Location | Port-na-Craig, Pitlochry, Scotland |
---|---|
Coordinates | 56°41′53″N3°44′07″W / 56.698029°N 3.735306°W |
Public transit | Pitlochry railway station |
Type | Theatre |
Capacity | 544 |
Construction | |
Opened | 19 May 1951 (original tent theatre) 1981 (current building) |
Architect | James Dunbar-Nasmith |
Website | |
pitlochryfestivaltheatre |
The Pitlochry Festival Theatre is a large performing arts theatre located in the town and burgh of Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The idea of a performance space in the area was conceived in the late 1940s by John Stewart, a leading promoter of amateur dramatics in Glasgow. The theatre officially opened on 19 May 1951.
After the decline and subsequent closure of his Park Theatre Club in the West End of Glasgow, John Stewart decided to plan a theatre site in the Knockendarroch area of Pitlochry. However Stewart's plans were met with little success as building licences were refused by the Ministry of Works. [1]
Following this setback, Stewart had the idea of founding a tent-style theatre. After viewing the wet weather tent of London's Regent's Park and the Birmingham Arena Theatre, Stewart searched for the tents' construction company in Walsall, eventually investing in one for a theatre space for Pitlochry.
After construction work and promotion by the Scottish Tourist Board, the theatre officially opened on 19 May 1951. In his opening address, the chairman of the board and later Secretary of State for Scotland Tom Johnston said, "This theatre is a monument to one man’s courage, one man’s persistence, and one man’s great faith."
After 30 years of use and regular incidents of weather damage to the tents, it was decided in the late 1970s that the tent structure would be renovated and stabilised. Construction work began on a new theatre building at the current site, and eventually on 19 May 1981 the new theatre building was opened on the 30th anniversary of John Stewart's first tent. [2]
The theatre is now of great cultural importance to the Perthshire area. Every summer, the theatre and its surrounding area attract thousands of tourists with the theatre's famous summer season, which showcases a large amount of the country's talent in dramatic arts, comedy and writing.
Each summer the theatre offers six plays in daily repertory, enabling visitors to see six plays in six nights (or in four days if two matinees are included); the theatre asserts that "No other UK theatre attempts this extraordinary feat" and that the nearest similar offering is in Canada. [3] [4] For example, the 2018 season offered: Chicago the musical; Jim Cartwright's The Rise and Fall of Little Voice ; J. M. Barrie's Quality Street ; Tom Stoppard's Travesties ; Rodney Ackland's Before the Party ; and Rona Munro's The Last Witch . [3]
In 2014, it was announced that the Pitlochry Festival Theatre would undergo a £25 million expansion of the current building. Plans were made to have the expansion completed and opened for the theatre's 70th anniversary in 2021. [5]
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth estuary and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in mid-2020, making it the second-most populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area has a population of 912,490.
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951.
Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in west central Scotland. The city is the third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom and the 27th-most-populous city in Europe. In 2022, it had an estimated population as a defined locality of 632,350 and anchored an urban settlement of 1,028,220. The economy of Glasgow is the largest of any city or region in Scotland's economy, and the city's economic strength is reflected in its membership of the Core Cities Group.
The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportunities of Glasgow. At its peak, during the 1930s, the wider Gorbals district had swollen in population to an estimated 90 000 residents, giving the area a very high population density of around 40 000/km2. Redevelopment after WWII has taken many turns, and the area's population is substantially smaller today. The Gorbals was also home to 16 high-rise flat blocks; only six are standing as of 2024, and two are planned for demolition around Easter time 2025.
Glasgow Queen Street is a passenger railway terminus serving the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the smaller of the city's two mainline railway terminals and is the third busiest station in Scotland behind Central and Edinburgh Waverley.
Pitlochry is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.
Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port.
Stornoway is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides, and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland.
This article is intended to show a timeline of the history of Glasgow, Scotland, up to the present day.
Rona Munro is a Scottish writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television. Her film work includes Ken Loach's Ladybird, Ladybird (1994), Oranges and Sunshine (2010) for Jim Loach and Aimée & Jaguar (1999), co-authored by German director Max Färberböck. Munro is the second cousin of Scottish author Angus MacVicar.
The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and playwright in residence Paul Vincent Carroll is based in Glasgow, Scotland, as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various studio theatres over time.
James Allan Short, OBE, FRSAMD, known professionally as Jimmy Logan, was a Scottish performer, theatrical producer, impresario and director.
The Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre in Glasgow and the longest running in Scotland. Located at 282 Hope Street, its front door was originally round the corner in Cowcaddens Street. It currently accommodates 1,541 people and is owned by Scottish Opera. The theatre opened in 1867, adopting the name Theatre Royal two years later. It is also the birthplace of Howard & Wyndham Ltd, owners and managers of theatres in Scotland and England until the 1970s, created by its chairman Baillie Michael Simons in 1895. It was Simons who as a cultural entrepreneur of his day also promoted the building of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and Glasgow's International Exhibitions of 1888 and 1901.
John Michie is a Scottish television and film actor, known for his roles as DI Robbie Ross in the STV detective drama series Taggart, as Karl Munro in Coronation Street from 2011 to 2013 and his role as CEO Guy Self in Casualty and Holby City.
The King's Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Deirdre Davis is a Scottish actress. She is known for her role as Eileen Donachie in the BBC Scotland soap opera River City, which she starred in for almost 14 years, from its first broadcast on 24 September 2002 until May 2016. She has also appeared in the films Orphans (1998), The Debt Collector (1999), The Magdalene Sisters (2002), and The Rocket Post (2004).
Ena Lamont Stewart was a Scottish playwright.
Events from the year 1951 in Scotland.
The Gateway Theatre was a Category C listed building in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on Elm Row at the top of Leith Walk.
Ida Schuster was a Scottish theatre, radio and television actress, theatre director, and a leading figure in Glasgow's 20th-century Jewish theatre community.