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AN HISTORIC theatre looks set to move after warning supporters there are unlikely to be any new plays in the next six months.
 

The New End Theatre’s current home in New End, Hampstead, looks likely to become a synagogue.
 

Brian Daniels, chief executive of the New End Theatre, told the New Journal earlier this month he was considering sharing the venue with The Village Shul, an orthodox synagogue.
 

However, in an email to the theatre’s supporters this week he said that the building will cease to host productions at the end of this month, adding that the New End would attempt to relocate to new premises elsewhere in the area.
 

Mr Daniels wrote: “We are negotiating for the New End Theatre to relocate to a more user-friendly building within Hampstead and with easier car parking arrangements. It is likely though that there will be no productions for at least six months. Any remaining period of your membership will be transferred to the new building where we will have an exciting range of new drama to suit all tastes and pockets.”
 

Hampstead playwright Bernard Kops, several of whose plays have been staged at the New End, said the building, which was constructed as a mortuary in 1890, had a colourful history.
 

“I believe Karl Marx was laid out there when he died,” said Mr Kops. “One of my students wrote a play about Marx once. There was a Hampstead festival going on at the time and his play was put on for one day at the New End. It was a very nice venue and could have been wonderful but I think it lost its way somewhat.”  
 

The New End Theatre opened in 1974 and quickly won a reputation for providing a platform for new writing. In recent years it has hosted work by major writers including Steven Berkoff and Arnold Wesker.