Latest news with #LeithTheatre
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Angus Robertson urges Edinburgh festivals to expand
Mr Robertson said the move could to out-of-town locations, such as Leith and Edinburgh Park, could help spread the benefits of the festivals and ensure more people had 'easy access' to culture. Read more: The Edinburgh Central MSP told The Herald that a new festivals taskforce could help improve public transport services during major events like the Edinburgh International Festival, the Fringe and the Tattoo. And he indicated that the government would consider new 'interventions' to tackle the cost of accommodation in Edinburgh during the peak tourism season when most of its festivals are being staged. Culture secretary Angus Robertson. (Image: Scottish Parliament) He suggested that the festivals had been a victim of their own success due to the popularity of the city and admitted that some people had been 'priced out' of the coming to its cultural events. The capital's festivals, which date back to 1947, are largely staged in a small part of the city, particularly in the Old Town and south side, including around Edinburgh University's main campus. Significant changes in recent years have included the relocation of the Edinburgh International Book Festival out of the New Town and into the Edinburgh Futures Institute complex at the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Several other Fringe venues in the New Town have stopped operating, while the Edinburgh International Festival is no longer using Leith Theatre after several years of staging contemporary music concerts there. The Edinburgh International Book Festival relocated to a new home at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, near the Meadows, last year. Two new taskforces have been created in the last year which are expected to help shape the future of Edinburgh's festivals and tackle some of their biggest challenges, including rising costs, shortage of affordable accommodation, congestion in parts of the city centre and pressures on public transport. Mr Robertson instigated a new 'strategic partnership' for Scotland's leading arts festivals doing Edinburgh's annual cultural celebration last summer, while Edinburgh City Council has led the creation of a new 'festivals leadership group' which will also involve the Scottish Government and its agencies. Mr Robertson told The Herald: 'It is for cultural programmers to make decisions on where they would confident about having successful runs. 'I think it would be tremendous if venues in different parts of the city could host events for the festivals. 'There are already great venues outwith the city centre that have a lot to offer. You only have to look at the example of Leith Theatre as a potential festival venue. 'People in Edinburgh are fantastic supporters of the festivals. 'But I think there are lots of opportunities for Edinburgh's festivals to be more accessible and to make sure there is easy access for Edinburgh's different communities. 'I am confident there will be new festival venues in future that have good infrastructure links that make it easier for people to go to them and there will be greater community benefit from them.' Mr Robertson said he believed there were 'a number of ways' that festivals could be better supported in future to ensure they remain 'world-class' events, citing the cost of accommodation and public transport availability as examples of key areas to tackle. He told The Herald: 'We are going to have to understand what potential interventions there are that might be able to satisfy many of the concerns that have been raised. 'There is no getting around the fact that Edinburgh is an extraordinarily popular city. 'It is a sign of the success of Edinburgh's festivals that so many people want to come to the city and stay in the city. 'There is an issue of supply of supply and demand. I understand that some people have been priced out. 'Interventions have already been made to provide student accommodation, but we need to think about all options which might make a difference. I am open to suggestions that people have. 'But there is also a balance to be struck for people who live in Edinburgh, about quality of life in a world-class visitor attraction. These are challenges popular cities around the world also have to face.' Mr Robertson said he had asked festival organisers for their 'best information' on what public transport changes would make a difference to them. He said: 'It's really important to make sure that we make sure that, with the convening power of government, our public agencies work in partnership with festivals so that they can reach their full potential.'
