»Psychopaths, scandal and nudity are set for the stage of an eagerly anticipated new auditorium.

The Park Theatre, in Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, will officially open its door on May 8 and has announced a glittering array of shows for the inaugural season.

The programme at the £2.5million venue includes two in-house productions, along with six shows from visiting companies featuring the likes of film star Maureen Lipman.

Jez Bond, artistic director at the theatre, said: “Our inaugural season features a fantastic blend of blend of classics and new writing from around the globe in both our theatre spaces.

Culturally engaged

“Finsbury Park and the surrounding area is one of the most culturally engaged parts of London, but it hasn’t had its own professional theatre for over 50 years. I’m delighted to announce that you can now experience great drama in N4.”

The first season, which runs until September, features a whopping four premieres, as well as classical favourites across the Park Theatre’s two stages.

At the larger 200-seat arena Maureen Lipman, who appeared in The Pianist and Educating Rita, appears in the first run of Daytona, and June sees the arrival of a remake of Richard Sheridan’s popular The School for Scandal.

In May the smaller 90-seat venue welcomes The Thing about Psychopaths, a production about surviving in the corporate jungle. The opening show will be Melanie Marnich’s These Shining Lives, a story of the 1930s female Radium Dial workers in the US, under the direction of Loveday Ingram.

Cllr Phil Kelly, former mayor of Islington who represents Finsbury Park, said: “I am very pleased we’ve got it. It’s a wonderful investment and I think it’s a fantastic contribution to Finsbury Park. I’m sure it will be a catalyst for change in the area and for the people living there.”

The theatre has received considerable attention from the local community and art industry, with support from Tamzin Outhwaite, Sir Ian McKellen and Alan Rickman.