Mediocre and misguided - Edinburgh Festival Theatre vision panned

Published on Tuesday 20 July 2010 19:26

LONG-AWAITED plans to extend one of Scotland's leading theatres have come under fire by Edinburgh's main heritage watchdog.

• It is hoped the 2.8m extension will allow companies to rehearse without having to use the Festival Theatre's stage. Picture: Julie Bull

The Cockburn Association is trying to block plans for a 2.8 million development behind the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, claiming they are second-rate and will ruin the look of the area.

The council-owned theatre - one of the flagship venues used for the Edinburgh International Festival - has been attacked for proposing a block of student housing and offices are built behind the theatre to help pay for a new rehearsal and performance space.

But the heritage group, which dates back to 1875, claims the plans are "mediocre" and "misguided", lacking in ambition and should not be reliant on commercial income to bring them to fruition.

In a rare political intervention, the Cockburn has written to Edinburgh Lord Provost George Grubb asking him to order a review of the plans, claiming they may end up damaging the long-term viability of the theatre, which opened in 1994 on Edinburgh's oldest theatre site.

Plans for the extension, due to be finished for the 2012 summer festivals, were unveiled in March, when bosses boasted they would be creating the capital's biggest rehearsal space.

It will mean groups visiting the venue need no longer rehearse on the theatre's stage. It will also be capable of housing year-round performances with a capacity of up to 150.

However, the development's viability rests on the council disposing of a chunk of land between the new extension at Potterrow and South College Street.

Marion Williams, director of the Cockburn, said: "We would expect a top international theatre consultant to be commissioned to examine the long-term viability of the theatre in its international context. It would seem unlikely that a single side stage is acceptable, and that provision should be made to create another side stage either now or in the future, with the relocation of existing dressing rooms in this space to the rear of the theatre - the site presently proposed for student housing.

Home to the biggest stars in showbiz

ALTHOUGH the Festival Theatre was unveiled in 1994, there has been a history of theatre-going on the site since 1830 and even before then circuses were held there.

A number of theatres stood on the site throughout the 19th century, including the Alhambra, Dunedin Hall and the Royal Ampitheatre.

The site became home to the first of the Moss Empires theatre chain in 1892 when the Empire Palace Theatre opened its doors. Disaster struck in 1911 when a fire broke out during a show by the illusionist, The Great Lafayette, when he took a bow and a stage lamp toppled over.

Although it reopened just three months later, a new theatre was built in 1928 and from then until the 1963, when it became a bingo hall, the venue played host to a galaxy of stars.

Harry Lauder, Charles Laughton, Fats Waller, Roy Rogers, Laurel and Hardy, Bruce Forsyth and Dame Margot Fonteyn were among the big-name performers to tread the boards.

Live performance returned to the venue in 1994 after a huge project to create a new glass frontage for the building, which was restored to its 1928 glory.

The theatre is now run by an arms-lenth trust set up by the city council along with the historic King's Theatre in the Tollcross area.

The Festival Theatre hosts major opera and dance productions during the annual Edinburgh International Festival, but also plays host to major pop and rock concerts, musicals and comedy events throughout the year.

Last month it staged its first major movie premiere.

"Secondly, we would expect that the rear stage should also be extended to conform with the standard internationally - in the area proposed for a commercial office and rehearsal space."

Council sources insist the extension would be shelved indefinitely if the student housing and office elements were dropped.

But Ms Williams told the Lord Provost: "We fear that this application could be damaging to the long-term viability of the theatre, and thus to the future economy of the city.

"This major asset was created in the 1990s by sponsorship and public donation, and by comparison, the extensions we suggest are very modest and all to do with the utilitarian working aspect of the backstage areas.

"The Festival Theatre was also the last major arts project in Scotland to be completed before national lottery funding came on stream and the lottery should therefore be the principal sponsor of any extended facility."

Concerns are also being raised that the new development will dwarf historic buildings in the area, particularly Edinburgh University's A-listed Old College, which Historic Scotland warns is likely to be adversely affected by the Festival Theatre's scheme.

One community group, the Southside Community Council, claims the council is advocating filling a gap site with a "blot on the landscape."

A council spokesman said: "The council has received the Cockburn Association's comments and will respond to these in due course."

A council source questioned the Cockburn's tactics, saying: "It's highly unusual to go down this route. The Cockburn Association is well aware of the planning process and it's a bit bizarre to be urging political intervention on a development like this."