Qualla: Young Vic

Young Vic: Introduction

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. A bit iffy assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain. The auditorium was built out of breeze blocks. The entrance is a former butcher's shop. The bench seating was made of red wooden slats. The whole structure was meant to last about five years. The Young Vic opened in 1970 on a patch of land where, in 1941, a Blitz bomb had killed fifty-four people sheltering in the cellars of the building that had previously stood there - a building that is commemorated by a plaque at the theatre's southeast corner. The five-year structure is still standing. Its makeshift charm became its identity. The Who played free weekly concerts here in 1971 to rehearse what became Who's Next. Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, John Malkovich, and Michael Sheen have walked its thrust stage. In 2007 the refurbished building won the RIBA London Building of the Year.

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Image: No machine-readable author provided. A bit iffy assumed (based on copyright claims). | Public domain

Young Vic: Olivier's Experiment

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Secretlondon, CC BY-SA 3.0. The idea came from Laurence Olivier, then director of the National Theatre. "Here we think to develop plays for young audiences," he said when it opened in September 1970, "an experimental workshop for authors, actors and producers." The aim was an accessible theatre - high quali...

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Image: Secretlondon | CC BY-SA 3.0

Young Vic: A Building Made of Provisional Things

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Robin Sones, CC BY-SA 2.0. Dunlop built the theatre from what was at hand. A butcher's shop on The Cut, near Waterloo Station. The adjacent bombsite. Breeze blocks. Red wooden slat benches. The thrust stage seats approximately 420, with the configuration changing depending on the production. The provisiona...

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Image: Robin Sones | CC BY-SA 2.0

Young Vic: Memorial at the Corner

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Secretlondon, CC BY-SA 3.0. A plaque at the theatre's southeast corner commemorates fifty-four people killed in October 1940 while sheltering in the cellars of the previous building during the Blitz. The Young Vic was literally built on a bombsite. The memorial was rededicated in 2007 when the rebuilt theat...

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Image: Secretlondon | CC BY-SA 3.0

Young Vic: Refurbishment Without Polish

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Secretlondon, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 2003, the Young Vic launched a £12.5 million campaign to rebuild. The architects were Haworth Tompkins, who had also refurbished the Royal Court and the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. The theatre closed in 2004. Reconstruction took two years. When it reopened in October 2006,...

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Image: Secretlondon | CC BY-SA 3.0

Young Vic: From The Inheritance to a New Era

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Secretlondon, CC BY-SA 3.0. Under David Lan (2000-2018), the Young Vic accumulated Olivier Awards: Best Musical Revival for The Magic Flute in 2008, Best Revival for Yerma in 2016, Best New Play for The Inheritance in 2019. Kwame Kwei-Armah followed Lan as artistic director until 2024, when Nadia Fall took ...

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Image: Secretlondon | CC BY-SA 3.0