The Canal Cafe Theatre

Newsrevue is my favourite show in the word. Long may it continue! Satire is alive and well and living in Little Venice.

I have been here a couple of times before. I really respect places like this, in that they offer something that is different and cultural.
The best experience that I have had here was at the theatre above the pub. I came here to watch the hilarious (and gorgeous) Lucy Porter do a pre-​Edinburgh Fringe performance. Not only was she amazingly funny, but she bought me a drink and a Ferrero Rocher after as a thanks for «enduring» experimental material. Good times.
It is pretty small up there in The Canal Café Theatre. It depends on how many people attend, as to whether you will be cramped and jostled, I suppose.
N.B. I really like The Bridge House pub below. It’s a kind of «shabby chic» type establishment. Most definitely worth building in some extra time to visit, both before and after a trip to the CCT!

I went to see Spark London, a storytelling event. It was fun, and I think the theatre was a pretty great venue for it. It’s a small, intimate theatre, that was a bit cramped. I reserved myself a seat from I guess the 2 dozen or so seats they had. It was adorable. We were quite close to the stage and the sound was great.

The little café here is sweet if a little nondescript. It’s really nothing to write home about but it’s a fine place to grab a tea and a slice of cake anyway.

I recently took a trip to the Canal Café Theatre with a group of friends, and regardless of the performance, I think the journey would have been worth it simply for the novelty of being in Little Venice — it’s a charming sleepy place that feels more like Cambridge than London, despite being deceivingly close to the centre. However, as far as i know, apart from the scenery, there’s not much else to draw you to the area, apart from this very pub.
The theatre is above the Bridge House Pub, which itself is very good — darkly atmospheric and serving good food, but the theatre is the strong point. It’s very small so the performance is instantly intimate, which could be off-​putting if you’re seeing a comedy with heckling potential — luckily, the show I saw (a brilliant series of sketches called The Unexpected Items) was not.
The tables, which are set across two levels in front of the curtained stage, seat about 6, and you can choose which one you want when you book — i’d say the nearer the front the better.
My visit here was a charming experience, and not simply for its location. I think the seating arrangement around tables makes your visit a more social affair and especially suits comedy performances.

The Canal Café Theatre is based upstairs at the Bridge House Pub. The pub is okay, but I wish to speak about the Theatre; because the theatre is what is really good about it. Although, actually, not that good at all.
The pub is situated perfectly in the heart of Little Venice, which is a remarkably picturesque area with great houses and a little lake; it’s worth coming here just to take a stroll around on its own.
The Canal Café Theatre is the regular home of News Revue, a play which is on a few times a month, a satirical look at current events. I think it’s where Rory Bremner started out. The venue itself is an interesting one, it has chairs and tables (naturally, tables without chairs would be odd). I’m pretty sure you can take food up from downstairs to enjoy during the performance, but you’d have to check.
When you buy a ticket to see a play, they ask you where you want to sit. Think this one through, as a bad choice can mean having you facing away from the stage (crazy, eh?) or sideways; which is okay-​ish but can hurt your neck! I find the seating arrangement a bit odd to be honest, it’s not the most comfortable way to watch a play, which may be part of the reason why I’ve never seen a large attendance here. I went to see a great comedy play called ‘Clever Peter’ but there were literally only about five people there.
Anyways, it’s a decent venue. I’d go there if the material is something you’re interested in; but if your decision is based purely on venue then you could do far better.

A very charming venue that lives above the Bridge House pub in Little Venice.
There is a traditional (but modestly sized) proscenium arch type stage with chairs and tables making up the audience space. This means that nearly everyone gets a good view and you have somewhere to put your drink when you are laughing so much you’re likely to spill it.
Mostly comedy gets put on here but it’s a pub theatre that almost anyone can hire out so gets the range of theatrical endeavours.
I’ll be going this Wednesday (9^th July) to see an Edinburgh preview. Fancy it?

The Canal Café Theatre sits on top of The Bridge House pub along the Little Venice Canal.
The pub itself is nice and dark with heavy theatre drapery here and there…
Visit their «What’s on» section in the website to have a peep at the acts upsatirs in the Canal Café Theatre, with former residencies from The League of Gentlemen bunch and Daniel Kitson… bills vary from the recognisable, warm ups to Edinburgh… and an impressive amount of new (well new to me at least) comedy writers… obviously it can be a bit of a gamble with that sort of thing but I’ve seen some very amusing fellows there …
shows seem to be on most nights.