Bridge House Theatre Productions SE20

10/08/2022

Very Important Notice from 'Bridge House Productions Ltd' (In-house theatre production company at 'The Bridge House' 2014-2021)

BEN WOODS

It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Ben Woods, a young actor, familiar to audiences who regularly attended shows at the 'Bridge House TheatreSE20' between 2015 to 2019. Ben was an effervescent performer and a wonderful colleague.

Ben first performed in 'A Christmas Carol ... more or less!', followed by 'Two' with Rachel Tucker, 'Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story' (the concert version & U.K. Tour), 'Twelfth Night' and most recently 'A Christmas Carol', a role for which Ben was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the '2020 OFFIES.'

As well as being a talented actor, Ben was a highly gifted guitarist, and wrote all the the music for our 2019 production of 'Twelfth Night', that toured to the 'Shakespeare Festival' in Serbia, and subsequently to the prestigious annual 'Neuss Globe Shakespeare Festival' in Germany.

Ben, who had been a child actor at the RSC in Stratford, brought a wide range of talents to all the shows we were privileged enough to work on with him.

Ben was a fine actor, a natural comedian, a skilled dancer and his remarkable talent lit up the stage every time he appeared on it; all our lives were enriched by him being a part of them off and onstage.

Ben was a familiar figure in Penge, where he lived. In between his jobs as an actor, Ben was bartender at 'The Bridge House', and a highly sought after painter and decorator.

Ben had recently moved to Lichfield where he lived with his wife, Lucy, and their young son, Bertie. Ben had been working as a fine jeweller, another one of Ben’s passions and skills.

Our thoughts go out to his wife Lucy and his son Bertie and his family at this difficult time.

Guy, Rachel & Rob

22/04/2021

Huge news for all Bridge House Theatre fans:

We are moving venues - check out the newsletter below:

Hello, Friends! What's New Dear BHTheatre Supporters, Guy Retallack and myself, Rob Harris, are currently developing new material and it’s our i...

13/12/2020

Bridge House Theatre: On the Twelfth Day before Christmas - An offer from a local Business. Save 25% off all tickets for the Bridge House Online Christmas Concert, Using voucher code GIFT at check out. Tickets at www.bhtheatre.com. The show is so festive and full of amazing performers seen at the Bridge House Theatre over the years. The show is online and runs till the 25th December and a ticket is valid for 24 hours - concert lasts 2 hrs. Preview below or at https://vimeo.com/487910745 book now and help raise money for 9 Arts base charities.

This is "Farewell Bridge House" by Rob Harris on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

11/12/2020

First professional review of our ONLINE Christmas Show - Please book tickets if you can. It helps save my job and also helps 9 Art Charities - bursting with West End names! Tickets www.bhtheatre.com - a ticket lasts 23 hours and you watch at home.

Reviewer - Alun Hood.

I just watched this and now I feel absurdly and nicely Christmassy (and no, I haven’t had a drink....not yet).

The Bridge House Theatre has constantly been a little local theatre -and one that genuinely welcomed, and was loved by, the local Penge SE20 audiences, as well as theatregoers from further afield- that punched well above its weight.

You just have to look at the line-up of talent in this cute-as-a-button festive variety show to realise that: West End and Broadway divas Rachel Tucker, Rachel Izen and Marisha Wallace , Aussie musical theatre powerhouse Suzie Mathers (who starred as Glinda in Wicked in London and all over Australia), West End stars Rebecca McKinnis, Emma Hatton, Rachael Wooding, George Maguire, Mark Dugdale, multi-talented actor-singer-writer Daniel Robinson, international cabaret star, writer, director and producer Tim McArthur (not doing Panto Dame for once over the festive season!) and a whole host of up-and-coming talent.

It’s an embarrassment of riches, and also strangely poignant in that after six years this little gem of a venue is bringing down the curtain for the last time.

All the vocals are sensational, and it’s huge fun to hear some familiar Christmas numbers rearranged pretty radically: I loved them all but Marisha (a woman who I’d pay to hear singing the phonebook, quite frankly) doing ‘Have Yourselves A Merry Little Christmas’ and a uniquely, rambunctiously Norn Irish take on ‘Fairytale of New York’ by Rachel Tucker and Mark Dugdale were my absolute favourites.

The sketches are funny, Santa’s advice on what dance to do when you desperately need a p*e (you have to watch it to see) is useful(!), and the snippets of Rachel Izen’s Scrooge (last year she was famously the first ever woman to tackle the Dickensian icon onstage) are absolutely thrilling.

