London landmark becomes a comedy venue

London landmark The Cutty Sark is to become a comedy venue

The 19th-century clipper is to host a series of Edinburgh previews in its hold in the week running up to the Fringe.

During the daytime, the space is filled with chests, offering visitors a glimpse of how the cargo ship would have looked transporting tea and wool in its heyday.

But it can be converted into a 92-seat studio theatre within an hour. It is this space which will host comedians including Josh Widdicombe, Romesh Ranganathan,  and Katherine Ryan from July 24 to August 3.

'We are very excited to be hosting a mini Edinburgh Festival on-board Cutty Sark,' says theatre programmer Margie Barbour. 'Our warm-up for the Fringe includes some of the hottest comedians along with some rising stars.'

Cutty Sark, in Greenwich, reopened to the public in April 2012, after a devastating fire five years earlier.

Built on the Clyde in 1869, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, with a maximum logged speed of 17.5knots, until being made obsolete by steam ships.

The 963-tonne vessel is now part of the National Historic Fleet, the nautical equivalent of a Grade 1 Listed Building.

It is near the long-running Up The Creek comedy club, and the National Maritime Museum, which hosts the annual Greenwich Comedy Festival in September.

Click here for the Cutty Sark's listings

Published: 19 May 2015