Leith venue removed from theatres at risk register

Leith Theatre opened in 1932 as a gift to Leith from the people of Edinburgh Leith Theatre is one of only two UK venues which have been removed from this year's Theatres at Risk Register. The list is published annually by The Theatres Trust, the advisory body which promotes and protects theatre buildings across the UK. The historic Edinburgh theatre was on the at-risk register for almost a decade before being awarded £4.5m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund last year. Three other Scottish venues - Motherwell Concert Hall and Theatre, Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh and Dundee's King's Theatre, remain on the risk register. North Lanarkshire Council has submitted plans for the demolition of Motherwell's 1,600-seat concert hall and 392-seat theatre, which has been closed since 2023 following the discovery of reinforced aerated concrete (RAAC) in the infrastructure. The Brunton in Musselburgh, which is managed by East Lothian Council, is also due to be demolished for the same reason. Both councils say they considered repair, sale or transfer of ownership but demolition was the only economically viable option. The King's Theatre in Dundee has been closed since the 1960s and suffers from a water-damaged roof. The building in the city's Cowgate retains its original auditorium and there have been several attempts to launch restoration plans. The Theatres Trust chief executive Joshua McTaggart said there was still time for communities to stake their claim in the affected theatres. "Returning these buildings to public use would require significant investment," he said. "Given the lack of alternative provision in those local areas, what we would see is not just buildings lost, but a place where people can gather, share stories, and connect with their community." McTaggart said the register existed to "remind people what's on their doorstep and more importantly, what they can do to try and keep that or revitalise that space for public good." He added that the trust understood buildings often reached the end of their lives and saving them may not be financially viable, in which case they would work with councils on "what alternative cultural provision is created in that area that matches what's being lost." Musselburgh's Brunton Theatre is facing demolition after RAAC was found there For Lynn Morrison of Leith Theatre Trust, which was formed in 2008 and has been hosting one-off events at the venue since 2016, the news is a small but important step in the move towards full restoration. "It's a real testament to the journey we've taken," she said. "But we still have a long way to go. People are so blown away to be back in the building for events, they can't see that we don't have running water in some parts of the building and that we're not wind or water tight." In the last few years, the campaign has reached a number of important milestones. The trust has signed a 50-year lease with City of Edinburgh Council, which owns the building. Its campaign has been allocated development funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which it hopes will allow it to unlock a further £4.5m, leading to a capital project bid. The trust has also secured £5m over the next three years from the council's Transient Tourist Levy. The B-listed building opened in 1932 and was badly damaged by a German bomb nine years later. It took more than two decades before the venue was repaired and reopened. It was used to stage opera, theatre and ballet during the city's annual festivals from the 1960s to the1980s, and operated as a music venue. Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh campaigns for the restoration of Leith Theatre The writer Irvine Welsh remembers seeing the band Mott the Hoople there in 1975 and has been a high-profile supporter of the restoration plans over the last decade. Next month, he and cast members from Trainspotting will mark the film's 30th anniversary at the theatre, as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Later this year, he plans to return for another theatre-based fundraiser. Lynn Morrison believes community support has never been more important, especially in this sensitive stage between fundraising and the use of the theatre as an active venue. "It's a building project and it's a heritage project but it's also a people project and it's thanks to the community that we've been able to save this building," she said. McTaggart agrees. Leith Theatre is just one of 80 venues which have been brought back into active use since the list began in 2006. "There's a real challenging economic climate for all theatres," he said. "Audience patterns are still shifting after the pandemic, even several years after we've been allowed to return to live performance spaces. "So I'd urge everyone to really think about Leith once it reopens. Go and see a show there, go and support it, because that's how we keep these spaces in public use. "By making sure that we are actually using them." Time has run out for one Scottish theatre. The King's Theatre in Kirkcaldy is one of four venues taken off the At Risk Register because the building has deteriorated so much that demolition is now proposed. Theatre-goers in the area are now served by the recently renovated Adam Smith Theatre and a smaller venue on the esplanade which has been named after the King's.