Our Spring Season is just around the corner and everyone at Shoreditch Town Hall is gearing up for all the exciting events taking place in our Grade II listed building over the coming month. In and around the season we have artist residencies, inspiring and insightful workshops, rehearsals and wonderful progress on our big project to improve accessibility to our building. Read on for your March #FriendsAtSTH – your monthly round up of interesting people passing through our building.

International Women’s Day at STH

History Tour

8 March

Join us on an International Women’s Day history tour around our Grade II Listed building and see spaces usually not open to the public. Featuring the stories of suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst, women’s rights advocate Helen Taylor, Shoreditch’s first woman mayor Henrietta Girling OBE and more. Due to popular demand an additional morning tour has been added. Grab your tickets before it sells out again by clicking here.

Bollywood Dance Workshop

8 March

Perfect for complete beginners, this energising session is your chance to learn new dynamic moves and dance to some of the best-known songs from popular Bollywood films. Feel like you are part of your very own musical and bring your friends, sister, nan or anyone who wants to come along! Book now by clicking here.

Women from Hackney’s History II Book Launch

8 March

Author Susan Doe‘s Women from Hackney’s History was published almost exactly four years ago. Since then, her research in local women has continued and now she releases volume two which features 115 women whose stories illuminate the history of Hackney. Join us as Susan talks about women with strong connections to Shoreditch Town Hall, including Georgiana Eagle, a professional magician in the mid 1800s, and others. Explore more here.

Theatre and Performance

ThisEgg’s A Little Inquest Into What We Are All Doing Here

11 – 15 March

We are thrilled to be bringing ThisEgg‘s London premiere of A Little Inquest Into What We Are All Doing Here to Shoreditch Town Hall as the headliner of our Spring Season. A show about censorship and freedom of expression, this piece of theatre – part autobiography, part fiction – questions the limits of performance: what we make it for, what we go to it for and what we are willing to stand up for. On 14th March join us for a free post show discussion on censorship in the arts, free speech, and the challenges of disagreement in today’s political and digital landscape. Book tickets to the show and post-show now.

Queer Noise

13 March

Following a sold out performance at last year’s Summer in The Ditch, Queer Noise are back for an evening of queer music, poetry and performance from some of the UKs most exciting new artists. Celebrating and platforming difference, creativity and queerness, expect some kooky storytelling, innovative performance and of course gorgeous sounds. Explore more here.

London Handel Festival’s A Mythical Double Bill: Tales of Apollo & Hercules

27 – 29 March

The wonderful London Handel Festival are taking over our Assembly Hall stage for a brand-new and original Handelian double bill. Tales of Apollo and Hercules will explore the lives of two tragic and divine half-brothers and recount their quest for love, their battles with choice and anguish, and their acceptance of fate. Learn more about the show here.

Supporting Artistic Communities

Emma Spearing Residency

24, 25 & 27, 28 March

Emma Spearing, an actor and theatre maker takes residency in our Large Committee room. Currently writing and creating an autobiographical (solo-ish) show called WHOLE which is set to tour in 2025. The show is about what it means to loose the person who completes you and wanting to open up conversation around death and grief. Find out more about the show here.

Ministry of Stories

26 March

Speak Up is Ministry of Stories‘ long running speech writing project. Over 9 weeks, local Hackney students work with Ministry of Stories facilitators to craft speeches to deliver in front of change makers, and they will hold the final event of this term at Shoreditch Town Hall. Each student gets to speak up on the subjects that matter to them to the people who can make real change. Find out more about Ministry of Stories by clicking here

Workshops

Marawa’s Majorettes

Weekly

Marawa’s Majorettes make everyone fall in love with hooping! They’ve become a leading fitness team and international performance troupe, teaching the world to hoop as they go. Every week we support the Majorettes by giving them space to rehearse at Shoreditch Town Hall. Explore more here.

Theatre Re: Monthly Training Classes

23 March

Town Hall favourites Theatre Re continue their monthly Sunday training sessions for professional, semi-professional, recent graduates and performers-in-training. Led by Theatre Re Director Guillaume Pigé and other members of the company. Rooted in Theatre Re’s training and creative process, sessions focus on conditioning the body in preparation for: rigorous training, Corporeal Mime repertoire and technique, as well as improvisation and composition inspired by the company’s current projects. Find out more by clicking here.

Ballet Queer: Some Queer History of Us

30 and 31 March

Ballet Queer return are back at for a workshop and a residency this March. Their workshop, Some Queer History of Us, invites you to an open and joyful movement workshop led by their Artistic Director Jonathan Watkins. This unique session offers London based LGBTQ+ individuals the chance to explore movement, identity, and community in a safe and welcoming space – no formal dance training needed. It is an opportunity to become part of their latest creation process, as they develop their first live performance, Some Queer History of Us. This session is an invitation to explore and contribute to the themes that will shape this new work. Secure your space by clicking here.

DARKFIELD Masterclass: Making Immersive and Audio Experiences

25 March

Perfect for emerging artists, professionals, theatre makers and xr makers, step behind the scenes of DARKFIELD in this interactive masterclass and learn more about their unique creative practice. You will develop an understanding of immersive audio-based storytelling using binaural equipment to explore how to place the audience at the centre of an experience and ways to heighten immersion and interactivity. Sign up to the workshop here.

Access for all

If you have been to our building recently, you would have noticed a lot of building work happening outside of our doors. We are currently in the process of installing a ramp to replace the existing, unreliable lift and make access into our building easier than ever! We are so pleased with the work that has happened so far on it and there is not long to go until we can unveil our new ramp. Keep an eye on our socials to see how our transformation is going, and we look forward to showing you the finished product soon.