Save The Kings Theatre, Edinburgh
The King’s Theatre, the ‘Old Lady of Leven Street’, has stood proudly in the heart of Edinburgh since 1906. The venue has survived two World Wars, multiple global pandemics, recessions, and much more… and within the next month, the iconic landmark may be forced to close its doors forever.
With that in mind, our Scotland writers Kathryn and Jacqueline discuss this important figure in Edinburgh’s theatre scene and why it should receive the support to remain open.
History of the King’s Theatre
On November 27th 1906, The Scotsman announced the opening of the King’s, proclaiming: ‘This Magnificent Building will open on Saturday 8 December at 7pm with the gorgeous pantomime Cinderella.' For over 100 years, the King’s Theatre has hosted a range of plays, musicals, local productions, pantomimes and much more, providing memorable theatrical experiences for Edinburgh locals and those from across the globe. The venue is currently under the ownership of Capital Theatres, which also manages the 1,915 seat Festival Theatre on Nicolson Street.
The King’s faced its first refurbishment in the early 1950s, which saw the balcony level being removed and the upper circle extended to create a three-tier auditorium. This reduced the seating capacity to 1350, but allowed for vastly improved sightlines for the remaining seats. The theatre continued to enjoy a vast range of productions, and in 1960 the venue hosted the first ever Edinburgh Gang Show. The Edinburgh Gang Show is a large-scale variety show with a cast made up entirely of young people from Scouts and Girlguiding, which is often their first chance to perform on a stage. Edinburgh was also the first ever gang show to invite the Girl Guides to perform alongside the Scouts, back in 1967. The rest of the world quickly followed suit.
The four-tier Kings theatre auditorium prior to the 1950s refurbishment. Image source.
From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, the King’s took the throne for being the most prominent theatre in Edinburgh. The Empire (now the Festival Theatre) was primarily being used as a bingo hall, and the 3000+ seat Playhouse was used as a cinema prior to its conversion to a theatre in 1978. In order to keep the King’s safe at a time when theatres were suffering greatly from rising costs, the building was bought by Edinburgh City Council as a venue for Scottish Opera and the Edinburgh International Festivals. The King’s was granted Grade A listed building status in 1970. In 1985, the theatre had a restoration which saw improvements to the seating, woodwork and orchestra pit.
The King’s auditorium during the 2016 panto season. Image source.
In 2012, the initial stage of the latest major restoration started, marking the venue’s first refurbishment since 1985. This focussed on solving some immediate issues involving access and comfort. The stalls and circle seating were replaced, a new box office area was created and disabled access was improved as much as possible at this phase in the development. The domed ceiling had suffered great deterioration over the years and was repaired and replastered, ready for a fresh painting to replace the art that had been there since 1985. Scottish artist John Byrne was commissioned and created a vivid, colourful design which features the opening lines from Jaques’ famous monologue in As You Like it ‘All the world’s a stage’. The piece was painted onto the dome throughout July 2013 and was first unveiled on Tuesday 6th August 2013, just in time for Edinburgh’s festivals.
Through family-friendly panto, supporting local performers and artists, creative learning opportunities and much, much more, the King’s has truly earned itself the reputation of being ‘the people’s theatre’. This makes it all the more upsetting that this institution could be gone in a matter of weeks.
Why is the King’s in trouble?
The King’s Theatre is 116 years old and has been in operation continuously for that entire time. Given the constant changes and improvements to theatre technology, as well as general deterioration and changes to building standards, the venue is no longer fit for purpose. The rake of the stage, the facilities for transporting scenery, and the acoustics in the auditorium mean that for many large productions, Playhouse or Festival Theatre are preferable to the King’s. Furthermore, the theatre offers no fully accessible hospitality areas, and only one section of the Stalls is wheelchair accessible. A major refurbishment is required which will allow it to be brought up to modern standards of technology, accessibility and sustainability while creating a better-equipped and more comfortable place to work for visiting companies and permanent staff.
