£4.8m Lotto boost funds renovation of historic city theatre

‘Christmas cheer’

THE future of one of the UK’s oldest professional theatres has been secured, thanks to a £4.8million cash boost.

The Citizens Theatre, in Glasgow’s Gorbals area, first opened its doors in 1878, and such stars as Pierce Brosnan, Alan Rickman and Glenda Jackson have performed there.

The grant has been awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund for a ‘transformational redevelopment’ project, which will see the B-listed building close from June next year until August 2020.

Judith Kilvington, executive director of the theatre, said: ‘This critical funding will allow us not only to preserve our Victorian theatre but also to tell stories which help to uncover and communicate the physical, architectural, social and cultural heritage of the Citizens Theatre to many future generations.’

The redeveloped building will provide new learning spaces, rehearsal rooms and a 152-seat studio theatre.

Lucy Casot, of the Heritage Lottery fund in Scotland, said: ‘We are delighted to bring some Christmas cheer to one of Scotland’s oldest and bestloved theatres.’

The only older theatre building still in use in the UK is the Grand in Leeds, Yorkshire, which opened six weeks before the Citizens.

However, the Grand saw all of its stage machinery destroyed 30 years ago, unlike the Citizens which retains all of its original equipment.