhouse is that they don't allow you to buy concessions tickets for weekend evening performances."
• "If you leave during the show there is no reentry."
• "The first is that with the show being packed full, there was limited space to stand inside."
• "The play took place in the little space which led to a very intimate experience."