The Family

PETER TATE

Founder and Artistic Director

I started the Playground as a space for artists to 'play'.

Previously I had been at The National Theatre and was hugely drawn to the NT Studio but found it somewhat of a closed door, at least to me. I vowed that if I ever had my own space I would have an open door policy as one can never tell who is in front of you and what unknown possibilities they may possess. So I started by gathering between 50-60 artists every year, across all disciplines, to offer them a safe space in which to create. Part of the idea was to see if cross-pollination could happen between say a dancer and a theatre director, a musician and a stage designer etc. We had the wonderful Lind Kerr Scott lead many workshops along with the late great Marcello Magni. International directors were invited to The Playground such as Henryk Baranowski, Salius Varnas and Hideki Noda to show different ways of working. It was a very fertile period in the history of The Playground and many projects developed here went on to have a life in theatre. However, many did not, even though I felt the quality was deserving of a further life.

Finally I decided to create the theatre for such development projects to have the chance for public performances in our space. Since our opening as a Theatre in 2017 we have given life to many such projects.

A multi-award winner actor, Peter has performed leading roles at The National Theatre, The Almeida, The Arts Theatre, The Lyric Hammersmith, the Arcola and many others in London, as well as The Baltic house, St Petersburg, The Pompidou Centre Paris, The Khan Theatre Jerusalem, The Public Theatre in NYC and played Macbeth at the Theatre Slaski, Poland. He has also worked in film, TV and with internationally acclaimed choreographers.

His Odd Man Out short film garnered 3 best actor awards at international festivals, and the stage version has won him various top prizes at international festivals including in St Petersburg, Jerusalem and Wroclaw in Poland. His second film One Man will premier in late 2023

As founder of The Playground Theatre Peter aspires to the same eclecticism, opening the doors to all types of projects, and aiming to guide artists into ever freer experimentation.

The Artistic Director

SIMON BEYER

Senior Creative Producer

Simon is a freelance theatre-maker working both creatively as a director, writer, composer, designer (sound/lighting) and musician; and in the production side as a producer, production manager, and technical and stage manager. Previous leadership roles include: Executive Producer and Founder of The Cock Tavern Theatre; Chair of The Board of Trustees for Stone Crabs Theatre Company; Executive Producer for Good Night Out Presents; Artistic Director of The Ant Theatre Company. He is no stranger to The Playground Theatre, having been General Manager during the Covid Years and producing two shows at the theatre through his production company Paper Breadcrumbs. He has also been lighting and sound designer on many projects at
the theatre. Other venues he has worked with include The Donmar, Polka Theatre, Oval House, Blue Elephant Theatre, Theatro Technis, and others. Simon joins The Playground Theatre as Senior Creative Producer and will be working alongside Peter, Naomi and the team to forge a new chapter in the theatre’s journey of creativity
and collaboration that will strengthen its role as an incubator for exciting new works of theatre – plays, musicals, dance, devised, immersive, poetry, live music and much more….

Theatre credits include:
A Level Playing Field, Riverside Studios (producer); When The Lilac Blooms My Love, Leicester Square Theatre (director); My Fifteen Minutes The Musical, New Wimbledon Studio (writer/director/producer); Studies For A Portrait, White Bear Theatre and transfer to Oval House Theatre (producer); Tales of Gin and Tonic,
Playground Theatre (producer); Ghosts In The Attic, Brockley Jack Studio / The Playground Theatre (writer/director); The Tempest, The Cock Tavern Theatre (director/composer); Fractures, Greenwich Playhouse (writer/director/producer); La Ronde, Brockley Jack Theatre (translation/director); Toy Boy/Living With, Blue
Elephant Theatre (producer); Me and My Girl, Edward Alleyn Theatre (director); Confusions, Gielgud Theatre, RADA (director); Habeas Corpus, Gielgud Theatre, RADA (director); Romeo and Juliet, Polka Theatre, Offie Award Winner 2025 Sound and Music (sound designer); Iphigenia, New Diorama Theatre (composer/lighting designer); The Werewolf of Washington Heights, Cockpit Theatre (sound/lighting designer); A Critical Stage, Tabard Theatre (lighting designer); Love and Destruction: One Man, Playground Theatre (lighting/sound designer); BADA Spring and Fall show seasons (seven seasons as production manager); Plastic Drastic
Fantastic, Akademi national tour (production manager); The Statesman, Theatro Technis (production manager).
His published plays – Complete Works Volume 1 – is available online via Amazon. Written works include Talking To Dad, My Fifteen Minutes the Musical, Windows, Blank, Fractures, Ghosts in the Attic, La Ronde translation and adaptation, Evie and The Friendly Dragon, The Rhapsody and The Rhythm.