Past, present and future combine as Citizens Theatre prepares to reopen

Across its more than 140-year history, the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow’s southside has provided a starting point for some of stage and screen’s biggest talents.

From local heroes such as Sir Billy Connolly to the likes of Rupert Everett, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Pierce Brosnan and Celia Imrie, many famous names have trodden the boards here on their way to stardom.

It formed part of a bustling hub where people from Glasgow flocked to see theatre that pushed the boundaries and challenged the norm with fledgling actors, directors and backstage experts given a platform.

Pierce Brosnan in The Maid's Tragedy, 1979.

Some star names had humble beginnings here, but when the building closed back in 2018 for a revamp, it had become something of an island in the Gorbals with next-door theatres long gone and surrounding high-rises and tenements demolished.

Now, as the neighbourhood reignites with new housing and regeneration work, so too does this cultural beacon. The iconic statues are back on the roof, there is a welcoming new foyer and, at night, striking pink lighting calls out to the next generation.

A proud history

Balancing past, present and future, at the theatre’s heart is the auditorium which purposefully retains the same charm that audiences know and love.

“It’s almost taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together, but trying to retain that special feel and atmosphere,” explained technical director Graham Sutherland.

“It’s fascinating, the journey the theatre’s been on. Looking back, it was one of the most densely packed areas in Europe.

“Throughout the ’60s and ’70s, there were the clearances for the high flats going up. There’s times in its history when the Citz has almost been the lone survivor in a sort of wasteland.

“Now we’re refurbished and refreshed and while we’ve been closed they’ve built an entire community across the road. It’s a really busy, thriving place again.”

(left to right) Catrin Evans (Participate Director), Dominic Hill (Artistic Director), Kate Denby (Executive Director) and Graham Sutherland (Technical Director) in the auditorium at the Citizens Theatre.

Opened as Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1878, it would become the Royal Princess’s Theatre, famed for variety shows and pantomimes. Renamed the Citizens in 1945, being for the people has been at its core.

“It was for the southside,” Graham explained. “There’s a feeling sometimes that everything happens on the other side of the river, so it’s been really important.

“Next door was the Palace Theatre, and for a while you had the Close Theatre upstairs, which burned down in the ’70s. That was like the original studio theatre project, formed as a private club to get around the censor.

“Really pushing at the edges of what was possible and doing it in the middle of a working-class area with huge deprivation at that time was unique. Reviews at the time panned certain plays, but there were queues around the block to get in.

“We’re the same, pushing boundaries. Over time, people in the Gorbals have become really proud of that history. It’s their building.”

The theatre in the 1970s. The adjacent Palace Theatre was later demolished.

The roll call of famous names includes Hollywood stars stretching back decades, and more recently a small studio play was a stepping stone on Bodyguard star Richard Madden’s ascent to being tipped to play Bond. Likewise for Outlander’s Sam Heughan.

Backstage, Trisha Biggar, who headed the wardrobe department, would go on to run costumes for the Star Wars prequel films.

“You’ll be in a taxi and they’ll ask if you have anyone famous on at the moment,” Graham said.

“Quite often the answer is: ‘Not yet.’ People come here, they get a start, learn the trade somewhere amazing. They can come in at the bottom level and get to work on really complicated stuff.”

The theatre in 1977 after the demolition of the surrounding buildings.

The rebuilt frontage, complete with lighting. — The rebuilt frontage in 2025, complete with lighting.

Renovation journey

Last week saw the media welcomed back in for a first glimpse at the almost-completed work and staff could finally begin to imagine the return of crowds to the building after seven years.

Hurdles including Covid and Brexit put significant pressure on the project on top of the state the building was in.

Woodworm, dry rot and asbestos – you name it, the team had to deal with it.

“If we discovered structural issues, although it was deeply painful and delayed us considerably we felt we had a duty as custodians of the building to put it right,” Graham said.

“There were sections where maybe a hundred years ago someone had chopped it to bits and cobbled it back together. Some beams still had the bark of the tree they were cut from.”

Graham Sutherland guides a tour round the building.

A potentially even more alarming surprise came one day during demolition – although fortunately it was a false alarm.

“The supervisor came running out saying we needed to close the site and call the police – he’d found a body under the floor,” Graham recalled. “Somebody had taken a mannequin, wrapped it in hessian and hidden it. It was a practical joke our head of workshop had done 25 years previously and had forgotten about!”

The frontage as it looked until the late 1970s.

It’s hoped the refurbishment will be an anchor project for a new cultural quarter as the city centre and growing creative hub of the southside close in either side.

Historical elements like the stage machinery and working paint frame make it an attraction, and creatives can use the large amount of studio space. It also has giant workshops and a costume department that will provide jobs and apprenticeships.

Making sure everyone feels welcome is at the heart of the revamp, with the foyer area now a cafe and bar space with huge windows and, unlike its predecessor, a revolving door that isn’t temperamental.

A ‘generational intervention’

Kate Denby, the theatre’s executive director, said: “The purpose of the project from the start was to think about how we take a Victorian theatre that is loved and make it fit for the future. This is a generational intervention.

“This theatre has always been rooted in The Gorbals and so its connection to its community is part of its bones. It’s changing around us, so how we change to continue to be of service and of need is an exciting new chapter.

“Our participation team have continued to engage with the community with a huge amount of work. As we come back into this building we’re able to bring those relationships with us but also knock on a few doors and go, ‘hello, we’re your new neighbours’.”

“We’re trying to find lots of ways in. It might just be coming in for a cup of tea, which is a great place to start.”

The first show at the theatre when it reopens this autumn is Small Acts Of Love, a story based on the Lockerbie bombings developed by playwright Frances Poet and Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross. Following it is local playwright Douglas Maxwell’s Glasgow-set comedy So Young.

“I love looking across at the exposed brick of that ancient theatre cut in half by a great big pink staircase,” Douglas said.

“It feels like the Citz. It’s camp. It’s kind of ill-advised. It’s kind of funny, it looks fantastic.

“It’s not the King’s, Theatre Royal or Pavilion. It has a different feel. Even though we’re sitting in this gorgeous, high-tech beautiful new thing it still has something of the art school about it.

The auditorium before restoration work began.

“There’s something a bit scuzzier, a bit rock’n’roll. It doesn’t feel like going to church when you come here.

“This locality has radically changed. It’s full of creators and makers, an incredible amount of different races and classes, they’ll all have a foot in here.

“It’s traditional Glasgow versus funky Glasgow. People are going to love coming in.”