Greenwich Playhouse to close

The Greenwich Playhouse is to close after twenty years of service to theatre and following a final production by Galleon Theatre Company of The Duchess of Malfi.

The Greenwich Playhouse will close in April 2012 as the theatre's landlords - Beds and Bars - have decided not to renew this "popular" South East London venue's lease in order to "exploit commercial opportunities" offered by the Olympics. Theatre landlord's Beds and Bars, run hostels throughout Europe, offering cheap bunk-bed facilities for backpackers.

A statement from Beds and Bars says, "We purchased the freehold of the Greenwich site in July 2009. Prior to this it was owned by the Punch pub company. We sublet the theatre space to the Galleon Theatre Company. This lease has always had an end date of 12th April 2012. We took the decision last year that we wanted to operate the space ourselves and be in control of what we owned, and we notified the Galleon Theatre Company of this in June 2011. "

The Duchess Of Malfi by John Webster is at the Greenwich Playhouse from 21 Feb 2012 - 18 Mar 2012.

Directed by Bruce Jamieson, design by Charlotte Randell, lighting by Philip Jones, costumes by Natasha Piper, produced by Galleon Theatre Company.

John Webster's Jacobean tragedy begins as a love story, with a Duchess who marries beneath her class, and ends as a nightmarish tragedy as her two brothers exact their revenge, destroying themselves in the process.