Unity Theatre

London's Unity Theatre was established in 1936 by the Rebel Players who, after many years of performing on street corners, on lorries and in community halls, converted a church hall in Britannia Street, London into a workers' theatre. The mainstay of the new theatre's artistic policy was the use of dramatic realism to educate, to encourage political action and to allow working class political and cultural expression. The name Unity Theatre was chosen to reflect this strategy. For over forty years, the theatre specialised in the portrayal of working class life from a left-wing perspective.

Unity's organisational structures were based on communist principles: a management committee, elected at an AGM by club members, had oversight of a network of sub-committees responsible for the different aspects of the organisation. In addition to its productions and drama workshops, the theatre offered training in other aspects of the entertainment industry to working class people from London's East End. Unity also provided a wide range of social activities, including lectures on politics and drama, summer schools, film shows, dances and a string quartet. Many of its members went on to work in the commercial theatre, film and television as performers, writers, producers, technicians, administrators and agents. Some Unitarians became well known, including Lionel Bart, Alfie Bass, Michael Gambon, Bob Hoskins and Bill Owen.

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