King's Theatre, 2 Leven St, Tollcross, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, EH3 9LQ
The King's became famous for being a venue belonging to the theatre empire Howard & Wyndham. The theatre was originally commissioned by the Edinburgh Building Company Ltd, chaired by Robert C. Buchanan. The King's was built as a rival to the successful Royal Lyceum Theatre, which had been established for over twenty years. Buchanan was experienced in the industry as he already managed a large number of provincial variety theatres, however this was his most ambitious project yet. The foundation stone was laid on 18 August 1906 by Andrew Carnegie, with copies of the current newspaper and coins buried underneath. During construction the owners experienced financial troubles being unable to pay the final costs to the contractor William Stewart Cruikshank and to the architects, surveyors and lawyers, at which stage the operating rights were transferred to a new King's Theatre Company, of which Cruikshank was a major shareholder. Buchanan was managing director and he took on the day-to-day running of the King's, with Cruikshank`s son A. Stewart Cruikshank as manager. An attempt to sell the theatre to Howard & Wyndham Ltd chaired by Michael Simons, and therefore clear the debts, failed and the Cruikshank family decided to run it themselves with A Stewart Cruikshank becoming managing director in June 1908 The theatre is home to Edinburgh's mainstream annual pantomime, which is produced by Qdos Entertainment. The theatre is now run by the Capital Theatres which also controls the Festival Theatre. The theatre is also an important venue over the Festival period. Plans are now underway for a new refurbishment scheme to bring the theatre up to modern day standards The theatre's interior and exterior were designed separately. James Davidson designed the building itself. The interior of the King's was designed by JD Swanston
Size: 5472px × 3648px
Location: 2 Leven St, Tollcross, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, EH3 9LQ
Photo credit: © Tony Smith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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