Theater Royal (Dumfries)
| Theater Royal | |
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| location | |
| Address: | 66-68 Shakespeare Street |
| City: | Dumfries DG1 2JH |
| Coordinates: | 55 ° 4 '5 " N , 3 ° 36' 27" W |
| Architecture and history | |
| Opened: | September 29, 1792 |
| Spectator: | 190 seats |
| Architects: | Thomas Boyd, Charles John Phipps (renovation and expansion 1876) |
| Internet presence: | |
| Website: | https://www.theatreroyaldumfries.co.uk/ |
The Theater Royal in Dumfries , Scotland is the oldest active theater in Scotland. It is owned by an actors' association called the Guild of Players , who bought it in 1959 to save it from demolition. The aim of the association (guild) was and is to keep a lively theater in Dumfries. The house is used for performances by its owners as well as for guest companies . In addition, performances are held here as part of the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, the Dumfries Music Festival and performances by the Dumfries Musical Theater Company.
history
In 1790, the drama director George Stephen Sutherland met with some interested citizens from Dumfries and neighboring places to find signatories for a purpose-built theater building, which should replace the previous assembly hall and entertainment facility in the George Hotel. Those in attendance included the poet Robert Burns , who was then the tenant of Ellisland Farm, a few miles north of Dumfries . He wrote to his friend William Nicol on February 2, 1790:
'[...] A new theater is to be built by subscription; the first stone is to be laid on Friday first to come. Three hundred guineas have been raised by thirty subscribers, and thirty more might have been got if wanted. The manager, Mr Sutherland, was introduced to me by a friend from Ayr; and a worthier or cleverer fellow I have rarely met with. '
“[...] A new theater is to be built [with the help of] signatories; The first stone is to be laid next Friday. Three hundred guineas were collected from thirty signatories, and thirty more could be mobilized if necessary. The manager, Mr. Sutherland, was introduced to me by a friend from Ayr; I've rarely met a more worthy or wiser guy. "
Sutherland also ran the tontine function rooms in Paisley and also wanted to build a theater in Ayr . Since he could not find a suitable building site there, he moved to Dumfries.
The "New Theater" or simply "The Theater" opened on September 29, 1792 under the direction of Sutherland's partner John Brown Williamson, a leading actor at London's Theater Royal Haymarket . It was built for 800 pounds by local architect Thomas Boyd in the style of the existing Theater Royal in Bristol and had five to six hundred seats. One of the first actresses in the new theater was Louisa Fontenelle , who was soon courted by Robert Burns. It was Williamson, however, who finally married her and emigrated with her to the USA , where he soon ran a theater in Boston .
The first mention of the theater under its current name can be found in an advertisement published in 1811 by the Dumfries and Galloway Courier (now: Dumfries Courier) , which had only been founded a few years earlier . One of the first tenants of the theater was John Henry Alexander from Dunbar , who moved to Glasgow to first lease the Theater Royal there on Dunlop Street (1782–1869) and buy it later. JH Robb of the Theater Royal in Dundee was the tenant in the 1860s.
In 1830 the stage was modernized and in 1876 the house was heavily rebuilt and renovated under the owner William Mackie. The well-known theater architect Charles John Phipps , who was also responsible for the Gaiety in London and the Theater Royal in Edinburgh, was responsible. Its conversions increased the seating capacity to over a thousand and improved the theater's amenities for players and guests. A vivid description of a performance from the last years of the nineteenth century can be found in the autobiographical novel “The Greenwood Hat” (1930) by Peter Pan creator JM Barrie (1860–1937), who spent several years of his youth in Dumfries and was a passionate one Was a visitor to the Theater Royal.
In 1902, shortly after their presentation at the Paris World Exhibition , the first moving pictures were shown in the theater. The success of a mixture of moving images, "films" and music hall performances was reinforced from 1909 when the new owners of the theater (P. Stobie & Son) had a hard-wearing maple floor laid for roller-skating, which was very popular at the time to enable. The theater was later transformed into a cinema under the name "The Electric Theater". But even the nicknames "Auld Hippie" or "The Scratch" given to the cinema could not prevent the cinema from succumbing to the increasing popularity of television and having to close in October 1954.
In 1913, actors from the Dumfries region formed the Guild of Players and are now one of the oldest amateur actors' associations in Scotland. As the Theater Royals became more likely to be demolished in the late 1950s, the Guild of Players bought the in 1959 vacant buildings. This was followed by an eighteen-month renovation and remodeling, as well as the grand opening by Sir Compton Mackenzie , whose drama company "The Compton Comedy Company" was the last company to still appear on the stage of the old theater. The Guild of Actors' first production, staged in the renovated theater in October 1960, was "What Every Woman Knows" by JM Barrie.
today
At the 200th anniversary celebration in 1992, a strong need for renovation was noted. So the guild began to set up a financing concept that cost up to seven million pounds. The plans called for the interior of the theater to be rebuilt from scratch with several new rooms and an entire additional floor being installed above. However, after funding failed in 2003, the project stalled.
After a realignment, the guild managed to get support from new sources, including a. from the local non-profit organization Holywood Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic Scotland, Creative Scotland, the Robertson Trust and the Dumfries and Galloway Council, and instead of expensive upgrading the building, adjacent buildings should be purchased and integrated. The renovation work began in 2014 and was completed by the end of 2015. The new Theater Royal includes several new rooms, while retaining many of the historical features.
Programs
In addition to the annual five-piece program and the Christmas pantomime, productions by the Dumfries Musical and Operatic Society and the Junior Guild as well as guest appearances by touring ensembles, including the Scottish Opera and the Scottish Ballet, take place here .
Individual evidence
- ^ Website of the Dumfries Musical Theater Company
- ↑ a b c d e f Information on the theater website
- ↑ http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/PaisleyTheatres.htm
- ↑ http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/AyrTheatres.htm
- ↑ http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=407943
- ↑ A Burns Companion by Allan Bold, published in 2016
- ↑ http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Glasgow/TRDunlop.htm
- ↑ http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Glasgow/TRYorkStreet.htm#sa
- ^ The Theater Royal: Entertaining a Nation , by Graeme Smith, published 2008
- ↑ http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/DumfriesTheatres.htm
- ↑ Self-description of the Guild of Players
- ↑ Holywood Trust website , a nonprofit organization for the region
- ↑ Dumfries Theater Royal reopens after major renovations by BBC on December 2, 2015
- ^ Scottish Opera in Dumfries