Touring was not successful for the company, and in 1953 Joan Littlewood took the gamble of taking a lease on a permanent base at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, London. The theatre was derelict, no funds were available for renovation, and the actors cleaned and painted the auditorium between rehearsals. To save money the cast and crew slept in the dressing rooms (while Littlewood went back to her home in Blackheath). The theatre opened on 2 February 1953 with "Twelfth Night".