Today the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, upheld Waltham Forest Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the former Granada Cinema in Walthamstow to be turned into a church. There has been a sustained campaign to save this beautiful Grade II* listed building and to reinstate it as an entertainment venue for the benefit of local and London-wide audiences and as a catalyst for economic regeneration and job creation. This decision opens the door to do that.

The locally based Waltham Forest Cinema Trust (WFCT) has joined forces with the pioneering Soho Theatre to create a 21st Century vision for how this will work, which can be downloaded from http://www.sohotheatre.com/news/a-contemporary-vision-for-the-former-granada-cinem/

It lays out architectural plans for the building and shows how Soho Theatre will work with partners Curzon Cinemas, Royal Shakespeare Company, Blonde to Black Pictures and others to create a unique cultural offering without the need for public subsidy.

The three week public inquiry involved rigorous scrutiny of Soho Theatre’s business model and the plans emerged as viable and robust. During the inquiry, Soho Theatre obtained a finance offer of £2m, an amount which could facilitate a first phase opening of the building and moves the project one step closer to reality.

Soho Theatre and WFCT very much welcome the enlightened approach taken by Waltham Forest Council in support of this scheme and look forward to working closely with them following the Secretary of State’s decision.

Steve Marmion and Mark Godfrey, Directors of Soho Theatre, and Neil Gerrard, Chair of Waltham Forest Cinema Trust, said:

“We are delighted with this pivotal decision from the Secretary of State which clearly supports the heritage of the former Granada as an important venue for entertainment. We look forward to getting the doors open as soon as possible – we want Londoners to enjoy this unique building and for the local area to benefit from the major economic and cultural boost that it will bring. We would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to keep the dream alive over all the years since it went out of use. We also want to give proper acknowledgement to the enlightened support that Waltham Forest Council has given this project and we look forward to working with them to deliver it to fruition.”

Chris Robbins, Leader of Waltham Forest Council, said:

“We are pleased that the Planning Inspectorate has upheld our decision to reject the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God’s (UCKG) application.

The EMD is a fantastic community asset that should be enjoyed by everyone. Waltham Forest Cinema Trust and Soho Theatre’s plans to see it restored to its former glory, complementing works to transform Walthamstow into an entertainment hub are one small step closer to becoming a reality. This would not only boost business, but provide residents with better leisure opportunities helping to benefit the whole community.

However there is a long way to go as the Grade II* listed building is still owned by UCKG. The Council has pledged to do what it can to support Waltham Forest Cinema Trust and Soho Theatre’s plans that will see the building transformed into an entertainment destination.”

Scissor kicking all the way to the title, London based kiwi comic Jarred Christmas received the renowned golden gumboot and a $10,000 prize package, including a cash grant of $2500 from the New Zealand Comedy Trust and advertising campaigns with More FM and The Dominion Post.

Named in honour of ex-pat comedy icon John Clarke’s legendary Kiwi character Fred Dagg, The FRED Award was introduced in 2006 and recognises the Festival’s best show by a New Zealand comedian.

Other 2013 nominees for The FRED Award were Nick Rado and James Nokise – who have both enjoyed accolade from critics and audiences alike.

You can see Jarred’s show LET’S GO MOFO’ at Soho Theatre from Thursday 6 – Saturday 8 June. For more information, and to buy tickets, CLICK HERE.

National Theatre Connections is back with a bang! Join us from Monday 29 April for a week-long festival of new plays, performed by young companies and schools on our main stage. The festival includes twelve new plays commissioned by the National Theatre, written by Jemma Kennedy, Lenny Henry, Anya Reiss, Jim Cartwright and more. Join us for this great opportunity to check out some fresh work and young talent, tickets for students and Under 25s are just £5!

Our third Comedy Lab course kicks off on Saturday 27 April for 16-25s, led by industry pros Lee Griffiths (Soho Comedy Associate, Late Night Gimp Fight) and Paul Biggin (Late Night Gimp Fight). If you’re looking to develop your stand up and sketch skills this is the right place for you! We only have a few spots left, so don’t hang around…

In conjunction with our playwriting competition, the Verity Bargate Award 2013, we’ll be running a number of playwriting workshops in Soho and around the UK in May and June. Are you writing a play and wondering what to do next? Do you have a story you want to see on the stage? Get involved in our workshops and enter our biennial competition with the chance to win £5000 and a slot on our main stage.

Hope to see you at Soho soon!

Steve Marmion, Artistic Director of Soho Theatre said: “I’m thrilled to announce our summer of international political performances, with a Soho twist. We are working across different languages, with new work referencing events across the globe and history, shining a light on our here and now. There is a lot of theatre and performance to take in, and we hope we have found a way of offering entertaining, genre-defying work that can provoke deep thought and has real political resonance.”

