Tara Theatre

TARA is a cross-cultural theatre company founded in 1977, its mission 'to make imaginative connections across cultures, through presentations of classics and new theatre work'. The company has been based at Garratt Lane in Earlsfield since 1983 when the building opened as The TARA Arts Centre, though it functioned mostly as a rehearsal venue. In March 2007 the studio reopened as a theatre venue, and now plays host to companies from across the UK and overseas. The theatre is housed within a Victorian end of terrace, originally constructed as a row of shops with two floors of accommodation over, and a single storey extension to the rear. Externally the theatre is constructed in London Stock brick (now painted white) with tri-part window at first floor below a dormer. Theatrical shop front with brightly painted TARA Theatre picked out. Circular headed entrance with pedimented feature above, an adaption from the Edwardian period when it was converted to a club, leads to a small lobby, an entrance foyer/bar (in what was the former shop) off which is the 70-seat studio theatre situated to the rear. Upper levels are used for administration, wardrobe and dressing rooms. The studio theatre is an intimate space with banks of plush red bench seating on two sides and a large control room. It can be used for workshops or as a rehearsal space. It is 6.1m x 5.4m in size with a double thickness harlequin dance floor laid over concrete with white coloured walls. Two lengths of RSJ span the studio for rigging, lighting and cloths. In 2012, permission was granted for the adaption and extension of the building to create and refurbish it into a 100-seat theatre.