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
The projects transforming Edinburgh's cultural landscape
A cultural revolution stretching across the city will involve a rolling programme of openings of new and reborn venues embracing almost every imaginable art form. Significant gaps in the city's cultural infrastructure will be tackled by some projects, while others will see the future of some of the city's most important landmarks secured. The changes are expected to help the city attract a host of performers and companies who would otherwise bypass the city, as well as encourage a greater geographical spread of the city's festivals and events. The first taste of what is to come will unfold this weekend in Leith Theatre, when the venue reopens for the first time in nearly three years to host performances of a new musical inspired by the classic Scottish film comedy Restless Natives. A 'pop-up summer season' of shows, which also feature a stage adaptation of Leith-born author Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting sequel Porno, was announced shortly before an announcement that the National Lottery Heritage Fund had pledged £4.5 million to get a long-awaited full-scale refurbishment off the ground. The building was originally a gift from Edinburgh to Leith following its controversial amalgamation in 1920, although the venue did not open until 1932 and was forced to close in 1941 after almost being destroyed by a bomb blast during the Second World War. The Leith Theatre Trust launched in the wake of a campaign more than 20 years ago and successfully thwarted city council plans to sell off the building, which closed in 1988 due to its declining condition. Leith Theatre has been reopened on a temporary basis for events like the Hidden Door festival since 2017. (Image: Chris Scott) More than two decades after the original campaign and eight years on from the first of a series of temporary openings for events, including Hidden Door and the Edinburgh International Festival, the trust has also finally secured a 50-year lease from the city council, which was seen as critical to unlock the long-term revamp. Leith Theatre has not been open as a year-round venue since the 1980s. (Image: RYAN BUCHANAN / LEITH THEATRE) Trust chief executive Lynn Morrison described the funding breakthrough as a 'zeitgeist moment' after years of behind-the-scenes efforts to get a refurbishment off the ground. She told The Herald: 'It allows us to develop a plan that celebrates this beautiful building design and original intent while preparing it for its future life. 'By celebrating both heritage and innovation we are creating a space that honours its past while we head full steam in to our exciting future. 'Leith Theatre's potential is extraordinary. It's a space where music, performance and community activity can coexist. This building is and will be for everyone – a cultural treasure on your doorstep.' Edinburgh's reborn Filmhouse cinema is due to open to the public on June 27. (Image: Filmhouse) The campaign to reopen the Filmhouse on Lothian Road may not be as long as the one to bring Leith Theatre back to life, but its supporters will finally be able to celebrate its return this month, after nearly three years of efforts to bring the art house cinema back to life. The Filmhouse had been running for more than 40 years when its doors suddenly closed in October 2022 after its operating company went into administration. Both the cinema and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which was also run by the Centre for Moving Image, ceased trading with immediate effect. The campaign to bring Edinburgh's Filmhouse cinema back to life saw images of classic films, including Gregory's Girl, projected onto the building. (Image: PA) Within weeks, a Save the Filmhouse campaign was up and running, while a group of former staff launched a bid to raised £2m to buy the building from the administrators after it was put on the open market. Although initially unsuccessful, the four-strong team led by former chief executive Ginnie Atkinson persuaded Caledonian Heritable, the Edinburgh-based bar and restaurant operator who snapped up the building for £2.65m, to agree to negotiations over a potential lease agreement to bring the Filmhouse back to life. Their new charity, Filmhouse (Edinburgh) Ltd, would go on to secure a 25-year lease, and £1.5m in funding from the UK Government to pay for a refurbishment which was seen as critical to the future success of the reopened cinema. A crowdfunding campaign supported by screen industry figures like Jack Lowden, Alan Cumming, Ewen Bremner, Kate Dickie, Charlotte Wells, Dougray Scott, Brian Cox and Emma Thompson has generated £325,000 to date. The fundraising is expected to continue after the planned public opening date on June 27, with a second phase of work expected to add a fourth screen to the venue later in the summer. New seating has been installed in the three screenings rooms, which will have a lower capacity but more leg room, while the much-loved café-bar Ms Atkinson said: 'The whole place is looking absolutely gorgeous. All the seats are in, the café-bar has been completely redone and the foyer looks amazing. It really will be a different place. 