His Majesty's Theatre in
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
is the largest theatre in north-east
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, seating more than 1,400. The theatre is sited on Rosemount Viaduct, opposite the city's
Union Terrace Gardens
Union Terrace Gardens is a public park and gardens situated on Union Terrace, Aberdeen, Union Terrace in Aberdeen, Scotland.
The gardens
The sunken gardens opened to the public in 1879, and cover approximately two and a half acres . The spac ...
. It was designed by
Frank Matcham
Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design of theatres and ...
and opened in 1906.
History
The granite-clad theatre is the brainchild of Robert Arthur, of Glasgow, who started his group of theatres in the 1880s focusing on Her Majesty`s Theatre, Dundee, and others in England. He took a lease of Her Majesty`s Opera House, Aberdeen (later named the Tivoli) in Guild Street from 1891 and started to look for a site to build one according to his own specifications. His plans for Rosemount Viaduct were submitted to Aberdeen City Council in 1901, construction starting in 1904, and completed in 1906.
Now with theatres in Scotland, and in England, such as the
Theatre Royal, Newcastle
The Theatre Royal is a historic theatre, a Grade I listed building situated on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne.
History
George III authorised the founding of a theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1780s. Newcastle's original Theatre Royal o ...
, Robert Arthur floated his new company on the Stock Exchange in 1897. He staged the whole range of plays, opera, revues and pantomimes until the company ran out of funds in 1912. At this point Michael Simons of the
Theatre Royal, Glasgow
The Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre in Glasgow and the longest running in Scotland. Located at 282 Hope Street, its front door was originally round the corner in Cowcaddens Street. It currently accommodates 1,541 people and is owned by Scott ...
, chairman and founder of
Howard & Wyndham Ltd Howard & Wyndham Ltd was a theatre owning, production and management company named after John B. Howard and Frederick W. P. Wyndham, founded in Glasgow in 1895, and which became the largest of its type in Britain. The company continued well into the ...
, became chairman of the Robert Arthur group with the Arthur theatres now to be operated under the same directors and managers of Howard & Wyndham.
Robert Arthur Theatres Ltd, through Michael Simons, sold the theatre in 1923 to Walter Gilbert, managing director of the Tivoli Theatre. On his death it was bought in 1932 by Councillor James F Donald, of cinema and dance hall note. James Donald refurbished the venue and introduced features such as external neon lighting, a cinema projector and a revolving stage. Gilbert`s son and the Donald family managed it until 1939 when the ownership, programming and production passed to Howard & Wyndham Ltd (of which Peter Donald became a director) continuing until the late 1960s when Peter Donald and family bought it back.
Unlike the London theatre, and similar to
His Majesty's Theatre in
Perth, Western Australia
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
the Aberdeen theatre did not change its title to ''Her Majesty's'' during
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
's reign. These two theatres remained the only two in the world to bear that name during the Queen's reign.
Aberdeen City Council
Aberdeen City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Aberdeen City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Aberdeen was formerly governed by a municipal corporation, corporat ...
bought the theatre in 1975, the Council duly allocating £3.5 million to ensure the building's survival. After 23 months of closure the theatre was reopened in 1982 by
King Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
(then Prince Charles,
Duke of Rothesay
Duke of Rothesay ( ; ; ) is the main dynastic title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the Scottish and, later, British thrones. The dukedom was created in 1398 by Robert III of Scotland for his eldest son.
Duke of Rothesay i ...
).
Extension and refurbishment (2005)
During the late 1990s, Aberdeen City Council recognised that the theatre required modernisation.
It lacked a cafe, restaurant or corporate hospitality offering, the bar and toilet facilities were inadequate and the back-of-house space did not offer any rehearsal area, dance studio or workshops.
Operational equipment, such as the
scenery
Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...
hoist, and parts of the building fabric were also deteriorating.
A proposal to refurbish the existing facilities and extend the theatre was developed by the Council’s in-house architects, with LDN Architects appointed as architectural consultants and the Adapt Trust advising on
accessibility. Construction of the extension began in August 2003, with the theatre closing completely in March 2004 to allow refurbishment works of the existing part of the building. The theatre reopened in August 2005, with an opening ceremony taking place on 8 September which was attended by
Prince Edward.
The extension is a five-storey triangular structure built on the car park to the east of the existing building, with three storeys below the level of Rosemount Viaduct.
