Public transit Holborn Closed 2012 Address London WC1B 4AP, UK Designation United Kingdom | Capacity 314 seated Architect LCC Architects' Dept Opened 1963 Years active 49 | |
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Location Southampton Row
London, WC1
United Kingdom Owner University of the Arts London Similar Greenwich Playhouse, Warehouse Theatre, Pentameters Theatre, RADA Studios, Erith Playhouse | ||
The Cochrane Theatre was a receiving and producing theatre situated in Holborn, London, that opened in 1964.
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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.
Television productions
In June 2015 Channel 4 made a TFI Friday special at the theatre and following its 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 autumn 2017.
ITV's late night chat show The Nightly Show has been filmed at the Cochrane Theatre since February 2017.