Impressive win for Capital Theatres - Angus Robertson

An artist's impression of how the refurbished King's Theatre will look (Picture: Bennetts Associates)

Congratulations to Capital Theatres – owners of Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre, Festival Theatre and The Studio – for winning the Excellence in Inclusivity award at The UK Theatre Awards. It is a hugely impressive win given the array of world-class theatres they were up against.

The building project at the King’s Theatre is immense and will see Edinburgh’s beloved theatre transformed into a modern fully accessible space – to patrons and performers – and become an even more central part of the community, with spaces for events and classes, and a café.

The plans for the King’s are driven by the spirit of inclusivity for which they have been recognised and about making the theatre what, as Capital Theatres CEO, Fiona Gibson says, a “truly democratic space”. This is what theatre should be about.

It has required a real effort to make sure the renovations could happen. Aside from the public fundraiser endorsed by the King’s Honorary Patron and Succession star, Brian Cox, previous SNP-led council administration and the Scottish Government contributed towards the theatre’s initial fundraising for the project.

Various factors since have caused cost increases, but the Scottish Government was pleased to commit an additional £3.85 million which allowed work to begin on the project. Having seen the scale and ambition of the work in the King’s Theatre, I am hugely excited to welcome its new-and-improved return to the Edinburgh cultural scene.