Theatre Royal, Dumfries
Encyclopedia
The Theatre Royal in Dumfries
, Scotland
is a the oldest working theatre in Scotland. The Theatre is owned by the Guild of Players who bought it in 1959, thereby saving it from demolition. The Guild's aim is to promote the tradition of live theatre in Dumfries. It is the venue for the Guild of Players' own productions and for performances from visiting companies. In addition it is used extensively as a venue for the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, the Dumfries Music Festival and the Dumfries Musical Theatre Company.
, then resident at Ellisland Farm, a few miles to the north of Dumfries.
Completed at a cost of £800, what was then known simply as The Theatre or the New Theatre, opened on Saturday 29th September, under the management of Sutherland's partner, John Brown Williamson, from the Theatre Royal Haymarket. With a design by Thomas Boyd of Dumfries, based on that of the Theatres Royal in Bristol and Edinburgh, it seated between five and six hundred.
The first reference to the theatre under its present name is to be found in an advertisement in the "Dumfries and Galloway Courier" in 1811.
Improvement of the stage in 1830 and a radical renovation in 1876 by Phipps, who had worked on the Gaiety in London and the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, which increased the seating capacity to over a thousand, enhanced the amenity of the theatre for players and patrons. A vivid description of a benefit performance in the latter years of the nineteenth century is to be found in "The Greenwood Hat" by J. M. Barrie
, who spent some years of his youth in Dumfries and was a keen member of the Theatre Royal's audience.
In 1902, early forms of moving pictures began following their introduction at the Paris Exhibition. This combination of moving pictures, 'movies' and music hall acts in a mixed programme, proved successful until 1909 when the theatre was purchased by P. Stobie & Son, who installed a flat maple floor to take advantage of the late Victorian craze for roller skating. It seems to have been too late in the day for a Roller Skating Rink for County Ladies and Gentlemen, for the theatre took on a new identity as 'The Electric Theatre' and continued to play an important part in the development of cinema the 'Auld Hippie' or 'The Scratch' as it was affectionately known succumbed to the competition of television and closed in October 1954.
Acquisition of the theatre by the Guild of Players in 1959, at a time when demolition seemed a likely prospect, was followed by an eighteen month period of reconstruction and a formal opening by Sir Compton Mackenzie, whose mother's company, "The Compton Comedy Company" had been the last of the touring troupes to perform there. The first Guild production mounted in the theatre in October 1960 was "What Every woman Knows" by J.M. Barrie.
Dumfries
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
is a the oldest working theatre in Scotland. The Theatre is owned by the Guild of Players who bought it in 1959, thereby saving it from demolition. The Guild's aim is to promote the tradition of live theatre in Dumfries. It is the venue for the Guild of Players' own productions and for performances from visiting companies. In addition it is used extensively as a venue for the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, the Dumfries Music Festival and the Dumfries Musical Theatre Company.
History
In 1790, actor manager George Stephen Sutherland approached interested people in Dumfries and the surrounding area with the intention of raising subscriptions for a purpose-built theatre. Among those involved was Robert BurnsRobert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
, then resident at Ellisland Farm, a few miles to the north of Dumfries.
Completed at a cost of £800, what was then known simply as The Theatre or the New Theatre, opened on Saturday 29th September, under the management of Sutherland's partner, John Brown Williamson, from the Theatre Royal Haymarket. With a design by Thomas Boyd of Dumfries, based on that of the Theatres Royal in Bristol and Edinburgh, it seated between five and six hundred.
The first reference to the theatre under its present name is to be found in an advertisement in the "Dumfries and Galloway Courier" in 1811.
Improvement of the stage in 1830 and a radical renovation in 1876 by Phipps, who had worked on the Gaiety in London and the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, which increased the seating capacity to over a thousand, enhanced the amenity of the theatre for players and patrons. A vivid description of a benefit performance in the latter years of the nineteenth century is to be found in "The Greenwood Hat" by J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
, who spent some years of his youth in Dumfries and was a keen member of the Theatre Royal's audience.
In 1902, early forms of moving pictures began following their introduction at the Paris Exhibition. This combination of moving pictures, 'movies' and music hall acts in a mixed programme, proved successful until 1909 when the theatre was purchased by P. Stobie & Son, who installed a flat maple floor to take advantage of the late Victorian craze for roller skating. It seems to have been too late in the day for a Roller Skating Rink for County Ladies and Gentlemen, for the theatre took on a new identity as 'The Electric Theatre' and continued to play an important part in the development of cinema the 'Auld Hippie' or 'The Scratch' as it was affectionately known succumbed to the competition of television and closed in October 1954.
Acquisition of the theatre by the Guild of Players in 1959, at a time when demolition seemed a likely prospect, was followed by an eighteen month period of reconstruction and a formal opening by Sir Compton Mackenzie, whose mother's company, "The Compton Comedy Company" had been the last of the touring troupes to perform there. The first Guild production mounted in the theatre in October 1960 was "What Every woman Knows" by J.M. Barrie.