\n And the first tickets for shows in the new-look King\u2019s will go on sale over the next few weeks after the reopening plans were confirmed by Capital Theatres, the arts charity which runs both the King\u2019s and the Festival Theatre on behalf of the city council.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n Work to revamp the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh has been underway since March 2023. Picture: Anneleen Lindsay (Image: Anneleen Lindsay)\n<\/p>\n
\n The line-up for next autumn includes a stage of adaptation of Chariots of Fire, the Oscar-winning film inspired by the Edinburgh sporting legend Eric Liddell and his fellow Olympian Harold Abrahams, a musical inspired by the songs of Edinburgh pop sensations the Bay City Rollers, and a hip hop musical exploring the life of 13th century Scottish warrior William Wallace.\n<\/p>\n
\n Workshops, classes and events will be staged at the new studio space at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh. (Image: Anneleen Lindsay)\n<\/p>\n
\n Operation Mincemeat, the Olivier-winning comedy musical inspired by on the true story of a covert British intelligence operation to disguise the Allied invasion of Sicily during the Second World War, will also have a run at the new-look King\u2019s. Tony Roper\u2019s classic Glasgow washhouse-set comedy drama, which was first performed in 1987, will also visit the King\u2019s, which will also welcome back panto stars Allan Stewart, Grant Stott and Jordon Young for the first time in four years, for The Adventures of Pinocchio.\n<\/p>\n
\n New staircases have been installed at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh as part of its ongoing redevelopment. (Image: Anneleen Lindsay)\n<\/p>\n
\n More than 85 per cent of work on the revamp – which was almost scrapped at the start of 2023 due to its soaring cost and a \u00a39m funding gap \u2013 has now been done.\n<\/p>\n
\n Around \u00a32.5m still needs to be raised for a redevelopment expected to cost well over \u00a340m to complete \u2013 more than double the price tag when the project was initially announced seven years ago this month.\n<\/p>\n
\n A new stage and backstage facilities have been installed at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh ahead of its reopening in 2026. (Image: Anneleen Lindsay)\n<\/p>\n
\n However key milestones have been reached, including raising the height of the building to accommodate a new \u201cfly tower\u201d and the installation of a flat stage for the first time.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Herald was given a tour of the King\u2019s to see progress around the building, which is home to an average of around 130 workers a day at the moment.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ongoing work includes stairwells and lift shafts, refurbished dressing rooms, new toilets, a studio space for workshops, classes and events, improvements to technical infrastructure, including stage rigging equipment, and new caf\u00e9-bars, including a street level one being created in the former box office which will extend part of the building near the stage door.\n<\/p>\n
\n Capital Theatres chief executive Fiona Gibson confirmed discussions were still ongoing with Robertson, the construction firm working on the revamp, and the various funders of the project over its final cost, but insisted it would be \u201cnowhere near\u201d \u00a350m.\n<\/p>\n
\n A full-scaled refurbishment of the King\u2019s to secure its long-term future was first discussed more than 20 years ago, but the project did not make serious progress until an initial \u00a34 million was committed by the city council in 2018.\n<\/p>\n
\n The cost had increased from an initial estimate of \u00a320m when architects Bennetts Associates were appointed in November 2018 to \u00a335.6m by January 2023 when Capital Theatres was forced to mount a \u201c35 days to save the King\u2019s\u201d campaign to raise an additional \u00a39m.\n<\/p>\n
\n Additional funding pledges from the Scottish Government<\/a> and the city council \u2013 who agreed to put in an extra \u00a33.85m and \u00a33m respectively – allowed work to get underway in March 2023, with the UK Government<\/a> coming in with a \u00a32m pledge in December 2023.\n<\/p>\n \n The \u201ccomplexity and immense scale\u201d of the redevelopment was cited last October when Capital Theatres announced that it would not be reopening in 2025 as planned.\n<\/p>\n \n Capital Theatres said the announcement of a season of shows next autumn was a \u201cmajor step forward\u201d for the project, work on which began in March 2023.\n<\/p>\n \n Ms Gibson told The Herald: \u201cThere have been so many complexities with the project which have caused delays.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cWith any delay, there are additional costs. The cost of labour and materials has continued to rise throughout the project.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cWe still have \u00a32.5m to raise. \u00a0We are having ongoing conversations with all our funders at the moment.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cWe are looking for match funding for any additional funding we can raise from private trusts, foundations or individual donors.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cWe have spent a lot of time with the design team and the construction company talking about what is left to be done.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cWe are all moving in the right direction and I hope we are out of the woods. The King’s is already looking amazing after all the work that has been done.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n The capacity of the King\u2019s will be reduced from around 1300 to 1125 when the venue reopens, thanks to the removal of some of the circle seats to make way for the new studio space.\n<\/p>\n \n Ms Gibson said: \u201cI think the auditorium will look similar to how it was before. Once people sit down it will definitely have that familiarity. We are putting the same seating back it although all the seats will be refurbished.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cIt will be much easier to get around the building in future as we are putting in two lifts front house of house and another back of house. It will be totally transformational for people with a disability.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cWe are putting transfer arms onto the end of rows of seats in the stalls so that people will be able to slip out of a wheelchair and onto a seat, and we are also putting in some wider seats.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cI think performers, companies and our own staff will see a massive difference. It will much easier and faster to get shows in, the dressing rooms will be much better, and the flat stage will allow us to put on a wider range of performances.\n<\/p>\n \n \u201cA really important aspect of the project is that the new street level caf\u00e9-bar will be open every day. It should make a massive difference to the local community.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n John Robb, project manager of the King\u2019s revamp for Capital Theatres, told The Herald: \u201cThe project is definitely in a really good place. The finishing line is in sight now.\n<\/p>\n \n “There isn\u2019t a single element where we are thinking: \u2018How are we going to do this?\u2019\n<\/p>\n \n “The transformation of the King’s has happened. It’s now about polishing it.\n<\/p>\n \n “I think it will feel extraordinarily familiar. The big difference audiences will notice will be the facilities, which will be much better than they were before.\n<\/p>\n \n “But all we have kept backstage is the outside wall of the stage house. Everything else will be brand new. We will be able to do much more complex shows and it will be a lot easier to come and work here.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first audiences are due to return to the Tollcross venue in July ahead of its return to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-580416","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115576473265251385","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580416","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=580416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}