Celebrating the Camden Inspire runners up — Camden People’s Theatre

6 min readApr 9, 2019

On December 6th 2018 at Camden Collective, we celebrated the best of Camden and Euston’s local independent businesses whose every day jobs are to offer a unique service, attract new customers and stand out from the crowd. It’s not easy, but what they do make our towns the special places they are. Running your own business in London means high rents and a hugely competitive market. But every day, these business owners continue to astound us with their commitment, innovation and fresh ideas.

Putting it to the public vote, we asked you to show your appreciation. 70 businesses took part this year across 6 categories and we had an amazing 6,000 votes, which we only hope to double next year! We’ve celebrated the winners, but it’s about time that we caught up with the runners up. We’ve already spoken to The Cheese Bar and Rudy’s Dirty Vegan Diner, now it’s time for a spotlight on the always inspiring Camden People’s Theatre. They came in extremely close second place in our ‘Best Arts and Cultural Venue’ category.

“We’re incredibly proud that we came a close second to the brilliant Camden Image Gallery. Word on the street is that there were only two votes in it! So, we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who voted, maybe 2019 will be our year.”

We spoke to CEO Kaya to find out more, but first, let’s begin with a little history…

Camden People’s Theatre was founded by a group of idealistic young artists, who opened the doors to their amazing building on the corner of Hampstead Road and Drummond Street in 1994. Over the years it has had created a wide array of high-quality art and entertainment with and for the Camden community, from Common Wealth Theatre’s award-winning Our Glass House (staged in a house on Agar Grove) to Subika Anwar-Khan’s Divided — in partnership with Hopscotch Asian Women’s Centre — to the People’s Theatre Award-winning Grown Up, made with pupils at Netley Primary school.

Over a quarter century, CPT has established a reputation across the UK and beyond as an essential performance venue supporting emerging artists to make innovative new theatre. (Some of the UK’s best-loved theatre and performance artists — from Scottee to Ridiculusmus, Amy Lamé to Chris Goode — made their early work at CPT).

They also take a very active role in supporting and speaking out for their local community, particularly in the context of the development of HS2. Recent funding from the HS2 Camden Fund will ensure we can increase that offer substantially.

CEO Kaya spoke about what sets Camden People’s Theatre apart:

“Coming to CPT is like relaxing in your living room. Right in the heart of corporate London, we are a little hub of comfort — there’s no stainless steel or mirrored glass in sight! We are a venue that champions risk-taking and supports artists making work about things that matter to people right now.

Our regular themed festivals are programmed in response to the most pressing issues facing society and our local community, including displacement, migration and refuge (‘No Direction Home’, autumn 2018), trans and queer identities (‘Come As You Are’, autumn 2017) and working-class experiences (‘Common People’, spring 2018).

You can always expect to see something brand new, that pushes boundaries, has an impact — and speaks with a voice you may not have heard before. Plus we reckon it’s one of the only places where you can see two shows in one night for just £16 and get a beer for £3!”

Kaya also spoke about what she loves about being based in Camden:

“Camden has always been our home. We’re proud and endlessly excited to be located in a borough that’s renowned worldwide for its cultural offer, that spans the centre of London and its most characterful neighbourhoods — and that’s home to such a diverse range of people. Our work is rooted in those people’s stories: we do our best to champion their voices and tackle the challenges they face. Camden, particularly our local wards of Regents Place and Somers Town, are being subjected to significant disruption over the next 15 years, and we are committed to supporting our residents and traders, young and old, to overcome the disruption caused by HS2.”

In 2016, Camden People’s Theatre partnered with New Diorama Theatre to create Camden Youth Theatre, the only free-to-access youth theatre for 13–19 year olds who live or go to school in Camden. Since its inception, the youth theatre has worked with 300+ young people and created two professional productions that have been performed at New Diorama Theatre, CPT, Battersea Arts Centre and most recently, as the headline act in the prestigious Chrysalis Festival in Edinburgh.

Camden Youth Theatre was created in response to the lack of free-to-access, arts-focused extra-curricular activity in the borough. We know that by 2022, Camden Council will have little resource for youth support, and CYT goes some way to filling that gap. This year, they received funding from the Mercers’ Charitable Foundation and John Lyons Foundation to expand the youth theatre to two groups, doubling the number of young people who can participate. Their latest production, a contemporary adaptation of Bryony Lavery’s NT Connections hit, ‘It Snows.’ The show will be presented at New Diorama on Sunday 5th and Monday 6th May, then at Camden People’s Theatre on Sunday 12th and Monday 13th May. Book tickets here.

They will also soon be recruiting for the summer term at CYT, so if you’re aged between 13–19 and live or go to school in the borough of Camden, get in touch with them and they’ll send over details of how you can get involved.

Poster image for Human Jam, CPT’s latest in house production about the excavation of St James’ Gardens

So what does CPT have in store for 2019?

“2019 marks our 25th anniversary — an incredibly exciting milestone for us. We will be celebrating throughout May with The Camden Roar, a three-week festival of shows about, by and for the people of Camden. The festival will feature a host of events, including our latest in-house production, Human Jam, that tells the fascinating story of the exhumation of 63,000 bodies from St James’ Gardens, now considered the biggest exhumation in European history, and a new show from beatbox theatre-makers Beats and Elements exploring London’s housing crisis and high-rise living. There are a few secrets still to be announced, so watch this space!”