Claire Smith: Leith Theatre comeback is more than just a dream

Leith Theatre, bombed in the war and hidden away in a forgotten corner of Ferry Road, opened its doors last weekend to let people know what they had been missing.

Wow. Who knew there was such a neglected treasure here. And how wonderful to hear it could be back in use.

The Leith Theatre Trust, under the chairmanship of Philip Neaves, is working with the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust to bring the theatre back to life as a cultural centre for performance, the visual arts and community events.

Local heroes including Irvine Welsh are backing the plan and artistic director John Paul McGroarty, whose first experience of theatre was a Russian production held at the theatre in the 1980s, has some fantastic ideas about how to get the show back on the road.

Part one of the plan is to re-open the Thomas Morton Hall as a venue for functions, ceilidhs and concerts. And a key part of the new venture will be to spruce up the marriage suite, where thousands of Leith brides have embarked on married life.

The theatre itself, which can seat more than 1,000 people, is still intact, a gigantic space with a huge stage.

I arrived right as the caretaker was locking the doors and John Paul McGroarty was almost talked out from showing endless visitors round the building. But he persuaded them to stay open a while longer and we stood on a dusty floor looking at the light shining through the windows and dreaming of all the productions which could be staged here in the future.

It is a bit far off the beaten track to become a festival venue, unless, like Ingliston this year, it is used as the setting for a major one-off production. But it could be used for theatre in education, for rehearsals and as a place where companies could develop new work.

It is a tough time for public services and a tough time for the arts. But we need dreamers and we all need space to dream.