'We're really pleased and happy. It's been a long haul, but the reason Filmhouse been sustainable is because we've had so much support from our audiences. 'We also hope that a lot of new people will come and experience Filmhouse for the first time once we reopen.' Although the finishing line will not be reached till next year, the next capital project to completed will be the biggest ever refurbishment of the King's Theatre since it opened in 1906. Laurence Oliver, Noel Coward, Maggie Smith, Simon Callow, Maria Callas, Ian McKellen, Rikki Fulton, Chic Murray, Stanley Baxter, Harry Lauder, Sean Connery, James Corden and Cillian Murphy are among the famous names to have performed at the venue. However, it was said to be at increasing risk of closure without a full-scale refurbishment, which was first explored more than 20 years ago. The revamp, which has been delayed by around three years by the Covid pandemic and a rise in costs, from an estimated £20m in 2018 to more than £40m currently, is finally due to be unveiled in the spring of 2026 ahead of the Edinburgh International Festival returning in the summer. Key improvements include the installation of lifts to improve accessibility throughout the building, refurbished dressing rooms, bar and foyer spaces, the installation of a new 'fly tower,' a new stage and backstage area, a new ground-floor café and box office, and a new studio space. Work is underway to turn the former Royal High School building on Calton Hill into a new National Centre for Music and concert venue. (Image: Richard Murphy Architects) The next big project due for completion after the King's is expected to be the National Centre for Music, the project which will finally bring the long-running saga over one of Edinburgh's most prominent landmarks to an end. Work is well underway to transform the former Royal High School building on Calton Hill into a new National Centre for Music and concert venue after decades of discussion and debate about what it should be used for. The project will open up the A-listed building - last in permanent use when the school relocated to a new site in 1968 - and its grounds to the public throughout the year, is being pursued after a number of previously proposals for the building, including a parliament building before the 1979 devolution referendum, a luxury hotel and a National Photography Centre. (Image: Tom Stuart-Smith Studio) The National Centre for Music, which emerged out of plans to relocate an independent music school to the site, will have three indoor performance spaces and the first new public gardens in the city since the creation of Princes Street Gardens more than 200 years ago. It is one of two city centre cultural projects being bankrolled by Scotland's biggest arts philanthropist, Carol Colburn Grigor, through her Dunard Fund charity, which has committed at least £45m to the £69m project. The National Centre for Music is planned to be 'busy day and night,' with rehearsals, recordings, workshops and performances from orchestras, bands, choirs and small ensembles. The main hall will be able to accommodation audiences of up to 300, while two smaller spaces will each have a capacity of around 100. Chief executive Jenny Jamison, who is planning for a summer 2027 opening, told The Herald that various enabling, investigation and clearing works were currently being carried out in and around the site to allow the main construction work to get underway within the next few months. She said: 'We want this to be a place that celebrates the full richness of Scottish music-making, across all genres and across all levels of experience. 'You might come here to try out an instrument for the first time or you might come here or listen to a top artist. 'We want it to be a place where people are exposed and up-close to music-making and that the inspiring interaction hooks them in to explore further. 'The centre will offer really complementary new infrastructure to what already exists in the city. 'Our main hall will be at a really nice level for an emerging artist looking to step on to a bigger stage, but equally for established artists who are wanting to do something a bit more experimental.' Edinburgh's new indoor concert arena is due to open by 2028. (Image: AEG Europe) Concerts and events of a completely difference scale are to get underway less than a year after the National Centre of Music's planned opening. The first quarter of 2028 is now earmarked for the opening of a long-awaited new indoor arena for the city. AEG, the company behind The O2 in London, is spearheading the 8500-capacity complex, which is expected to host up to 150 shows and attract 750,000 ticket-holders a year once it is up and running. Edinburgh is due to get a new 8500-capacity indoor concert arena by 2028. (Image: Canva) The project, which is earmarked for a new 'urban quarter' already taking shape in the Edinburgh Park area, was backed by the city council a year ago after decades of complaints from music fans in the capital about having to travel to Glasgow or England to see the biggest names in the music business. Alistair Wood, executive vice-president of real estate and development at AEG Europe, told The Herald: 'Securing planning permission last year allowed us to move ahead with our plans, from progressing design work to entering discussions with contractors and sub-contractors. 