Whether it was stars like favourites Stanley Baxter, John Grieve, Una McLeand and Russell Hunter playing in annual pantomimes, veteran actors such as Sir John Gielgud and John Mills or stars who would find fame later, like future James Bond, Timothy Dalton and Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson, they were all here.
Scroll through these old photos selected from the Evening News archive and get a flavour of theatre life and entertainment in the Capital in the early 1970s.
1. Mother Goose
Patricia Michael (Principal Boy), Stanley Baxter (in drag) and Frances Barlow (Principal Girl) in Mother Goose pantomime at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, in December 1970. | TSPL Photo: Hamish Campbell
2. Fringe showtime
Diana Patrick, Patricia Hodge and Emma Williams in the Portable Theatre Company production of 'Plays for Rubber Go Go Girls' during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 1971. | TSPL Photo: Hamish Campbell
3. Willie Rough
Scottish actors Roddy McMillan and Fulton Mackay in a production of Willie Rough at the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh in November 1972. | TSPL Photo: Denis Straughan
4. Cinderella
The cast of the 1972 King's Theatre, Edinburgh pantomime, Cinderella. From left: Bill Simpson, Jimmy Logan and Russell Hunter | TSPL Photo: Denis Straughan