Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
and
arts
The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...
company in
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
,
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 ...
. It operates as both a producing house with some shows co-produced by other theatres and a receiving house – hosting work from visiting companies throughout Scotland and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
including
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
,
musicals
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
,
contemporary & classical dance, children's theatre,
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
. It is home to Scotland's principal contemporary dance company,
Scottish Dance Theatre. 'The Rep' building is located in Tay Square at the centre of the city’s ''"cultural quarter"'' in the West End.
History
Foundation
Dundee has had a number of purpose-built theatres. Apart from early wooden theatres, the Theatre Royal in Castle Street opened in 1810 and became firmly established from the 1840s until 1885 when the new Her Majesty's Theatre and Opera House opened on the Seagate. Others included the Alhambra – renamed the Whitehall in the 1970s – the Palace, renamed the Theatre Royal in the 1960s, and the King's Theatre in the Cowgate which opened in 1908.
By around 1920 many theatres had converted into
cinemas
A movie theater (American English) or cinema (Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business that contains auditoriums for viewing fi ...
, and for most of the 1930s Dundee no longer had a designated drama theatre.
Robert Thornely – Manager of the last touring company to perform in Dundee was determined to find a home in the city for his professional theatre company. He approached the Dundee Dramatic Society, an amateur company, who, also faced with nowhere to perform had recently purchased their own premises in the form of a disused
jute
Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...
mill.
In May 1939, Dundee Repertory Theatre was founded as a collaboration between professionals with amateur support. Around this time people thought it strange to be concentrating on drama during the turmoil of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. However the company performed weekly
repertory
A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom ...
during the war and the rest of the 1940s and throughout the 1950s. The company was housed in Foresters' Hall (6 Nicoll street to 3 Rattray Street) which was built for the
Ancient Order of Foresters
The Foresters Friendly Society is a British friendly society which was formed in 1834 as the Ancient Order of Foresters. As of 31 December 2016, the society had approximately 75,000 members.
Its head office is located in Southampton, England.
...
in 1901, when in June 1963 a fire completely destroyed the building and the Rep was forced to live a nomadic existence for a short period. Eventually a temporary refuge was found in the converted former Dudhope Church on the Lochee Road of Dundee although the company remained at the venue for a further 18 years.
Construction of the theatre and early years
After negotiation with the
City of Dundee District Council and 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 ...
it was agreed that the company would have its own purpose-built premises on land donated by
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...
. Work began in January 1979 under the leadership of
Robert Robertson who had been artistic director for a number of years and who was instrumental in overseeing the building and completion of the new theatre. However, the building work looked like being stopped in its tracks due to rising prices and inflation. A public appeal was launched which raised a massive
£60,000 in under six weeks, reaching an eventual total of £200,000 outstripping all possible expectations, in a city that was then in the midst of economic recession. The new theatre opened on 8 April 1982, designed by Dundee-based architects
Nicoll Russell Studios. The building proved a great success – with a personal 455-seater auditorium, providing one of the best stages in Scotland in terms of its relationship with its audience, it received a civic commendation from The Civic Trust Award in 1984 and in 1986 won the RIBA Architecture Award.
Robert Robertson retired from Dundee Rep in 1990.
In April 1992 Hamish Glen was appointed artistic director, the same year saw the building extended and undertook a major refurbishment to facilitate a growing community and education department and to include a dance studio as well as extending its existing workshop, wardrobe and rehearsal capacity. In September 1999 it opened its doors to one of the most ambitious experiments in Scottish Theatre for many years – a permanent company of 14 actors.
2000s–2010s
James Brining became artistic director in 2003 and during that time the company created over 50 productions. The Ensemble developed its international reputation, being the first UK company to tour to Iran in 30 years with Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. In 2005, it visited the prestigious Cerventino Festival in Mexico with a new version of Jarry's Ubu the King and in 2006 it took David Greig's Dr Korzcak's Example to Tokyo and Hiroshima. The company has developed co-productions with some of the UK's leading producers including the Barbican, the Young Vic, National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, The Traverse Theatre Company, Paines Plough and the Tron Theatre, performing in all of Scotland's major venues. The repertoire was broad, encompassing Shakespeare, musicals, American classics, new plays and work for children and young people.
In 2004 a new £1 million dance studio was completed to house Scottish Dance Theatre. The Rep's in-house productions offer a repertoire of works. The Rep also commissions playwrights to create new works and translate and adapt classical texts.
In 2007 Dundee Rep Ensemble created Sunshine on Leith featuring the music of The Proclaimers. It soon became a Scottish favourite and has been seen by more than 200,000 people. In 2013 a film version of the musical premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
A recent venture was the tour of its production of ''
The Winter's Tale
''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...
'' to Iran under the auspices of the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...
's five-year initiative 'Connecting Futures'. This was the first major cultural event to be shown in Iran for 25 years, and the first ever British Council theatre tour to Iran. The set was built entirely in Iran, under the direction of John Miller, the company's production manager and played at the
Vahdat Hall
Vahdat () is a city in western Tajikistan, on the bank of the Kofarnihon River, 21 km east of Dushanbe. It was previously called Yangi-Bozor (1927–1936), Orjonikidzeobod (1936–1993, after Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze) and Kofarnihon (1993–2 ...
