Theatre Royal Glasgow

The Theatre Royal Glasgow sits at 282 Hope Street, on the Cowcaddens edge of the city centre, and is the oldest theatre in Glasgow and the longest running in Scotland. Opened in 1867, it holds 1,541 people in a Victorian auditorium rebuilt to a French Renaissance design by Charles J. Phipps, and it is the largest surviving example of his theatre work in Britain. Owned by Scottish Opera and managed by ATG Entertainment, it is home to both Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet while also welcoming touring plays, musicals, comedy and concerts.

The theatre opened in 1867 as the Royal Colosseum and Opera House, built for James Baylis, who also ran the Milton Colosseum Music Hall at Cowcaddens Cross and had opened the Scotia Music Hall in Stockwell Street in 1862. The building, together with its shops and the adjoining Alexandra Music Hall, was designed by George Bell of Clarke & Bell, founding President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects. Baylis mixed pantomimes, plays, comedies, harlequinades and opera from the start. Two years after opening the house took the name Theatre Royal, brought across in 1869 by William Glover from the old Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street, which had been demolished for St Enoch railway station.

Fire shaped the building twice before the end of the century. The auditorium was destroyed in 1879 and rebuilt to the classical French Renaissance design still seen today by the celebrated theatre architect Charles J. Phipps, who created three galleries instead of two and turned the main entrance to face Hope Street rather than Cowcaddens Road. A second fire in 1895 gutted the auditorium again, and Phipps oversaw a rebuild completed within six months with few visible changes. The Theatre Royal remains the largest surviving example of his work in Britain.

In 1888 the actor managers James Howard and Fred Wyndham took over and declared the theatre a pantomime house, opening with The Forty Thieves. Their company, incorporated as Howard & Wyndham Ltd in 1895, grew into the largest group of quality theatres in Scotland and England with the Royal as its flagship, and from the 1930s presented the Half Past Eight Shows that later became the Five Past Eight Shows. In 1957 the building was sold to Scottish Television and converted into studios, theatre and offices, becoming the main home of the commercial ITV network in central Scotland. A blaze in November 1969 claimed the life of a firefighter, and production briefly moved to Edinburgh.

Scottish Television moved next door in 1974 and offered the theatre to Scottish Opera, which bought it with public support and turned it into Scotland's first national opera house. The rebuild brought an enlarged foyer, a new main staircase, an orchestra pit for 100 players, extended backstage areas and a restored auditorium in cream, gold and pale blue. It reopened in October 1975 with a gala performance of Die Fledermaus, televised live, and was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh. Scottish Ballet arrived as a resident company a few months later, the building was made a category A listed structure in 1977, a major refurbishment in 1997 allowed extensive rewiring and redecoration, and in 2005 Scottish Opera leased the management to what is now ATG Entertainment.

The Theatre Royal aims to remove barriers so that everyone can enjoy a performance in comfort. There is a lift to all levels of the building.

• Step-free access: available on the ground floor through the main entrance. The stalls auditorium is step-free, and there is step-free seating at the back of every level, although other seating areas on those levels are reached by steps.
• Wheelchair spaces: eight positions in total, two in Row E of the stalls and two at the rear of each other level. Stalls seats J1 to J3, J28 to J30, K1 to K3 and K28 to K30 suit anyone who prefers to transfer to a theatre seat.
• Toilets: there is an accessible toilet on every level, all reachable by lift.
• Bars and refreshments: all bars are reached step-free or by lift, and at seat service can be requested on arrival. The Ambassador Lounges are on the Royal Circle level and are reached by stairs only.
• Seat dimensions: seats average from 16 to 17 inches wide.

Assisted performances

include audio described, captioned, BSL interpreted and relaxed shows. The venue uses the Mobile Connect app for audio description and hearing enhancement, which works from any seat if you download the app and bring your own headphones. Front stalls seats are recommended for anyone who needs a closer view, the stalls or dress circle give the best sight of caption units, and Rows D to H give the clearest view of a BSL interpreter. Touch tours are sometimes offered alongside audio described performances.

Booking and contact

the ATG Access Membership Scheme allows accessible seats to be booked online, along with concessions and, for eligible customers, personal assistant tickets. The accessibility assistance line is 0333 009 5399, or 1800 1 0333 009 5399 via Typetalk. A Visual Story is available by emailing glasgowaccess@atgentertainment.com.