Am kicking myself that I actually missed that show in its entirety.
It’s a lovely piece of entertainment and, more than that, it’s such a classy way for the Bridge House to say goodbye (although producer Rob Harris strongly suggests they’ll be back in another format next year).

https://vimeo.com/487910745

This is "Farewell Bridge House" by Rob Harris on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

11/12/2020

First professional review of our ONLINE Christmas Show - Please book tickets if you can. It helps save my job and also helps 9 Art Charities - bursting with West End names! Tickets www.bhtheatre.com - a ticket lasts 23 hours and you watch at home.

Reviewer - Alun Hood.

I just watched this and now I feel absurdly and nicely Christmassy (and no, I haven’t had a drink....not yet).

The Bridge House Theatre has constantly been a little local theatre -and one that genuinely welcomed, and was loved by, the local Penge SE20 audiences, as well as theatregoers from further afield- that punched well above its weight.

You just have to look at the line-up of talent in this cute-as-a-button festive variety show to realise that: West End and Broadway divas Rachel Tucker, Rachel Izen and Marisha Wallace , Aussie musical theatre powerhouse Suzie Mathers (who starred as Glinda in Wicked in London and all over Australia), West End stars Rebecca McKinnis, Emma Hatton, Rachael Wooding, George Maguire, Mark Dugdale, multi-talented actor-singer-writer Daniel Robinson, international cabaret star, writer, director and producer Tim McArthur (not doing Panto Dame for once over the festive season!) and a whole host of up-and-coming talent.
It’s an embarrassment of riches, and also strangely poignant in that after six years this little gem of a venue is bringing down the curtain for the last time.

All the vocals are sensational, and it’s huge fun to hear some familiar Christmas numbers rearranged pretty radically: I loved them all but Marisha (a woman who I’d pay to hear singing the phonebook, quite frankly) doing ‘Have Yourselves A Merry Little Christmas’ and a uniquely, rambunctiously Norn Irish take on ‘Fairytale of New York’ by Rachel Tucker and Mark Dugdale were my absolute favourites.

The sketches are funny, Santa’s advice on what dance to do when you desperately need a p*e (you have to watch it to see) is useful(!), and the snippets of Rachel Izen’s Scrooge (last year she was famously the first ever woman to tackle the Dickensian icon onstage) are absolutely thrilling.

Am kicking myself that I actually missed that show in its entirety.
It’s a lovely piece of entertainment and, more than that, it’s such a classy way for the Bridge House to say goodbye (although producer Rob Harris strongly suggests they’ll be back in another format next year)

This is "Farewell Bridge House" by Rob Harris on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

07/12/2020

What reviews for our online Christmas Show. SE London, we will be back but for now support us alongside 9 other art based charities. Buy some tickets for this amazing CHRISTMAS show! Check out the video below to see those involved. Buy Tickets www.bhtheatre.com . You pick the day and then you will get 24 hour access on that day from 10am on that day to WATCH AT HOME.

Here are the reviews so far:

This Christmas Spectacular was just what we needed - who needs 5 gold rings when this is 5 gold star worthy - a wonderfully put together show with too many highlights to call out individually. - C Quigley

Going to Bridge House for their Christmas show was the thing we looked forward to at Christmas - we were gutted to hear them shut - however with this concert - they out did themselves. Perfect show!. - S Darrow

The Only Christmas show we need, from the safety of home, booked twice more. - S Drayton

Fantastic Streaming from Bridge House Theatre, Penge, definitely one of the best I’ve seen - J Moysen

Amazing Performances, can not bear the thought of going to a venue at the moment - however this brought theatre to my living room - thanks, did shead a few tears. - M Taylor

Great show! Thanks for such a cheerful performance. A. Platman

Some real gems and such a packed programme too - J Cook

We loved it ! Very Professional - P Abraham

Loved The Show - now watching a Christmas Film to stay in the mood - R Hutton

Fantastic show, well done to all involved, such great performances - D Smith

Our Christmas has begun, we may not be at the venue - but thanks for bringing the show to us - M Weston

Buy Tickets www.bhtheatre.com

https://vimeo.com/487910745

This is "Farewell Bridge House" by Rob Harris on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

06/12/2020

So tonight is the premiere of our ONLINE fundraising farewell concert to our beloved theatre and it's looking great! It packs as much seasonal cheer as Father Christmas himself and features some of the biggest names in the West End Today. Some of them are included in this short video - https://vimeo.com/487677086
-book tickets via this link only. www.ticketsource.co.uk/bridgehousetheatrese20

The Show is available ONLINE ONLY and runs from today at 7pm till the 26th December. After this evening's premiere - a ticket gives nearly 24 hours access from 10am on the day you select to watch the show. The running time is just under 2 hours.

