Thread by @timesculture

.@atsohoplace is the first new West End venue to open in 50 years and, in another first, there will be more lavatories for women than men thetimes.co.uk/article/sohopl…

The #atsohoplace theatre was unveiled today with its backers promising a flexible auditorium, 602 roomy seats with great sightlines, excellent acoustics, a range of productions and, thanks to an informal check by @thetimes, the prospect of shorter queues at the female lavatories

🚽 It has long been a gripe of female audience members that older theatre buildings have more bathroom space for men than women, with intervals largely taken up by queueing

After The Times conducted a survey of facilities — counting seven cubicles in the female space on two levels compared with three urinals and one cubicle in the male areas — theatre owner, Nica Burns, said her “secret had been discovered”

Burns said:

🗣️ “There are more women’s loos than mens. There can never be enough though. The truth is that women simply take longer than men. Men are more nippy. Time motion studies confirm this”

The theatre, which has been built above Crossrail’s Elizabeth Line at Tottenham Court Road, is due to open this autumn.

It was inspired by the ancient theatre of Epidaurus in Greece and informed by the desires of today’s audiences and creatives.

📹 See for yourself 👇

Burns, the chief executive of Nimax which operates another six theatres in the West End, said #atsohoplace would “add a different dimension to our vibrant West End landscape”

She added that the not-for-profit theatre would be a “bridge” between the commercial West End and the smaller, subsidised theatres.

The National Theatre complex is the only other venue which offers flexible seating and rehearsal space

Its opening comes amid financial uncertainty for the theatre industry and with international audiences not yet back to pre-pandemic numbers
thetimes.co.uk/article/how-th…

It also comes after years of grumbles about facilities in the West End’s theatres, the majority of which date back to the Victorian era and which have the traditional inflexible proscenium arch stage

The auditorium will initially be “in the round” when it opens in the autumn, with audiences wrapped round the stage in what Burns termed a “hug”.

A 6ft 4in guest at today’s preview declared himself happy with the legroom, writes @dmcstimes

Read the full story 👇
thetimes.co.uk/article/sohopl…