The first Dundee Rep was a hall with a stage.
It opened in Nicoll Street in December 1939, taking up the artistic baton from a succession of theatres that began with the Theatre Royal in Castle Street in 1810.
The theatre is the theme for this week’s pictorial trip down memory lane, courtesy of The Dundonian, which appears in the Evening Telegraph every Wednesday.
There are images of the theatre as we know it today being built, as well as others of productions and shows over the years.
Some of these photographs have not been seen for years.
See if you recognise anyone or maybe a production you attended.
Do these images awaken any memories for you?
Opening in Nicoll Street in 1939
The guiding lights behind it were a Robert Thornley, who wanted to find a permanent home for his touring company in Dundee, and Dundee Dramatic Society, which had just acquired premises in a former jute store.
They came together, a board of directors was formed, and Foresters Hall in Nicoll Street, once home to rowdy suffragette meetings, was opened in December 1939.
The theatre survived the Second World War and the 1950s Suez Crisis but a dreadful fire in 1963 brought the Nicoll Street chapter to an end.
The Rep was forced to take up residence in a disused church in Lochee.
Despite the ingenuity involved in the conversion, the 280-seat Lochee Road Rep was not an altogether happy experience.
It became increasingly apparent that the Rep had to be relocated.
In 1974 Dundee Corporation made a commitment of £200,000 towards a new theatre.
In 1977, after negotiations involving the new Dundee District Council, the Scottish Arts Council and Tayside Regional Council, a new scheme for a purpose-built theatre in Tay Square, on land gifted by Dundee University, was agreed.
Although the first sod was cut in 1979, it was soon clear the target completion date would not be attained and that the cost of the building would greatly exceed the expected figure of £920,000.
Construction problems, inflation and recession meant there was a distinct danger that the building would never be completed.
The public responded magnificently to an appeal and raised £60,000 in six weeks – this from a city facing high unemployment.
An anonymous donor, meanwhile, contributed an interest-free loan of £160,000.
Comedy legend Billy Connolly joined the fundraising effort and performed a William McGonagall supper at Dundee’s Angus Hotel in 1980 for 500 people.
At the end of the night Connolly invited the stragglers to the lounge of the Angus Hotel and said he had a very special surprise for everyone – a chip butty.
He had sent an order over to the Deep Sea Restaurant, which was across the road at the time, to make up 100 chip butties that were delivered around midnight.
Dundee’s new repertory company gathered at the theatre to launch its new season.
It opened in August 1980 with American playwright Neil Simon’s musical Little Me, while Gigi and Alice Through the Looking Glass were also performed in Lochee.
The new theatre opened its doors for the first time in April 1982.
As guests arrived for that gala event, the carpets were still being hammered into place.
Artistic director Robert Robertson was the driving force in the creation of purpose-built premises, which saw the company leaving the converted church off Lochee Road that had been its home.
He was succeeded by Hamish Glen, who created a full-time ensemble company.
The list of “big names” who’ve trod the boards at Dundee Rep over the decades is certainly an impressive one.
Richard Todd, Rowena Cooper, Lynn Redgrave, Brian Cox, Jill Gascoigne, James Bolam, Michael York, Alan Cumming, David Tennant, Joanna Lumley – and the late Geoffrey Hayes from cult children’s TV show Rainbow – are just some of the stars who’ve cut their teeth in Dundee over the years.
However, as far as today’s Rep team is concerned, without the visiting public and its engagement with the community, the theatre would be nothing.
Popular shows over the years have included The Mill Lavvies, Black Watch and Sunshine on Leith with members of Dundee Rep’s ensemble and West End actors.
The late Michael Marra’s music for the Mill Lavvies Rep production captured the heart of the Dundee of his youth and would stand as testament to the culture of the mill workers into which his family and so much of Dundee was born.
The Rep also presents a lively mix of music, dance, comedy and speaking events.
There was even a fashion show in 1996 where Dundee United legend Dave Bowman took centre stage in front of a sell-out crowd of 450.
More than 30 models strutted their stuff in a musical extravaganza at the Rep to raise funds for his testimonial fund and some of his United team-mates took to the catwalk.
Who needs William Shakespeare or George Bernard Shaw?
It’s the final image in our gallery.
Did our pictorial trip back in time jog any memories for you?
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