Since its opening in 1980, the Tricycle Theatre has become one of London’s most respected and best-loved theatres.
The theatre was almost completely destroyed by a fire in 1987, but it was rebuilt two years later; its front of house facilities were enhanced and expanded and in 1998 a new cinema building was completed alongside the theatre.
The Tricycle now consists of a 230 seat theatre, a 300 seat cinema, a large rehearsal studio (endowed by Sir Cameron Mackintosh), a visual arts studio for educational use – The Paintbox (endowed by The John S Cohen Foundation), a smaller theatre / workshop space – The James Baldwin Studio, as well as a Café/Bar and Art Gallery and the Creative Space, built in 2001, which is used for educational and social inclusion workshops.
The theatre has a reputation for  presenting work which reflects the cultural diversity of its neighbourhood, in particular plays by Irish, African-Caribbean, Jewish and Asian writers, as well as responding to contemporary problems. In November 2006, the Tricycle Theatre won a Special Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for “its pioneering political work”.