All venues suffered greatly during the Covid pandemic, with the King’s losing out on a pantomime season as well as many other productions. Since Scottish theatres were allowed to reopen in September 2021, the King’s has hosted a selection of shows and was able to run their 2021 pantomime, Sleeping Beauty. The funds were raised for refurbishment at an estimated £25.7 million through funding grants, donations and money provided by Capital Theatres themselves. However, due to a host of issues involving costs of labour and materials, time frame and inflation, the King’s now faces a funding gap of £8.9 million.
The King’s now faces a funding gap of £8.9 million.
It was hoped that the UK’s Levelling Up funding could plug the gap that has been created, but unfortunately, this funding was not granted. Due to how major the refurbishment is, the plans cannot be scaled back to be less expensive, as to do so would mean not adhering to all necessary building accessibility, safety and technology standards. The King’s is truly at a point of all-or-nothing.
To lose the King’s Theatre would be a huge blow to the city of Edinburgh, which has already suffered the loss of the iconic Filmhouse in 2022. Staff would face redundancies, and local businesses such as bars and restaurants would likely lose footfall and revenue. Furthermore, losing one of the three most prominent theatres in Edinburgh would mean that fewer shows can perform in the city.
Furthermore, losing one of the three most prominent theatres in Edinburgh would mean that fewer shows can perform in the city.
The King’s often hosts amateur productions from local drama schools and performing groups, such as the MGA Academy, Southern Light and The Bohemians. Without the King’s, these groups may lose out on performing space if both the Playhouse and Festival Theatre have no choice but to book larger-scale, more profitable productions.
How can you help?
Naturally, this news has come as a blow to theatre fans in Edinburgh, but we cannot give up hope.
The City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Government have already contributed financially to the refurbishment, but further help from them is now critically needed and we can help by making our voices heard.
If you live in the city, email your local councillor. Tell them why you love the King’s and why you believe they should be saved. You can also contact your MP and MSP. Capital Theatres even have a template letter you can adapt if you don’t quite have the words to express your feelings, but still want to contact your elected representatives.
Anyone can donate to the campaign to save the King’s Theatre - and every penny helps. Please consider donating if you feel able, but most importantly share the story with your friends and family. It’s essential that all theatre fans across the UK know and understand the risk to this fantastic historic venue that means so much to the local community.
You can find out more about the campaign to Save the King’s on the Capital Theatres website - here
In the words of Fiona Gibson, CEO of Capital Theatres:
“It’s been a long road planning and fundraising for the capital redevelopment of the King’s Theatre to turn it into both a thriving community hub, fully accessible to audiences and performers and a world-class venue while maintaining its history and heritage.
“We’ve examined our options and we cannot reduce the project cost any further by value engineering and to delay the redevelopment could lead to even higher costs in the long term, putting the entire project at risk.
“If the money is not found in the next few weeks, the last opportunity for us to greenlight the project, the King’s could close its doors forever.”
She added: “We know what a difficult time this is to be asking for additional funding with so much financial need in every area of civic life, but as custodians of this beloved theatre, we have to fight for its survival.”
King’s Theatre Interesting Facts
Before the King’s was built, the site was home to a brewery. Although it’s now long gone, the river that provided the water for the brewery still exists and runs beneath the theatre.
The King’s is the only theatre designed by its two architects - James F. Davidson and John D. Swanston.
In 1909 a fire broke out in the auditorium setting the dress circle ablaze. The performance still went ahead that evening as planned.
The King’s is a pivotal venue for the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF), with Noel Coward’s Private Lives premiering here as part of EIF in 1930 - with Coward himself starring alongside Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Adrianne Anne.
Other famous faces who have performed at The King’s include Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Dame Maggie Smith, James Cordon, Dame Penelope Keith and Robert Powell. Sir Sean Connery also worked backstage.
Since its opening in 1906, the King’s has been host to a pantomime almost every year, with over 90,000 people flocking to attend each production. Prior to closing its doors following the 2021 panto season, the only years which did not have a King’s panto were 1917, 1963, 1965, 1968 and 2020.
In 2017, some of the staff at the venue decided to create the ‘Front of House Mockumentary’ series - a YouTube series which sheds some light on the realities of working as an usher. The pilot episode has been viewed over fifteen thousand times!
Whilst you are here, why not read our post about the Two Dedicated Musical Theatre-Inspired Eateries in London.