First up is Soho Theatre’s international production of ADDRESS UNKNOWN. How strong are the bonds of friendship when your world is overturned? A successful art dealer returns to his native Germany, keeping a correspondence with his close Jewish friend back in America. Against a backdrop of austerity, recession and rising nationalism, their former allegiances become distorted beyond recognition.

Kathrine Kressmann Taylor’s classic pre-war text is brought to life in a powerful new production directed by Steve Marmion. Written as an anti-Fascist call to arms, ADDRESS UNKNOWN was banned in 30s Germany for dramatically exposing the threat of Nazism. It became an international literary sensation and social phenomenon. Today it is a timely warning of how humanity can fail in the face of extreme ideology.

ADDRESS UNKNOWN will be performed in French and English the French production will star theatre and film legends Christian Clavier (Napoléon, Les Visiteurs, Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre), and Thierry Lhermitte (An American Werewolf in Paris, Les Papas du dimanche, Le noir (te)vous va si bien).

Soho Theatre is proud to present this unique theatrical event in partnership with Institut français, JW3, the Jewish Community Centre London. Thanks also to generous funding from the Mohamed S. Farsi Foundation, 1,000 tickets have been made available to under 26s for just £10.

As the French cast leaves us, the Belgians arrive with Valentijn Dhaenens’ acclaimed BIGMOUTH. The one-man, multi-lingual show blew audiences away in Edinburgh. Proving the spoken word can be as dangerous as the written, BIGMOUTH examines 2,500 years of oratory from Socrates to Osama bin Laden. Performing fragments of famous and lesser known speeches, he shows how the tricks of the rhetorical trade have hardly changed over time.

After the rhetoric comes the silence as Soho’s own DOCTOR BROWN returns for a four-week run of Befrdfgth. The voice of diverse new playwrights come to the fore in Soho Upstairs with GLORY DAZED written with ex servicemen prisoners, Irish Theatre Award Nominee THE LIFE AND SORT OF DEATH OF ERIC ARGYLE, and in a nearby courtroom above a restaurant, there is Kali Theatre’s tale of a young Muslim barrister, MY DAUGHTER’S TRIAL.

The man who helped make stand-up comedy the political force it has become – ALEXEI SAYLE – returns to Soho Downstairs. Chief political correspondent for The Independent, STEVE RICHARDS, takes you on a hilarious behind the scenes tour of the great political dramas of our time, while FRANCESCA MARTINEZ asks us What the * * * * is Normal?! .

And Soho Theatre continues its reputation of showcasing the best new international voices with EDDIE PEPITONE making his London debut with Electrified, German sensation MICHAEL MITTERMEIER and Australia’s finest comic WIL ANDERSON returns to Soho Theatre. All distinctive voices ready to offer their sideways look at our world.

The VBA was established in memory of Soho Theatre’s co-founder and celebrates its 30th year in 2013.

For the first time Soho Theatre will also be working with partner venues, Birmingham Rep, Live Theatre Newcastle and Theatre Royal Plymouth, who will be involved with the judging process and offering additional opportunities to writers and theatre-makers across the country. The shortlisted plays will have a reading at one of our partner venues directed by each venue’s artistic director.

To encourage playwrights, and develop writers’ skills, Soho Theatre will be running workshops across the country and at Soho, focusing on various aspects of the craft of playwriting.

Steve Marmion, Artistic Director of Soho Theatre said: “We want to hear a story we’ve never heard before, from a voice we weren’t expecting. Something that is brave with what it is trying to say, and how it is trying to say it. Something that pushes our limits emotionally, morally and theatrically. Something that is the shout from the crowd that we have to listen to. It might just be the challenge that makes you start writing for the first time.”

I wrote a show so that myself and my friend could perform something. It was mostly because at the time I wanted to be an actor. That friend became my double act partner (Katie Lyons) and after many years of shows together I eventually realised I didn’t enjoy the acting as much as the writing and focussed on that.

What are your biggest influences?

I’m going to go the cheesy route with this and say family and friends. Of course I read lots and watch lots and doing so inspires me but in terms of influences I look to the people around me – particularly the ones who make me laugh. They are both my most generous and harshest audience. If I please them then I’m happy.

What is the most difficult thing about writing?

The actual sitting down and getting down to it. When I have to write I am the queen of procrastination. You can always tell when I have a script deadline coming up because my house is spotless and I’ve done something like alphabetised my spice rack. Once I’m actually in the middle of writing I love it and I do the classic “why the hell didn’t I start earlier?” chat with myself and then panic-write to the very last second of the deadline.

What is your favourite thing about being a writer?

Having written. Nothing better than that final full stop on your final draft. Utter bliss. And then, of course, getting into the rehearsal room and seeing it jumping off the page and following that ; in front of an audience. That’s why we write. Not to sit in a room on our own still wearing yesterdays clothes, eating Ainsley Harriot cup-a-soups and crying salty tears of self-indulgence onto our keyboards. * *possibly over sharing a tad. Might stop typing now.