View source for Cochrane Theatre

{{EngvarB|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
|name           = Cochrane Theatre
|image          = CochraneTheatre.jpg
|caption        = Cochrane Theatre
|location        = [[Southampton Row]]<br />London, {{postcode|WC|1}}<br />United Kingdom
|designation    = UK
|coordinates    = {{coord|51|31|09|N|00|07|13|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|architect      = [[London County Council|LCC]] Architects' Dept<ref name=TheatresTrust>[http://www.theatrestrust.org.uk/resources/theatres/show/3087 "Cochrane Theatre"], ''The Theatres Trust''. Retrieved 20 October 2012.</ref>
|owner          = [[University of the Arts London]]
|capacity       = 314 seated
|type           = 
|opened         = 1963<ref name=TheatresTrust />
|yearsactive    = 49
|closed         = 2012<ref name=TheatresTrust />
|othernames     = Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre
|production     =
|currentuse     = 
| publictransit = {{rail-interchange|london|underground}} {{lus|Holborn}}
|website        = 
}}

The '''Cochrane Theatre''', previously known as the '''Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre''', was a receiving and producing theatre situated in [[Holborn]], London, that opened in 1964.<ref name=TheatresTrust /> It is now used for television filming.

==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 that could be used as a practice space. 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).

From 1991 to 1995, [[Talawa Theatre Company]] had its home at the Cochrane Theatre.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/homeless-but-not-rootless-1536741.html|title=Homeless, but not rootless|first=Roy|last= Bartholomew|newspaper=The Independent|date=22 October 2011}}</ref>

The Cochrane closed in January 2012 when Central St Martin's moved to a new site near [[King's Cross, London|King's Cross]] (unifying what had been disparate locations for different parts of the college), with the new venue having its own theatre, the [[Central Saint Martins#Platform Theatre|Platform Theatre]].<ref name=TheatresTrust />

Its owners since 2011, Grange Hotels, are set to demolish the building.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Merrifield|first=Nicola|date=21 August 2013|title=Change in status moves central London theatre closer to demolition|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/change-in-status-moves-central-london-theatre-closer-to-demolition/|url-status=live|newspaper=[[The Stage]]|language=en-US| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025052854/http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2013/08/change-in-status-moves-central-london-theatre-closer-to-demolition/|archive-date=2013-10-25}}</ref>

== Television productions ==
In June 2015 [[Channel 4]] filmed a ''[[TFI Friday]]'' special at the theatre and a series of ten shows were produced live in October through December 2015.

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.<ref>{{cite web|author=George Bevir|url=http://m.broadcastnow.co.uk/5089353.article |title=Finding a new home for TFI Friday|publisher=broadcastnow.co.uk|date=12 June 2015|access-date=2 August 2015}}</ref>

ITV's late night chat show ''[[The Nightly Show (UK TV series)|The Nightly Show]]'' was filmed at the Cochrane Theatre in 2017.

[[Channel 5 (British TV channel)|Channel 5]]'s ''Do the Right Thing'' with [[Eamonn Holmes]] and [[Ruth Langsford]] was filmed at the Cochrane Theatre in 2019.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Theatres in London}}

[[Category:Theatres in the London Borough of Camden]]


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