Glasgow

Glasgow. Like Edinburgh, with which it shared theatrical managements until the early years of the 19th century, Glasgow had a long struggle to achieve a permanent playhouse. The first, erected in 1753, was soon dismantled in the face of religious criticism; a fire was started in the second on the eve of the opening performance in 1764. Damage was slight, and the theatre survived until burnt down in 1780. The famous Dunlop Street Theatre was opened in 1782, but was eclipsed when the Queen Street Theatre Royal was built in 1805, where Edmund and Charles Kean first played together. The Dunlop Street Theatre became a warehouse. Part of the building was, however, used for miscellaneous entertainments and in 1824 it was all brought into use again, as the Caledonian Theatre. It became the Theatre Royal in 1829, after the Queen Street theatre was burnt down. In 1849 a false alarm of fire caused a disastrous panic in which at least 65 lost their lives. Burnt down in 1863, the theatre was rebuilt, but demolished in 1869. Other theatres in Glasgow were the Adelphi, opened in 1842 and destroyed by fire in 1848, the City, opened and burnt down in 1845, the Prince's (1849), and the Royalty (1879). In 1867 a music-hall was built which in 1869 became the Theatre Royal, and was rebuilt on the same site after its destruction by fire in 1879 and again in 1895. The Glasgow Repertory Theatre, 1909–14, was succeeded by the Scottish National Players, whose work was taken over in the 1930s by the amateur Curtain Theatre company. The last became the main vehicle for the production of new plays in the vernacular, among them those of Paul Vincent Carroll, its co-founder, then living in Glasgow. It was disbanded in 1940. The Unity Theatre, founded in 1941, was active in the 1940s. Present Glasgow theatres include the King's Theatre, the Theatre Royal, now a touring theatre and the home of Scottish Opera, the Citizens' Theatre, and the Tron Theatre. In 1988 a former tram depot was converted into a large performance space, the Tramway, which opened with Peter Brook's production of the Mahabharata.