{"id":365715,"date":"2025-08-22T22:21:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T22:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/365715\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T22:21:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T22:21:13","slug":"historic-citizens-theatre-ready-to-open-its-doors-after-30m-refurbishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/365715\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Citizens Theatre ready to open its doors after \u00a330m refurbishment\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow is set to reopen its doors after a \u00a330m transformation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Its doors shut seven years ago, but on Saturday, the iconic theatre will welcome back audiences once more following a transformational refurbishment.<\/p>\n

Bosses say the redevelopment has brought the building into the 21st century while carefully preserving its unique Victorian heritage.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s original cost when it began in 2019 was estimated at \u00a320m, but it ended up going through the most extensive refurbishment in its history for \u00a330m.<\/p>\n

It comes after the project was impacted by Covid, structural issues, and skyrocketing costs.<\/p>\n

However, bosses describe it as a \u201cspecial moment\u201d for the Gorbals\u2019 community with upgrades including new performance spaces, expanded bar areas, and improved accessibility to \u2018bring theatre into the 21st century\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"KateSTV NewsKate Denby has described the reopening as a \u2018special moment\u2019. STV News<\/p>\n

Kate Denby, executive director of the theatre, said: \u201cI speak to many people who are retired now who recall really vividly coming to this theatre when they were children, and now they\u2019re really looking forward to bringing back their grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does feel like it\u2019s a special moment to give the building back to the people of Glasgow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Everything has changed\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll feel like the same auditorium that they left seven years ago, but actually everything has changed here over the years\u201d, Kate said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole place has been literally stripped down to the foundations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve now got better air circulation so whereas it used to be really hot in the summers and really cold in the winters, we can now get ambient temperature all year round.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got two extra rows in the stalls and about 150 extra seats in the upper circle, which is now a brilliant view and very, very comfortable seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChiefsSTV NewsChiefs estimate audiences of around 75,000 will attend the theatre every year. STV News<\/p>\n

Starting tomorrow, the theatre will host events celebrating its past, present and future \u2013 as part of a \u201chomecoming festival\u201d<\/p>\n

The first show back, which will be about the Lockerbie Bombing, will debut on September 9.<\/p>\n

Small Acts of Love focuses on the people of the town in Dumfries and Galloway who washed, ironed, and repaired the belongings of the passengers and crew who died when a bomb destroyed the flight in 1988.<\/p>\n

The production will be the first onstage work at the historic theatre in seven years.<\/p>\n

Other productions include\u00a0So Young,\u00a0The Glass Menagerie, and an all-new Christmas show,\u00a0Beauty and the Beast.<\/p>\n

Chiefs estimate audiences of around 75,000 will attend the theatre every year after it fully reopens, with artists and creative teams bringing the expected annual footfall to over 100,000.<\/p>\n

STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Get all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

Follow STV News <\/a>Follow STV News on WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n

\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow is set to reopen its doors after a \u00a330m transformation. Its doors shut…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-365715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115074753372752428","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}