'We have funding in place, and now we're in the procurement phase. Once we have a final design, suppliers and contractors we'll break ground. We hope to begin construction early in 2026. 'We're excited to start the build process as soon as possible so that we can bring world-class acts to Edinburgh. We're hoping that the new arena will open its doors during the first quarter of 2028, with fans able to purchase tickets to the first shows during 2027. 'We've initiated discussions with a range of brands regarding naming rights opportunities. As expected, there's been strong interest in what is set to become one of the UK's most iconic venues. 'While we're still three years away from opening, these conversations mark the early stages of an exciting journey.' Edinburgh's first new concert hall for a century is due to be created in a gap site off St Andrew Square by 2029. (Image: David Chipperfield Architects) Back in the city centre, a gap site in the New Town, just off St Andrew Square, has already been cleared for what will become Edinburgh's first new concert hall for a century, which is pencilled in for a 2029 opening. The project is the second in the city centre being bankrolled by the Dunard Fund, this tune to the tune of £35m. Another £45m worth of private donations are said to have been pledged to date, with a further £25m in total committed by the Scottish and UK governments, and the city council. The Dunard Centre is due to open in the heart of Edinburgh's New Town in 2029. (Image: David Chipperfield Architects) First announced almost nine years ago, the Dunard Centre will be created on the site of former Royal Bank of Scotland offices, which were built in the 1960s behind Dundas House, the historic building which was acquired in 1825 for the bank's new headquarters and is still the registered head office. The 1000-capacity all-seater venue will provide a year-round home for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and become one of the Edinburgh International Festival's key venues. The Dunard Centre is being designed by the award-winning British architect David Chipperfield and the world-leading Japanese acousticians Nagata, for the company's first venue in the UK. The venue is expected to host combines classical, pop, rock, folk, jazz and electronica concerts, as well as spoken word events. Chief executive Jo Buckley told The Herald: 'Edinburgh is a cultural capital, but that is only going to keep being a cultural if it keeps investing in that future. 'We have astonishing venues in the city, but they are not modern purpose-built concert halls. The Dunard Centre is about what the city already has. 'There have been a raft of reports showing the need for a mid-sized concert hall in Edinburgh – it's the gap in the market that we don't have. 'There is a whole range of artists who are just not coming to Edinburgh at the moment. They are coming from the United States or Europe to do a gig in London, but don't come up to Scotland. 'The infrastructure is missing but also missing is a promoter curating a programme that brings together quality and diversity in the one place. A lot of Scottish artists are going elsewhere to perform but I don't know that we are seeing the return traffic as much as we should be. 'I think people will travel to Edinburgh for the building and its acoustics, as I don't think you will get better sound anywhere else in the UK.'
Scotsman
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Restless Natives creator Ninian Dunnet on the new stage version: 'the parallels are still so strong'
Ninian Dunnett wrote Restless Natives 40 years ago, but a new musical version shows how relevant the story remains today, writes Joyce McMillan Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Ninian Dunnett is an Edinburgh man through and through. His father was legendary Scotsman editor Alistair Dunnett, his mother the novelist Dorothy Dunnett, famous for her brilliant historical adventures based on Scottish history. And although his own life as a writer and journalist has often taken him far from his native city – notably for spells in the United States – he has always returned home; where, these days, he teaches a course in popular music at Edinburgh University, as well as continuing his writing career. They say, though, that a little distance makes it easier to see the home place clearly; and Dunnett was working as a young journalist in Newcastle, at the moment in the early 1980s when he wrote the script that would make his name in the world of film. 'I didn't even know what I was writing, really,' says Dunnett. 'It was just little scribbles and notes here and there. And those were busy times in the north-east of England; the miner's strike was looming, and I was out there interviewing people whose livelihoods were on the line, and who mostly weren't too keen on journalists. