Nostalgia: History sets stage for a theatre love - with slideshow

Published on Saturday 31 January 2009 11:43

EDINBURGH has every reason to be proud of its connection with the stage.

Many of the greatest ever performers have, after all, chosen to tread the boards in the Capital.

For thousands of people every year, a trip to Edinburgh means a visit to the theatre, as international headline-grabbing shows almost always make a stop in the city at one of its many venues, from the Lyceum to the King's.

It is not just the shows that make for this pleasure – Edinburgh's theatres themselves are a reason for a visit alone, bursting at the seams with history and beauty.

Unfortunately, in May 1911, some of that history was lost on Nicolson Street when the Empire Palace Theatre of Varieties – completed in 1892 and housing Edinburgh's first cinema show in 1896 – went on fire while the popular illusionist, The Great Lafayette, was on the stage.

It broke out just minutes before the close of the show – caused by the fusing of an electric wire – but the audience had luckily dispersed before officials were alerted.

The blaze tore through the building, ripping apart stage fittings and killing ten people, including Lafayette and his stage double.

But refurbishment work was prompt, with doors re-opening just a year later.

The Theatre Royal, formerly at the top of Broughton Street, was also destroyed by fire, when, in 1946, a blaze caused more than 75,000 of damage.

On the night, Hail Caledonia had just drawn to a close, when 35 minutes later a fire began in the gallery, with watchmen promptly alerting the emergency services who arrived only two minutes later.

Neighbouring residents tried to watch the spectacle from their homes but many were removed to safer residence in the St James Place Church of Scotland hall.

The fire did not reach the backstage area, owing to the safety curtain having been dropped at the end of the performance. But dedicated chorus girls heard of the fire and ran to the theatre to save all its props, costumes and equipment, by sneaking through the stage door and taking the possessions to the church hall.

Our theatres are not all clouded with disaster, however. In 1935, when the Scarlet Pimpernel film screened at the Playhouse, more than 48,000 came out to watch in just one week – the busiest ever show.

The theatre is a long-standing landmark in the Capital, boasting a complex film projection room, which then chief engineer John Foubisher showed off to the News.

Many key figures from across Edinburgh have offered their backing to theatres across the city, with artist Richard Demarco cofounding the Traverse Theatre in the 1960s and enthusiastic Fringe organisers helping set up the Wireworks Theatre, a former wire works in Old Assembly Close, in the 1970s.

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