Leith Theatre mothballed for a year
One of Edinburgh’s most historic music venues is to stay closed for at least 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic - 80 years after it was nearly destroyed by a bomb.
Leith Theatre, which is regarded as one of Britain’s most “at risk” venues due to its poor condition, has undergone a recent revival which has seen it compared to Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom, but will now be mothballed indefinitely.
At least 11 of the 14 staff taken on to work at the theatre since its reopening two years ago are said to be at risk.
The venue, which was gifted to the area after a controversial merger of the burgh of Leith with Edinburgh a century ago, staged gigs by AC/ DC, Thin Lizzy, Dr Feelgood, Moot the Hoople, John Martyn, Slade and Kraftwerk in its heyday before falling into serious disrepair in the 1980s.
It was reborn as a festival venue in 2018 after a 30-year hiatus and has since hosted shows by King Creosote, Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai and Young Fathers.
However the Leith Theatre Trust, which has been leading efforts to restore the venue, has decided it is too financially risky to attempt to reopen the building while social distancing measures are in place, warning that it could even “sound the death knell” for the building.
A spokeswoman said: “In a building already suffering the effects of years of neglect, and after weeks of scenario planning and calculating finandame cial risk, it must, like so many other theatres and venues across the country, stay shut to remain a viable business in the longer term. With so many unknowns, to risk reopening to what would be reduced and socially distant audiences, is a risk simply too high to take.”
Work on the theatre began in 1929 – nine years after the historic port was officially amalgamated into Edinburgh. It opened to huge acclaim in 1932 but the main auditorium suffered serious damage in a bomb last in 1941 when Leith came under attack during the Second World War.