Buying a ticket not only helps our survival as a production company but a percentage of profits will go to 9 arts charities. We still are going to bring great quality theatre in the future to venues across the country and to our spiritual SE London Hom

This is "Farewell Bridge House-2" by Rob Harris on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

27/11/2020

Then this happened .....

More to follow ......

23/11/2020

Dear Friends

I write this newsletter in the hope it finds you well in these difficult times.

It is with a heavy heart I am writing to say that we have had to close the theatre permanently.

Covid has been a terrible time for many industries - the Arts in particular.

Below is a message from our Artistic Director - Guy.

I shall miss our own venue immensely - but as many of you are aware we existed before the venue and we will continue as an independent producing company in the future - this is something we had been thinking about for a while. Working with Guy, Rachel, the actors, comedians, performers and tech crews has been a beautiful experience.

I want to thank each and everyone of you for buying the tickets to support us and a huge thank you to all the volunteers who worked for nothing. You were a pleasure to work with and a huge part of the fun of the job. A special thanks has to go to those who helped as managers of the venue (again on a voluntary basis) - Linda, Wendy and Callum.

Below is a message from our Artistic Director - Guy.

However this is not the end, we still have one amazing event left for you all - details very soon, could it be a final Christmas Blowout ... who knows, keep your eyes open.

2020 has been a truly difficult year, but we will get through it and the Arts will survive ! We need to adapt and we will and look forward to your support - I can't wait to see you all again.

Till next week and the big announcement, peace and as always thank you for your amazing support over the past years.

Rob

Artistic Producer - Bridge House Productions SE20 Ltd

***
A Message From Guy Retallack (Artistic Director).
2020 has brought real sadness, as well as thoughtful reflection, it is perhaps understandable that after seven glorious years, 30 shows, including 12 premieres, it is with great sadness that the Bridge House TheatreSE20, under the stewardship of Rob Harris and myself, has had to finally close its doors.

I am enormously proud of all of the work that we have produced, the range and variety of material, and all of the talented actors, musicians, designers, lighting designers, stage managers, and lastly but by no means least, our incredibly loyal and supportive audience, without which none of this would have been possible

I would also like to say a massive thank you to Scott Blenkhorn and Sinon Kelly, the partnership who run the Bridge House pub and who shared the same vision that myself, Rachel, and Rob had for a small studio theatre in South East London.

It was Scott and Sinon, who knocked down walls and encouraged us to believe it was possible to attract an audience, but above all allowed us to use their space.

I remember thinking would people even come?! After the first few cabarets and comedy shows, it was with that first production of A Christmas Carol, that I, to my surprise, found that an audience was actually prepared to put their hands in their pockets and pay good money to see our work!

Obviously theatre is a group effort, so you always have to approach it as though you were a team, to that end I asked Rob Harris, who came aboard, to produce and administrate, and however hard things were, we were always a team.

Above all it’s so important to remember that without the actors there would be no shows at all, and I’m proud to say that we have had some of the best actors through our doors over the past seven years, many of whom I have worked with again and again, and all of whom, I’m proud to say, were prepared to work under difficult conditions, in order to produce the most amazing work.

I was lucky to work with many amazing technical staff over the years, often the unsung heroes, from stage managers, lighting designers, set designers and costume designers and sound technicians - BHTSE20 has had some of the best!

Special mention must go to Daniel Krupnik, whose initial belief and hard work made the Bridge House Theatre a possibility, Richard Williamson, whose tireless work and great advice was always in bountiful supply, and especially Rob Harris, whose vision, constant hard work, and producer’s eye helped make the Bridge House TheatreSE20 such a jewel in South East London.

I’m also proud to say we have had considerable support from numerous local businesses in Penge, and come to know these fine people, many of whom volunteered considerable hours to help in the running of the venue.

Lastly none of the above would have been possible without the good people of Penge, (and obviously further afield), but it’s the people of Penge who really came out, over and over again, year in year out, to make our productions such a joy to put on.

There are many shows that I’m very proud of, but I think it would be fair to say that it is the repertoire of Christmas productions that the Bridge House TheatreSE20 was perhaps most well-known for, but above all I will miss so much the little world we created!

Guy Retallack
Artistic Director
22/11/2020