Damian Quinn (as Carlos da Maia); Alice de Sousa (as Maria Eduarda) in The Maias at theatre last April

The Greenwich Playhouse theatre will close its doors after 17 years in April after landlords refused to renew their lease.

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The Duchess of Malfi, which opens on February 21 until March 18, will be Galleon Theatre’s last production at their home since 1995, above a pub next to Greenwich train station in Greenwich High Road.

Its owners Beds and Bars decided not to renew the lease and now Greenwich Council is helping the company find a new home.

The company’s artistic director, Alice de Sousa, said: “The Greenwich Playhouse and Galleon Theatre Company have over two decades made an immeasurable contribution to our capital’s cultural infrastructure. The Greenwich Playhouse is one of London’s most established small scale theatres. The work shown at this critically acclaimed venue draws annually from all over the world and the immediate community many, many thousands of people. The Greenwich Playhouse has been a platform for celebrating theatrical excellence since 1995, when Galleon Theatre Company became resident. It has staged hundreds of high quality theatre productions which have entertained and created work for hundreds of thousands of people.

“It is regrettable that the theatre’s landlord Beds and Bars, who have benefited for eleven years from generous revenue generated by the theatre’s substantial trade, should have their sights focused on such short term objectives as the Olympics.”

A spokesman for Beds and Bars said: “This lease has always had an end date of April 12.

“We took the decision last year that we wanted to operate the space ourselves and be in control of what we owned and we notified the Galleon Theatre Company of this in June 2011.”

The group’s managing director Keith Knowles said: “We intend to keep the space to be used much in the same way as it is now, and has been in the past. Indeed we would like to see the space used more for all aspects of the arts, and would be happy for you to let people know it’s there for this purpose.”

Tickets for the last production cost £13 and £10 for concessions. Call (0208) 858 9256, email boxoffice@galleontheatre.co.uk or visit www.galleontheatre.co.uk