Citizens' Theatre

Citizens Theatre

Exterior of the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre from Gorbals Street
Address	119 Gorbals Street Glasgow Scotland
Coordinates	55°51′04″N 4°15′11″W / 55.851°N 4.253°W / 55.851; -4.253
Owner	City of Glasgow Council
Designation	Category B Listed building
Capacity	500 (Main auditorium) 100 (Circle Studio) 50 (Stalls Studio)
Construction
Opened	11 September 1878
Architect	Campbell Douglas
Website
www.citz.co.uk

The Citizens Theatre is based in Glasgow, Scotland and is the principal producing theatre in the west of Scotland. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and two studio theatres, the Circle Studio (100 seats, a theatre in the round space) and the Stalls Studio (50 seats, an alley theatre space).

The Citizens' Theatre repertory group, originally called the Citizens' Company, was founded in 1943 by gallery director Tom Honeyman and dramatists James Bridie and Paul Vincent Carroll, the latter of whose plays were first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin (founder W.B.Yeats) and later on Broadway, winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for Shadow and Substance (1938) and The White Steed (1939). The Citizens Company was based at first in the Glasgow Athenaeum. It moved in 1945 to its present site, the then Royal Princess's Theatre (opened 1878), where it became the Citizens Theatre.

The Citizens Theatre is based in the Gorbals area of Glasgow, Scotland and produces a breadth of work, from professional productions for its main auditorium and studio spaces through to an ongoing commitment to creative learning and engaging with the community.

While the Citizens Theatre building retains some of the original Victorian architectural features, it has undergone additional renovations and expansions over the years. It now includes the 500-seat main auditorium, and two studio theatres. The main auditorium contains the original (1878) proscenium arch stage, which is raked (slopes down towards the auditorium); it has three seating levels: the stalls, the dress circle and the upper circle (or "gods"). The building contains the oldest original (1878) working understage machinery and paint frame in a working theatre in the United Kingdom. The paint frame is still used for scenic painting and its original glass roof remains.