Overview

The King's Head is a fringe theatre in Islington, North London, which host a vast and varied theatre programme. Originally the theatre was housed in a pub, from which it takes its name. However, in early 2024 it opened after it relocated close by, following an extensive programme of building works. I really enjoyed my visit and the show Houdini's Greatest Escape was lots of fun. The theatre in many ways ticks many accessibility boxes it has step free access, wheelchair spaces in the auditorium, accessible toilets. However, given that it is a brand new theatre I feel extremely disappointed that more thought was not given to access.

Transport & Parking

The nearest tube stations are Angel and Highbury and Islington. Angel does not have any step free access and Highbury and Islington only has step free access to some and not all of its platforms. The easiest step free way to get to the theatre is to travel to King's Cross Station and then take the number 30 bus towards Hackney and alight at St Mary's Church bus stop. There are several buses that run the length of Upper Street and anyone one of those will stop at St Mary's. from the bus stop it is 1 -2 minutes level walk to the theatre.

Access

The theatre has step free access by lift and is spread over four floors, with the theatre and bars being below ground level. GROUND FLOOR The main entrance is here and it is a street level. There are large, manual glass double entrance doors. When we visited the door was closed when we arrived and was quite heavy to push. On the way out the door was already wide open. It opens out into a compact space with a small box office desk on the right hand side. Behind is a staircase with handrails on both sides which leads down to the theatre. Behind the box office desk is a lift of average size, which has raised push buttons. There is a bench style seating by the lift with no arms and back support from the wall. LEVEL - 1 There is Above Bar and toilets including an accessible toilet. LEVEL – 2 There is no public access to this level. LEVEL - 3 The main entrance to the auditorium. There is step free access to the back row only. However, due to the narrowness of space it does not provide any wheelchair user spaces. LEVEL - 4 This has step free access and wheelchair user spaces at the front of the theatre, in the front row only. There is also the Below Bar. When we visited the auditorium was laid out with terraced seating. Apparently the seating configuration can change for different productions. The seats are firm dining style chairs, with back support but no arms. There was a central staircase leading from the first to the back row, which did not have any handrails. The edges of the steps were painted white. I observed a couple of older people struggling with descending the stairs. We both felt that the angle of the staircase was quite steep. I've marked this section down due to the lack of accessible and step free seating in the auditorium.

Toilets

There are two accessible toilets one on on - 1 and the other on - 4 levels. I only visited the toilet at - 1 level. From the lift or staircase there is a short corridor to the accessible toilet. The toilet has a manual door with a wheelchair user sticker on it. It is open and does not require a RADAR key or a code. The toilet was rectangular in shape and was reasonably large. However, two bins block the transfer area next to the toilet. There are plenty of grab rails and an emergency cord that reached towards the ground. The toilet was clean, tidy and well maintained. I did not see the accessible toilet on Level - 4.

Staff

The staff were very welcoming, friendly and helpful. After the show I spoke to Becka and Lily about the accessibility. They were both keen to listen to my concerns, actively listened and were engaging. Thank you both for spending time with us to look at your website and discuss access issues.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

We really enjoyed the performance and it was very funny and entertaining. We would both be happy to return. However, I feel there are a few things that could be done to improve disabled access. 1) Better accessibility information on the website: On the How to Find Us page it would be helpful to add the nearest step free tube station. This would be King's Cross and from there take the number 30 bus to St Marys Church. On the Accessibility page it would be helpful to add that the theatre has wheelchair user spaces, how many and on which row. It was explained that the theatre has different seating configurations depending on the show. I assume that there are a few limited options. These could be listed on the website and include information about which rows are step free, so people requiring this can simply book online without having to contact and check with the theatre. It would be helpful on the access page if either photos/ and or videos could be added so people can view the facilities for themselves. Is there a hearing loop and if so could that information be included on the access page? It would be helpful to say that the nearest Changing Places toilet is at King's Cross Station. 2) Theatre Design I struggle and am deeply disappointed that a brand new theatre (opened 2024) has not got better disabled access. It is like the architects/ who ever approved it have gone in thinking about disabled access as a tick box, ie, we must provide step free and an accessible toilet. However, no thought has been given to how disabled people with a wide range of mobility impairments might practically use the space. There are heavy manual double doors at the entrance instead of automatic opening doors. The accessible toilet on Level - 1 has a manual and not a push button door. I did not check out the accessible toilet on Level - 4. The auditorium is very poorly designed for disabled access. Only the front row is accessible to wheelchair user. The back row, while step free too, has a narrowing entrance door and no space for wheelchair users. ALL other rows are only accessible by stairs and there are no handrails. This means that people with mobility disabilities are at a disadvantage as safe to get to seating options are limited. I would urge the theatre to have a re-think about its seating layout and work towards increasing step free and wheelchair user spaces. Where there are steps, grab rails could be installed to improve access and safety. If this can not be done for the entire auditorium, then to consider installing this in some of the lower level rows, and making people aware of this on their website. Installing a hearing loop if one is not already installed (I did not see information about it on your website, so assume that you don't have one). I would ask the theatre to address the issue of inequality in price range for wheelchair users. They are subjected to paying for the highest price tickets and by theatre design are prevented from booking the £10 tickets in the back row. For some of the shows the front row tickets are £25 - 27.50, which is more than double the cheapest tickets available. While it could be argued that disabled people can join the Access Scheme, it assumes all disabled people come to the theatre with a carer and will benefit from a free carer's ticket. However, many disabled people are independent and many may want to visit the theatre on their own. They are then forced to pay the highest prices for tickets and due to their access needs have no opportunity for a discounted ticket. This is unequitable and unfair. I will certainly be returning to the theatre but I hope some of the issues raised about improving access will be considered.

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