It was constructed from
Kemnay Kemnay may refer to:
* Kemnay, Manitoba, a community in Canada
*Kemnay, Aberdeenshire
Kemnay (Scottish Gaelic language, Gaelic: ''Camnaidh'') is a village west of Aberdeen in Garioch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
History
The village name ''Kemna ...
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
to match the original building facade and features a large glass facade facing Rosemount Viaduct. The choice of a glazed structure was in response to the desire to enliven the frontage of the building and highlight the activity within. The roof is finished in
pre-patinated copper
Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...
to match the
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
on the original part of the building.
Accommodated within the extension are new
front-of-house facilities, including a
box office
A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
, restaurant, coffee shop and corporate hospitality area. The
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...
seating was
re-upholstered with increased leg-room provided in the stalls by replacing the rows and offsetting seats. Back-of-house facilities were also improved, with upgraded technical and audio-visual equipment installed, a new
green room
In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre, or a similar venue, that functions as a waiting room and lounge for Performing arts, performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on Stage (thea ...
, enhanced dressing rooms and a purpose-built rehearsal and education area. A key aim of the project was to make the building fully accessible to those with disabilities and to that end, the project included the installation of two lifts, provision of accessible toilets & dressing rooms and creation of space for wheelchairs across the different levels in the auditorium.
The project cost £7.9m and was jointly funded by Aberdeen City Council, the
Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...
Capital Lottery Fund (£2m),
Scottish Enterprise Grampian (£375,000) and private sponsorship.
It was recognised with a commendation in the 2006
Civic Trust Awards
The Civic Trust Awards scheme is a British awards scheme to recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment. It was established in 1959, and is the longest-standing built environment awards scheme in Europe. The ...
and was a joint winner in the major buildings category of the Society of Chief Architects for Local Authorities' Civic Building of the Year Award 2006.
The
Scottish Executive
The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in t ...
featured the project as a case study in its 2007 policy document on architecture, describing it as a "thoughtful integration of the old and new" with the improved facilities and comfort conditions considered to significantly increase the theatre's attractiveness as a venue for theatregoers and performers alike. The case study concluded "This is an excellent example of public architecture carried out by the City Council’s in-house team."
On its centenary in 2006, the theatre was "twinned" with His Majesty's Theatre in
Perth, Western Australia
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
.
[Edi Swan: ''His Majesty's Theatre – One Hundred Years of Glorious Damnation'' ( Black & White Publishing) (2006) ]
The '1906 Restaurant' was refurbished in 2022, with £675,000 of funding from Scottish Enterprise and Aberdeen City Council. The works included changes to the theatre foyer and circulation space. The updated facilities were opened in December 2022, with the new bar-cafe renamed 'The Terrace'. The refrubishment of the Terrace Bar won the project of the year; interior; and public/commercial awards at the
Aberdeen Society of Architects' 2023 design awards.
Architecture
The original building comprises four storeys and is constructed from Kemnay granite in an
ashlar
Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones.
Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
finish on the primary elevation and Tillyfourie granite to the sides and rear. It features a copper domed tower at its eastern end and a reinforced concrete statue of
Tragedy and Comedy at the top of the main facade.
Historic Environment Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...
describe the building as having a "remarkable finely detailed Free
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
style" with a "spacious well preserved interior, handsomely treated throughout in mixed
baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
and
neo-Jacobean
The Jacobethan ( ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival, is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the Engli ...
strapwork
In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather straps, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings, and often interwoven in ...
decoration, much
alabaster
Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...
and
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...
".
On 8 November 1973, the building was
category A listed
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
General uses
*Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy
* Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
* Category (Kant)
* Categories (Peirce)
* Category ( ...
as a building of special architectural or historic interest.
The theatre sits alongside the
Central Library which was built in 1891 and St Marks Church dating from 1892. Together they are known locally as 'Education, Salvation and Damnation'.
Management and activities
The theatre is managed by
Aberdeen Performing Arts, on behalf of Aberdeen City council, which also runs
The Music Hall, and The Lemon Tree.
The theatre is regularly visited by
Scotland's national arts companies and hosts performances from other major companies. Until 2017, when it ceased, it hosted events in the annual
Aberdeen International Youth Festival.
References
Sources
*
*''Guide to British Theatres 1750-1950'', John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 2–3 (Theatres Trust, 2000)
External links
*
Critique of His Majesty's Theatre by Paul Iles''His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen'' (Scottish Arts Council)
{{Authority control
Theatres in Aberdeen
Theatre in Scotland
Category A listed buildings in Aberdeen