The King’s Theatre Reopening Celebration Edinburgh

The Grand Old Lady of Leven Street is not a character, nor is it the title of a play.

It is what Edinburgh locals fondly call the 120-year-old King’s Theatre which last night reopened after a four-year refurbishment costing more than £40 million.

It was a night everyone involved should be proud of. All the great and the good were out in force to celebrate this historic 1,000-seater which was once again robed in plush red velvet and flamboyantly decorated in ivory and gold: Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, the National Theatre of Scotland, and Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, violinist Nicola Benedetti, who opened the proceedings with a Bach solo. Succession actor Brian Cox recited a poem in Scots about the King’s, written in 1924, by video link and poet Hannah Lavery performed her own poem about the theatre as it stands today.

Any celebration at the King’s would not be complete, of course, without its three panto stars, Allan Stewart, Grant Stott and Jordan Young, who presented the proceedings with their customary and hilarious banter. With an audience made up of friends and supporters of the King’s it felt as if we were part of a big family. The warmth and joy was palpable. We were welcoming back a revered old friend.

There were lots of speeches too, not least from the Scottish Government’s First Minister John Swinney, who spoke of the importance of nurturing the iconic building for generations to come, while the UK Government’s Minister of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Ian Murray, said the government will always support culture in Scotland.

However, much of the celebration was centred around messages in a bottle which had been placed high above the stage in 1906 and were found during the renovations. They were love letters to the King’s and as a choir made up of amateur societies in the city ended the show singing The Proclaimers’ Streets of Edinburgh we could all really feel the love for the Grand Old Lady of Leven Street.

Image: Anneleen Lindsay