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'But I picked up this leaflet in my bank advertising a screenwriting competition – the Lloyds Bank National Screenwriting Competition 1984 – and I decided to enter. I tidied my material into the script that became Restless Natives, and to my huge surprise it won the prize, which was a chance to take the film forward to production. The Clown and the Wolfman pictured in Leith Theatre PIC: Colin Hattersley 'I don't know if opportunities like that still exist, now, for complete outsiders to get a foothold in the film industry. But for me, it was fantastic; and it marked the beginning not just of a new career, but of what have become lifelong friendships, particularly with the director, Michael Hoffman, and Andy Paterson, who was a co-producer on the original film.' And it's those friendships that have come back into play 40 years on, as Dunnett, Hoffman and Paterson work together again – with a whole new team of artists and co-producers – to create a new stage musical version of Dunnett's much-loved story. The 1985 film features actors Vincent Friell and Joe Mullaney as Will and Ronnie, a pair of dead-end kids from Wester Hailes who, in the darkest moments of the Thatcherite 1980s, decide to get on board Ronnie's Suzuki motor bike, don a pair of wolf-man and clown masks acquired from the Edinburgh joke shop where Ronnie works, and launch themselves into a new and lucrative career as latter-day highwayman, holding up tourist buses full of wealthy Americans on some of the most scenic roads in the Highlands. The pair soon become media legends, redistributing some of their winnings in deprived areas of Edinburgh; and Will also acquires a love interest, in the shape of rebel tour guide Margot. The police, though, are in hot pursuit; and the film unfolds as a slightly surreal light-touch comedy caper, in a similar vein to other 1980s' Scottish film hits Gregory's Girl and Local Hero. And despite the 40-year gap between the film and the musical, Dunnett and the rest of the team have seen no reason to update the story from its 1980s' setting. 'We felt that we just didn't need to move it,' says Dunnett. 'Despite all the changes of the last 40 years, the parallels are still so strong. And, of course, there's the wonderful music by Big Country that helped shape the film. We couldn't lose that wonderful 1980s Celtic rock romanticism; and with our terrific composer Tim Sutton, and full support from Big Country and Stuart Adamson's family, we've been trying to reflect that spirit in developing the songs for the musical.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Set to open at Perth Theatre on 24 April, before a Scotland-wide tour, the musical features a multi-talented cast of eleven, including young actors Kyle Gardiner and Kirsty MacLaren as Ronnie and Margot; and they agree that despite the 40-year time lapse, in many ways the Restless Natives story could have been written today. A still from the original 1985 film version of Restless Natives PIC: Courtesy of Studio Canal 'I think the political parallels are really interesting,' says MacLaren, 'both the economic and political landscape, and all the questions about Scottish identity the story raises. The story is a bit crazy and surreal – but I think that's what we need, right now. Margot talks about needing heroes, who can really change things – and here are two guys taking matters into their own hands, in a way that's brilliant, and very funny. I'm sure that will still have a huge resonance with young audiences today – and the Big Country music is great, as well.' And Kyle Gardiner – who has lately been winning acclaim as an actor in shows ranging from football drama Moorcroft to recent Play, Pie, Pint hit Dookin' Oot – strongly agrees. 'These are two young guys who are stuck,' says Gardiner. 'They have no prospects, and they have to somehow create a future for themselves. So the idea behind the story and the characters is brilliant, and absolutely still relevant today. My character, Ronnie, is the dreamer behind the whole project, the one for whom this adventure is the only valuable thing his life, the one who gets his foot down on the Suzuki and makes it happen. "It's a wonderful story arc, and I love playing him. And no, I'm not telling you whether there's going to be a live Suzuki on stage. If you want to know that, you'll have to come and see the show!' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'In the end,' adds Dunnett, 'this is a show about individuals and community, and about two young guys transforming their lives in a way that's funny and surprising, and makes people feel good. The Clown and the wolf pictured at the King's Theatre in Glasgow, where Restless Natives is playing from 24-28 June PIC: Colin Hattersley "And we know that these characters and their story really meant something to people, when they first appeared in the film. It was a joyous experience, a journey of uplift that left everyone feeling enhanced, in some way; and we hope the musical will be the same.'
