25 Albert Drive, Tramway Theatre, Glasgow

Tramway is a contemporary visual and performing arts venue located in the Scottish city of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. Based in a former tram depot in the

Pollokshields Pollokshields ( gd, Buthan Phollaig, Scots: ''Powkshiels'') is an area in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. Its modern boundaries are largely man-made, being formed by the M77 motorway to the west and northwest with the open land of Pollok ...

area of the South Side, it consists of two performance spaces and two galleries, as well as offering facilities for community and artistic projects. The Hidden Gardens is situated behind Tramway. The new extension to Tramway is the home of the

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...

, and is claimed to be one of the leading venues of its type in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

History

The Tramway occupies the former Coplawhill

Glasgow Corporation Tramways Glasgow Corporation Tramways were formerly one of the largest urban tram, tramway systems in Europe. Over 1000 municipally-owned trams served the city of Glasgow, Scotland, with over 100 route miles (160 route kilometres) by 1922. The system clo ...

depot. The original

horse tram A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...

depot was constructed in 1894, and further workshops were added between 1899 and 1912. It was converted for use as the

Glasgow Museum of Transport The Riverside Museum (formerly known as the Glasgow Museum of Transport) is a museum in Glasgow, housed in a building at Pointhouse Quay in the Glasgow Harbour regeneration district of Glasgow, Scotland. The building opened in June 2011, winnin ...

in 1964, until the museum relocated to Kelvin Hall in 1987. It was first used as a performance venue in 1988, with

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...

's ''

The Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

''. In 1990, it was a prominent venue as part of the European City of Culture celebrations. It has been protected as a

category B listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1990. It has hosted many leading international and Scottish performers and artists, including

Robert Lepage Robert Lepage (born December 12, 1957) is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director. Early life Lepage was raised in Quebec City. At age five, he was diagnosed with a rare form of alopecia, which caused complete hair lo ...

Douglas Gordon Douglas Gordon (born 20 September 1966) is a Scottish artist. He won the Turner Prize in 1996, the Premio 2000 at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997 and the Hugo Boss Prize in 1998. He lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Work Much of Gordon's ...

and

Les Ballets C de la B Alain Platel (born 9 April 1956) is a Belgian choreographer and director. In 1984, he founded les ballets C de la B, which has been called 'one of the world's most influential dance theatre companies'. Platel came to prominence alongside choreogr ...

. As well as having close links to

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, an ...

and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Exhibitions have included the seminal new works by Christine Borland and

. In Autumn 1992, Tramway hosted a seminal exhibition ''Read My Lips: New York AIDS Polemics'' (exhibition catalogue editor Nicola White), featuring

Gran Fury Emerging from ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) in 1988, Gran Fury was an AIDS activist artist collective from New York City consisting of 11 members including: Richard Elovich, Avram Finkelstein, Amy Heard, Tom Kalin, John Lindell, Lo ...

's advertisement/poster with a photo of bi-racial men kissing. Advertisement_for_New_York_AIDS_Polemics_by_Tramway_Colour_lithograph_1992

Tramway also has a very successful company for young people called Junction 25, run by Tashi Gore and Jess Thorpe of Glas(s) Performance, who have endured international success as well as having a biannual Edinburgh Festival Fringe run. The group celebrated their tenth anniversary in March 2015. Tramway was also the base for Glas(s) Performance's 2013 project, Albert Drive. In 2003, plans to close the arts centre and convert the building to rehearsal and ancillary space for

resulted in massive opposition from the arts community and the wider public.The List: Losing Their Tramway
Eventually it was decided to house the Ballet facilities in formerly derelict space to the rear of the building, retaining the arts centre in the existing structure. Scottish Ballet has moved into its new home in 2009. Sarah Munro was appointed the first General Manager of Tramway in 2008 and remains in her capacity as part of her role as Director of Glasgow Life. In January 2013, it was announced by

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

that Tramway would host the 2015

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...

References

External links

Tramway
- official site {{coord, 55.84075, N, 4.26721, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Culture in Glasgow Ballet in Scotland Art museums and galleries in Glasgow Theatres in Scotland Category B listed buildings in Glasgow Contemporary art galleries in Scotland 1988 establishments in Scotland Pollokshields