Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Dundee Rep Theatre opened its doors for the first time in Tay Square 40 years ago.
The Rep had been living a nomadic existence for almost two decades after its former home in the city’s Nicoll Street was completely destroyed by fire in 1963.
Work to build a new purpose-built theatre started in 1979 after Dundee University offered a site at Tay Square for a peppercorn rent on a 99 year lease.
The cost of the new theatre was £1 million with £200,000 raised by public appeal and comedian Sir Billy Connolly among those who answered the call-to-arms.
The theatre has now been entertaining audiences for 40 years and Dundee Rep’s own story features just as much drama as anything performed on its stage.
So let’s raise the curtain and go back to the very beginning.
Taking to the Stage: Dundee Rep
The Dundee Repertory Theatre was originally founded by Robert Thornley.
Thornley was the leader of a theatrical touring company that had been performing at Dundee’s Alhambra Theatre.
When the Alhambra Theatre was converted to a cinema, Thornley decided that his company needed a permanent home for its work.
Forester’s Hall on Nicoll Street became its chosen venue.
Plans and contracts were exchanged and the work was completed by December 1939 despite Britain now being in the midst of the Second World War.
At Nicoll Street the Rep showcased a variety of classical plays, including Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
The theatre stayed at Nicol Street for 24 years until a fire in June 1963 destroyed the building when X-Files actor William B Davis was artistic director.
It was just before the curtain was about to go up on the Rep’s Saturday matinee that a passage leading to the stage filled with dense smoke.
The blaze quickly increased to spectacular proportions.
Twelve families were temporarily evacuated from adjacent buildings and despite the fire brigade’s best efforts, the roof of the theatre came crashing down.
The building was completely destroyed apart from the pictures of the acting company which were still standing in the wreckage of the foyer.
Davis recalled: “The theatre was ablaze, beyond hope of saving, my dreams for now — up in smoke.
“Fortunately no one was hurt, the company being on lunch, and being Saturday the building underneath was unoccupied.”
The hall had been re-decorated only five months previously in a Jacobean motif designed by Richard Buckle.
The cast were able to get a temporary location for a few weeks in a local theatre before they mounted two productions in a tent in Camperdown Park.
The production of Signpost to Murder would prove fatal and closed early on July 28 after the company started to lose money due to poor ticket sales.
An outdoor production of Macbeth at Glamis Castle was then cancelled before Davis was relieved of his duties.
What had been described as the theatre’s “brave attempt” to survive after the Nicol Street fire was soon dubbed a “defeat” instead.
However, the Rep soldiered on despite everything and took up residence in a disused church in Lochee where the roof collapsed during one performance.
The quality of the product continued to outstrip the facilities available and it became increasingly apparent that the Rep had to be rehoused.
Negotiations with then Dundee District Council and the Scottish Arts Council saw the decision taken for the company to have its own purpose-built premises on land donated by Dundee University.
The cost was £1m although there were various funding challenges which would need to be overcome including raising £200,000 in a public appeal.
The Big Yin Takes to the Stage
Many famous Scottish faces banded together to support fundraising efforts for the theatre including comedy legend Billy Connolly.
The fundraiser was organised by local journalist Fraser Elder who still fondly remembers The Big Yin’s love for Dundee and the Rep.
He said: “I decided to organise a William McGonagall supper in the Angus Hotel and I invited Billy along to take part.
“There must have been 300-400 people there all dressed up as William McGonagall with men wearing a bonnet and women wearing shawls.
“At the end of the night Billy invited everybody to the lounge of the Angus Hotel and said he had a very special surprise for everyone – a chip butty.
“I asked him how he was going to manage that and he said to me ‘I have sent over to the Deep Sea Restaurant, which was across the road at the time, to make up 100 chip butties that are going to be delivered’.
“This was about midnight and the sight of everyone eating chip butties that were ordered by Billy Connolly each dressed up as William McGonagall was quite something.
“He was always up for coming and helping out at any charity events being held in the city and I think through our friendship he grew a great love for Dundee.”
The new Dundee Repertory Theatre opened on April 8 1982.
It was designed by local architects Nicoll Russell Studios.
Brian King, author of Dundee in 50 Buildings, describes the new theatre as a seamless fit into the Georgian Square, despite its modern appearance.
He said: “The Rep has now been a feature of Dundee life for over 70 years.
“Its two-storey glass front helps draw the audience into the venue.
“The 450-seat auditorium is set out so that even the furthest back seats feel close to the stage.
“Few other cities are blessed with such an outstanding cultural facility.”
Regarded as one of the best stages in Scotland for its relationship with its audience, the Dundee Rep received a civic commendation from The Civic Trust Award in 1984.
In 1986, the theatre won the RIBA Architecture Award.
The Rep’s Top Gun?
Not long after, it was announced that Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were the new patrons of the Scottish theatre.
The Hollywood couple were to lead a campaign in aid of funding a full-time cast at the theatre.
Cruise and Kidman were personal friends of the Rep’s then artistic director Hamish Glen.
Glen was introduced to them by his actor brother Iain, who had appeared alongside Kidman in the sell-out London play The Blue Room.
It was hoped they would have been guests of honour at a dinner in aid of theatre funds the following April but filming commitments were blamed for their non-appearance.
Cruise and Kidman no longer have any ties with the Rep.
Whether they ever did remains shrouded in mystery.
Despite the lack of help from its elusive patrons, The Rep opened its doors to a permanent company of actors in September 1999.
In the years that followed the theatre went on to complete a tour of Iran with Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
In 2007, it created the Sunshine on Leith musical which features the music of The Proclaimers.
Two years later, passers-by in Dundee’s Tay Square did a double take when they saw Hollywood superstar Keanu Reeves exiting the theatre.
The star of the Matrix trilogy was meeting with members of the team behind the Rep’s production of The Cherry Orchard, as part of research for his new film, Henry’s Crime.
Speaking to The Courier, action hero Reeves expressed his gratitude to Dundee Rep for its assistance in helping him research the new film.
The Show Must Go On
In recent years the Rep has created a number of award-winning and award-nominated productions.
It developed the first professional revival of ‘The Cheviot, The Stag and The Black, Black Oil’, and hosted the Scottish premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘August: Osage County’.
It was the home of the 80th Anniversary season world premiere of Peter Arnott’s ‘Tay Bridge’.
This year, the Dundee Rep was granted A-listed status for its architectural significance by Historic Environment Scotland.
Here’s to the next 40 years at its iconic Dundee home!
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