Helen Enright is sitting in the circle of Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre and admiring the view. It is a splendid sight. Built by William “Bertie” Crewe in 1904, the proscenium-arch theatre has retained its period features. Check out the ornate tiles and stained-glass windows on the landing; gaze in wonder at a ceiling that – in theory, at least – can draw back to reveal the night sky. Yet for all its Louis XV-style splendour, the Grade-1 listed building also feels intimate. Its 1,449 seats snuggle around in a welcoming curve.

“You feel so connected to the stage,” says Enright. “This is the natural place in Glasgow for comedy shows because of that connection. When someone is standing on that stage, you can see every facial expression – and they can probably see yours.”

She has reason to be proud. As chief operating officer of Trafalgar Theatres, Enright led the team that took over the Renfield Street venue from owners Tim and Nick Martin in April. Until that point, general manager Iain Gordon, who wrote, commissioned or produced the majority of the theatre’s output, had done a rare job of keeping an independent commercial theatre afloat in an era when the big networks, notably the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), call the shots.

What Trafalgar Theatres has bought into is not only a city-centre venue to add to its existing portfolio, but also a Glasgow institution with a fiercely loyal audience accustomed to a programme tailored to their tastes. “It’s really exciting for us,” says Enright. “We very much want to continue serving those audiences. The Pavilion has its identity and we need to respect that. But it’s a sleeping giant. There’s so much more we can do here.”

She gives the example of Brian Foster’s Myra’s Story, a word-of-mouth hit returning for a second run in October despite the absence of starry name or feelgood subject matter. It was programmed by the previous management, but she sees it as a sign of what the theatre is capable of. “It was a serious piece of theatre about a homeless, alcoholic woman and they were utterly captivated by it,” she says. “We want to keep that audience and keep bringing things that are going to connect.”

Enright knows her theatres. Born and educated in Glasgow, where she studied English Literature and History at university, she worked as a chartered accountant in the advertising industry and, from 2000, as chief financial officer and commercial director at ATG. It was in that role she helped manage the acquisition of the Glasgow King’s and the city’s Theatre Royal, a negotiation that involved ensuring the continued residency of Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet.

“The Theatre Royal is big and grand,” she says. “This is small and intimate, even though the number of seats isn’t that different [there are about 100 seats in it]. It has a different feel, so I don’t see us competing with the Royal.”

The first sign the Pavilion was under new management came with the announcement that it would house a transfer of Cyprus Avenue, the CATS award-winning black comedy produced by the nearby Tron Theatre. Written by Glasgow-based playwright David Ireland, it had been a hit on its debut in 2016 at Dublin’s Abbey and London’s Royal Court, and proved to be again in Andy Arnold’s production starring David Hayman. Scotsman theatre critic Joyce McMillan gave it five stars.

Hit or not, it is rare for a show that began life at the Tron – capacity 230 – to be revived so quickly, on such a scale and in the same city. “David Hayman is a marvellous actor and from Glasgow, and he was really keen to play the Pavilion with that piece,” says Enright. “It felt like the sort of piece our audiences might well want to see.”

In the 90-minute comedy, Hayman plays an aging Ulster loyalist who, in a first sign of derangement, comes to believe his five-week-old granddaughter has been possessed by Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. Out of the pitch-black satire emerges a vision not only of sectarian prejudice but also of an identity under threat. When Cyprus Avenue opened at the Tron, McMillan praised Hayman for “leading us through every complex twist and turn of the character, from intense vulnerability and crystal-clear moments of self-knowledge, to raging patriarchal madness”.

The transfer is an early sign the Pavilion is serious about its aim to increase the number of performances to six or seven a week and to work more closely with organisations across the city. Founded in 2017, Trafalgar Entertainment has a network of 15 theatres and is involved in touring, performing arts education and ticketing. Being part of a chain will give the Pavilion easier access to more shows.

“If a promoter has half a dozen dates available and can make one phone call to you and book his circuit, he’s going to do that,” says Enright, who would like to acquire more theatres in Scotland. “There’s so much creative talent here that we would see certain things starting in Glasgow then going elsewhere. If you’ve got a story worth telling, why would you not want to share that story? We’ve been talking to some of the other producing theatres about Scotland becoming an exporter of content. That is something we should be aiming for. And we should be doing world-class stuff, whether it's coming out of Glasgow or we’re bringing it in.”

Myra’s Story, Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, 25–28 October; Cyprus Avenue, Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, 26 February–2 March

Helen Enright on taking over Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre: ‘You feel so connected to the stage’