Burst pipe causes severe flooding at Jermyn Street Theatre

London’s Jermyn Street Theatre has been flooded after a pipe in a neighbouring building burst.

The fringe venue, on Jermyn Street in central London, had recently reached a £10,000 fundraising target to help secure its future after the Covid-19 pandemic, but is now facing extensive damage to its props and technical stores, dressing rooms, offices and archive.

The flood occurred on April 8, after a pipe burst in an abandoned basement of a nearby building. The resulting flood left the theatre’s basement area under 5ft of water.

Teams from London Fire Brigade and Thames Water worked for 14 hours through the night to pump 56,000 gallons of water out of the building.

The theatre’s artistic director, Tom Littler, thanked the fire and water services for attending the scene, as well as the venue’s co-founder and executive director, Penny Horner, who discovered the flood.

“We are now assessing the extent of the damage and our insurance cover. Anyone who knows Penny Horner and [fellow co-founder] Howard Jameson will know what a huge blow this is to them personally as well as to our theatre. Penny was, as always, a true theatre hero, working through the night without sleep. Please keep her and our theatre in your thoughts this Easter weekend.”

The theatre, which receives no public funding, is now appealing for additional help via crowdfunding, in order to repair the damage.

Among the items damaged were the props and costumes of the theatre’s production of The Tempest, starring Michael Pennington, which was forced to close after six performances because of the coronavirus shut down.