Leith Theatre and Burns Night ’14 an Immortal Memory
I made the journey up to Edinburgh last weekend. Armed with a kindle copy of the Kilmarnock Edition and a quick-wiki page open on the poet’s life and times, I had travelled up to meet with some friends and take part in a Rabbie Burns Supper. Apart from attending Will Frazer’s blurry-but-brilliant Burns-Night reunion, there was another, ulterior, motive for the weekend in Auld Reekie. On the Monday, Sophie and I took the bus to Leith to go and check out developments at the Leith Theatre Trust.
The theatre caught my attention last year whilst working on the
INFERNO. The venue had been one of the restoration projects alongside Aberdeen’s Tivoli Theatre, to come off of the “TBaR” (Theatre Buildings at Risk) list last June when the trust took over from the Edinburgh Council’s Culture and Leisure Committee. There had been rumours of the location being used as a Fringe venue as early as this year. Sadly there had been some setbacks in restoring the main theatre (as is all too familiar with restoration projects). However, with the Thomas Morton Hall restored ready and its fantastic setting an original theatre foyer and entrance, we though it definitely worth a visit. You too can have a snoop on the trust’s website with panoramic tours of the venue’s spaces,
here: Virtual Tour. It’ a great way to have a look round to save yourself the hassle and the hard-hat, as for the foreseeable future the Main theatre will still be a work in progress.
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| The Crush: a greeting from another time of Turnstiles and Ticket-booths |
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| Venus and the boar; no hard feelings over Adonis. |
The Leith Theatre, was commissioned in 1920 to celebrate the borough of Leith’s incorporation into greater Edinburgh. It is a good looking piece of architecture built with the Theatre and the Thomas Morton Hall on separate wings, either side of the “Crush”- a foyer with a rather striking statue. Upstairs, still belongs to Edinburgh council and functions as a marriage registry office.
The workers of which were very helpful in finding our way to the theatre but took some convincing when telling them we were, in fact, just there to visit the Theatre Trust and not a couple eloping from England. (A common problem in Scotland apparently.)
As to the venue, we will have to see as to what stage Holocaust to the Highlands is in, come Summer. With the first deadline for registry already passed, though still in February the Edinburgh festival is fast approaching.
Until then there will definitely have to be more trips up to the city on reconnaissance for Fringe venues. Got festival fever!
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| The Thomas Morton Hall. |
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Update: News coming shortly Re: film-making adventures. Can’t wait!
