About Hackney Empire

Hackney Empire opened on 9 December 1901, a music hall designed by Frank Matcham, and it's Grade II* listed. It's run by Hackney Empire, a charity, which also makes the panto every Christmas.

Hackney Empire's history

For its first fifty years it was a variety theatre, with two shows a night. Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, Harry Houdini, Marie Lloyd and Louis Armstrong all played here. In 1956 it became a TV studio for ATV, then from 1963 a Mecca bingo hall, and in the 1980s it came close to being knocked down for a car park.

A theatre company led by Roland and Claire Muldoon took it on instead and reopened it in 1986. Through the late 1980s and 1990s it was a home of alternative comedy, with Ben Elton, Dawn French, Lenny Henry, Jennifer Saunders and Julian Clary on its stage. A £17 million restoration followed, and the theatre reopened in 2004.

125 years

Hackney Empire turns 125 on 9 December 2026. An exhibition about the building, 125 Iconic Years, is in the foyer, free to look round before a show, and you can book a guided tour.

Notable past productions and performers

• Cinderella (2025), Dick Whittington and His Cat (2024) and Aladdin (2023), recent Hackney pantos, with Clive Rowe as dame, director or both
• Alternative comedy (late 1980s and 1990s), when The 291 Club was broadcast from here
• Take Your Pick and Oh Boy! (from 1956), filmed here when it was a TV studio
• Charlie Chaplin and Harry Houdini (early 1900s), in its music hall years

Other venues to know

• Cambridge Theatre, 1,246 seats on Earlham Street in Seven Dials
• Piccadilly Theatre, 1,232 seats on Denman Street, by Piccadilly Circus
• Aldwych Theatre, around 1,200 seats on the corner of Aldwych and Drury Lane