1. © James Perry
    © James Perry
  2. courtesy Wilton's Music Hall
    courtesy Wilton's Music Hall
  3. © Rob Greig
    © Rob Greig
  4. © Mike Twigg
    © Mike Twigg
  • Theatre | Performing arts space
  • Wapping
  • Recommended

Wilton's Music Hall

This freshly refurbished historic theatre is more gorgeous than ever

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Time Out says

Walking down Graces Alley towards Wilton's Music Hall is a bit like stepping into another world – or rather back in time to the mid-19th century, when John Wilton opened his concert hall behind the Mahogany Bar pub. Thanks in part to the Methodist Church and John Betjeman, this lovely old building has survived the intervening century and a half more or less intact.

The exterior – cobbled together from five Victorian house fronts – is chicly shabby, with peeling paint in mismatched colours, and long-extinguished gas lamps hanging along the walls beside flower baskets (brimming in the summer). And a sensitive refurb in 2015 made the wise decision to keep the same artistically crumbling vibes going inside: the theatre's church-like auditorium now features modern lighting, heating and ventilation, but most of the period features are still in place, albeit faded: the 'barley sugar' cast iron pillars, the sloping wooden floor, the carved balcony and the classical arches around the upper walls. And the attractively crumbling plasterwork, gilt, and exposed brickwork throughout the building make it one of London's most beautiful theatres.

Wilton's acknowledges its history as a music hall with a line-up that often features opera, musicals, and concerts. There are also touring dates of big-name theatre shows, plus one-off cabaret shows that set the piano jangling in Wilton's bohemian downstairs bar. One of the world's oldest surviving music halls and an architectural gem, it remains a choice hang-out for the post-work crowd, who enjoy its wine list and cocktail menu both in its plethora of inside nooks, split across three rooms, and in the lamplit Grace's Alley outside.

Details

Address
1-4 Graces Alley
off Ensign St
London
E1 8JB
Transport:
Tube: Tower Hill/Aldgate East
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What’s on

Potted Panto

They’ve given us ‘Potted Potter’ and ‘Potted Pirates’; now Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner and their director and co-writer Richard Hurst are back, with a madcap dash through all the big panto favourites. Role-swapping, silly costumes and cut-price props underpin their knockabout two-man storytelling, and they have the direct appeal of a couple of overgrown kids engaged in a game whose rules they make up as they go along. Jeff, shorter, more serious, is the theatrical glue; lanky Dan is the prankster, ever ready with a daft quip, a slapstick stunt and occasionally a naughty innuendo. The cleverly judged balance of childish simplicity and adult sauce means the show engages parents as well as their offspring. There’s even a dash of satire: in ‘Dick Whittington’ a Boris Johnson wig turns the hero into a modern-day Lord Mayor of London. Occasionally you suspect that they might be having more fun up on stage than we are watching them. But it’s jovially done; and if it’s a simple offering, there’s a lot to like about a Christmas show that relies on wit rather than glitz.

  • Panto
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