Half Moon Theatre Receives Gift for Stages of Half Moon Heritage Project

Half Moon has received £46,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its Stages of Half Moon project. Led by 100 local young people, the exciting project will shed light on the rich heritage of Half Moon Theatre, the role it played in the East End and the development of theatre from the 1970s to the present day.

This extensive activity programme will provide public access to the theatre's records for the first time through widespread research, archiving, digitisation and a touring exhibition. Half Moon's Youth Theatres will also have the chance to perform some of the iconic plays developed at the theatre.

Young people aged 11 to 25 will gain skills in research and interviewing, including oral history, and will record on film the memories of local residents and theatre professionals.

The theatre's two surviving co-founders and artistic directors, Guy Sprung and Michael Irving, and subsequent artistic directors Robert Walker and Chris Bond, have agreed to get involved and record their memories for the project, as have many of the other people who played a key role in the success of Half Moon Theatre, including Steven Berkoff, Simon Callow, Josie Lawrence and Frances de la Tour.

Half Moon are now looking for more people to get involved, record their stories and search for old programmes, photographs, posters and artefacts from the theatre's history at Alie Street, Mile End Road and their current home on White Horse Road. Anyone wanting to get involved can email history@halfmoon.org.uk.

Half Moon was founded in 1972 in a disused synagogue in Aldgate and moved to an old Methodist chapel in Stepney, which was later refurbished into a state-of-the-art modern theatre. During this period, Half Moon was known for bold work, such as Berkoff's Sink the Belgrano!, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Can't Pay? Won't Pay! and Frances de la Tour as a female Hamlet.

The company had, for its time, a radical ethos of inclusivity, involving local communities in the work. In 1989 the company went into voluntary liquidation, but Half Moon Young People's Theatre established itself as a separate entity and still thrives today as the UK's leading small-scale young people's venue and touring company, with the local community at the heart of its ethos. The website and exhibition will introduce other young people and communities to this important heritage.

Chris Elwell, Director of Half Moon said: "We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and of so many of the theatre's fantastic alumni, which will allow us to explore the important history of Half Moon Theatre and share it with a new generation. We are really looking forward to working with a range of local young people, organisations and individuals in the weeks and months ahead to ensure that the local community are involved with the life of the project and our theatre."

Stuart Hobley, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund London, said: "Half Moon is well known in the East End since the 70s and now, thanks to National Lottery players we can support this project that means a new generation will be able to discover for themselves the innovation that characterised the theatre during its heyday. Digging into local archives, the young people will gain skills as they create a record of that period and have the chance to sharpen their own acting abilities!"