About Bloomsbury Theatre

The Bloomsbury Theatre Building was officially opened in 1968 as The Central Collegiate Building. The auditorium, which held over 500 people soon became the Collegiate Theatre. It was renamed in 1982 as Bloomsbury Theatre to reflect its geographical location as well as the artistic associations of the name. The main theatre was closed in 2015 and there are plans to reopen a theatre von a similar scale in 2018.

Prior to closure, the main theatre had gained a reputation in a number of fields, from small scale opera work to innovative stand-up comedy. It provided an early stage for some of this country's greatest comedy talent including Lily Savage, Eddie Izzard, Jo Brand, Jeremy Hardy, Mel and Sue, John Shuttleworth and Sooty! Recently top name comedians such as Ricky Gervais, Jimmy Carr and Harry Hill have chosen Bloomsbury Theatre as a venue for their DVD recordings. The Bloomsbury also hosted many music events such as the Zombies and Ray Davies. The Bloomsbury Theatre was built to support student activity and hosted 12 weeks a year of student productions from University College London.

The Bloomsbury Studio was opened in 2015. It was developed as a flexible flat-floored performance space for up to 70 people. It hosts a diverse programme of events from within the University and beyond.