Encore: New act, Sugawn Theatre, in the first pub theatre debate

Published: 12 March 2010
by JOSH LOEB

IS it a case of “encore!” in the Great Pub Theatre Debate?

In February the Tribune revealed that two books are in production which make the same claim: to have found the oldest theatre pub in London.

Now make that three!

The Sugawn Memorial Committee, which celebrates the memory of a now defunct Irish theatre in Balls Pond Road, is compiling a history of the venue which it says predates its rivals for the oldest pub theatre crown: The King’s Head in Upper Street and Camden’s Pentameters Theatre.

This week, committee co-ordinator and Barnsbury resident, Doris Daly, came forward to the Tribune to stake her favourite playhouse’s claim to the exalted title.

She said: “Not wishing to enter into an altercation over the ‘row’ about the disputed first pub theatre in London, but just to put the record straight, the first pub theatre was in fact opened at the Duke of Wellington Pub, 119, Balls Pond Road N1 in 1967.” 

The King’s Head Theatre was founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford and Pentameters traces its origins to 1968 – making both younger than the Sugawn.

But they could still be contenders for the title of oldest still-existing pub theatre, the Sugawn having closed in the 1980s.   

In the run up to St Patrick’s Day, the Sugawn Memorial Committee is appealing for people to come forward with memories of the venue, which was founded by the late Irish novelist and playwright JM O’Neill. 

Ms Daly, who helped publicise the theatre in its heyday, said: “There was no other place like it at the time. 

“It was an oasis in the midst of political unrest at a time when Irish people were not getting a very good press.

“For us it was a Mecca. We had play readings but we also met other cultured people and artists.” 

Ms Daly now wants a plaque commemorating the Sugawn to be hung in the Duke of Wellington – an idea the pub’s manager, Pete Walker, said he was keen on when contacted by the Tribune this week.

The disagreement over which pub theatre came first came to light after news that historian Mary Cosh is working on a history of the King’s Head.

She says its founder, Dan Crawford, kicked off the pub theatre craze before anyone else when he built the venue in 1970. 

The King’s Head also claims to be the “first pub theatre founded in England, since the days of Shakespeare”. 

The Duke of Wellington continues its thespian traditions to this day, having become a regular meeting place for members of am-dram collective Tower Theatre Company after they left their Canonbury Tower base in 2003. The Sugawn got its name from the Sugawn chairs imported to England, as the term “Sugawn” means hay rope in Gaelic. 

Anyone with reminiscences or memorabilia relating to the venue is invited to contribute to the book being prepared by contacting Ms Daly on thesugawntheatre@gmail.com