History of Theatre Royal Stratford East: 1979 - 2004

Before becoming Artistic Director, Philip Hedley had worked as assistant to Joan Littlewood for some years. His first choice of play as Artistic Director in 1979 was Mustapha Matura's Welcome Home Jacko which opened on 17th March 1979.

He continued and expanded the educational work started by Joan Littlewood.

Ever since that point, the theatre has striven to constantly further its reputation for speaking to its diverse local audience. This commitment to portraying, expressing, and giving voice to the large number of social and ethnic community experiences in East London has become one of the Theatre Royal's defining features, and continues into the new millennium.

The theatre engaged in large-scale co-productions with nearly all the leading subsidised Black and Asian companies, including Black Theatre Co-operative/NITRO, Talawa, Tamasha, Moti Roti, and Tara Arts.

In 1999 the Theatre Royal began its development of Musical Theatre Initiatives with the first Musical Theatre Writing Workshop in July 1999 and then again in July 2000 and 2001. Led by lecturers in musical theatre writing from the Tisch School of the Arts in New York, the workshop brought together an eclectic group of experienced writers, composers and music producers to explore what it means to write a musical. There were seminars and lectures on the craft of musical theatre writing and collaboration.

Philip Hedley in 2004 after twenty-five years of stewardship resigned and Kerry Michael was appointed Artistic Director.