Arts leaders head calls to stop sale of Theatre Workshop

A PROMINENT figure in the city's arts scene has backed a campaign to save a cherished theatre that has been a fixture in the Capital for 35 years.

Catherine Lockerbie, former director of Edinburgh International Book Festival, hopes to help halt the sale of a council-owned property in Hamilton Place which formerly housed the Theatre Workshop Scotland (TWS) until October when the drama company was forced to abandon its lease after losing the bulk of its funding.

Artists, local residents and creative personalities - including Andy Arnold, artistic director of Glasgow's Tron Theatre - are also trying to stop its sale.

Campaigners say the 150-seat B-listed venue, with a 55-seat studio space, is one of the few intimate theatres left in the city and would be a "devastating loss" after more than three decades serving the arts.

They want a community lease, to share the space with other theatre groups and believe it would take a "minimal cost" to refurbish the building.

But council chiefs claim the premises require substantial renovation at a time of tight budgets and say they are obliged to sell off surplus assets.

The building, which has hosted international and European Festival Fringe productions, is expected to fetch around 800,000.

Backing the campaign, Ms Lockerbie said: "These smaller vibrant venues are vital to communities and emerging talent. If the building is sold off to developers, all of that is lost.

"This theatre has been here for years and has a vital role to play for the future.

"I am a founder member of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature and there is so much potential for literary events as well as theatre, visual arts, and more, in one of the Capital's most vibrant districts."

Since 1974, TWS has paired theatre professionals with community volunteers to produce plays and films that gives a voice to marginalised groups. It helped launch the careers of directors including Andy Arnold, Adrian Harris, Bob Palmer and Gerry Mulgrew.

Mr Arnold, who in 1991 helped establish The Arches in Glasgow as an arts hotspot and nightclub, said: "Theatre Workshop is where I started my directing career and learnt about how to run an arts venue.

"I still refer to it as the best black box theatre space in Scotland. It's a wonderful arts building and it's an absolute travesty that it has go to this stage.

I could never have started The Arches without that experience."

But Councillor Deidre Brock, culture and leisure convener, said it was "disappointing" campaigners had not approached arts officers to discuss their concerns.

"We would have been able to explain to them the realities of the situation, which has to be looked at in the context of the extremely difficult financial challenges being faced by local authorities across Scotland," she said.

"Unless the campaigners have a robust business plan already drafted which could easily be pursued, the building would have to sit empty until a plan was drawn up.

"Not only would the council then lose much needed funds which could be reinvested elsewhere, but it would also risk being hit with monthly costs of up to 3000 just to keep the property safe and secure."

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