, Tehran.
In May 2015, Dundee Repertory Theatre appointed Nick Parr as its new chief executive officer.
He took over from Philip Howard, who held the joint roles of CEO and, with Jemima Levick, joint artistic director.
He leads Dundee Rep Theatre Ltd solely in the role of chief executive, working alongside Levick as sole artistic director and Fleur Darkin who is artistic director of Scottish Dance Theatre. Levick left the Dundee Repertory Theatre in 2016.
Levick was replaced by Joe Douglas in April 2016 in the role of Associate Artistic Director.
2016–present
In July 2016, Andrew Panton was appointed new artistic director at Dundee Rep and took over from Douglas the year afterwards. Since then Dundee Rep have teamed up with National Theatre of Scotland to present the World Première of the cult classic Let The Right One In, collaborated with the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh with Time and the Conways, presented the Scottish Premiere of David Greig's ''Victoria''.
The Rep is now home to over 20 resident performers.
In 2022, the building was
listed at Category A by
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 ...
as "A rare and exceptional example of post-war theatre design".
Future
In September 2018 it was reported that the Rep was considering leaving its current building for new purpose-built premises. The Rep's artistic director Andrew Panton stated that it had outgrown its present home and that the building needed a lot of work. Panton suggested that a newly built theatre should be able to seat 800 to 1000 people (as opposed to the current building's capacity of about 400) and have greater flexibility to be able to house different sizes of audience. He suggested that this could tie in to the Rep's 80th anniversary celebrations in 2019 and be the next major cultural project in Dundee following the completion and opening of
V&A Dundee
V&A Dundee is a design museum in Dundee, Scotland, which opened on 15 September 2018. The V&A Dundee is the first design museum in Scotland and the first Victoria and Albert museum outside London. The V&A Dundee is also the first building in the ...
in 2018.
As of 2023, these plans have yet to come to fruition, possibly due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and slow audience return in its aftermath.
Artistic directors
*
Robert Robertson (1973–1992)
* Hamish Glen (1992–2003)
* James Brining (2003–2012)
* Phillip Howard (2012–2015)
* Nick Parr (2015–2017)
* Jemima Levick (2015–2016)
* Joe Douglas (2016–2017)
* Andrew Panton (2017–present)
Notable alumni and players
Richard Todd
Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...
began his acting career with the Company in the 1930s, returning to perform with it after military service in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Rowena Cooper
Rosemary Rowena Cooper (born 1935) is a British actress.
She began her career in 1956, joining the Radio Drama Company by winning the Carleton Hobbs Bursary. In 1959 she joined the Dundee Repertory Theatre Company and went on to have an exte ...
began her career with the Company in the 1950s.
In 1962,
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was a British and American actress. During a career that spanned five decades, she won two Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, two Em ...
appeared in Ben Travers' ''Rookery Nook'', and as Portia in ''The Merchant of Venice'', which also featured
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director.
As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style known as "Be ...
and Dundee-born
Brian Cox who has gone on to play many roles in TV productions and Hollywood films. In the mid-1960s, a stable repertory company including
Jill Gascoine
Jill Viola Gascoine (11 April 1937 – 28 April 2020) was an English actress and novelist. She portrayed Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series ''The Gentle Touch'' and its spin-off series '' C.A.T.S. Eyes''. In the 1 ...
,
Vivien Heilbron
Vivien Heilbron (born 13 May 1944) is a Scottish actress.
Career
Heilbron, who was born in Glasgow, was a member of the company at Dundee Repertory Theatre in the mid-1960s. She achieved fame in her homeland when she appeared in the 1971 BBC ...
,
Charmian May
Charmian Rosemary May (16 June 1937 – 24 October 2002) was an English character actress best known for her television and film roles. She appeared in the sitcoms '' The Good Life'', '' The Upper Hand'' and ''Keeping Up Appearances'', and ...
and
Stephen Yardley
Stephen Yardley (born 24 March 1942) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1963, he became known for his many roles on UK television between 1964 and 2004.
Career
In the mid-1960s, Yardley was a perm ...
saw short seasons from visiting actors
James Bolam
James Christopher Bolam (born 16 June 1935) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Collier in '' The Likely Lads'' and its sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', Jack Ford in ''When the Boat Comes In'', Roy Fig ...
and
Michael York
Michael York (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television, and stage actor. After performing on stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Romeo ...
. Other past associates include the actress
Ann Way.
Hannah Gordon was at the Dundee Rep from 1962 to 1963 as was Donald Sutherland.
Vivien Heilbron
Vivien Heilbron (born 13 May 1944) is a Scottish actress.
Career
Heilbron, who was born in Glasgow, was a member of the company at Dundee Repertory Theatre in the mid-1960s. She achieved fame in her homeland when she appeared in the 1971 BBC ...
and
Heather Ripley
Heather Ripley is a Scottish former actress. She is best known for the film ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' (1968), in which she played Jemima Potts.
Early life
Ripley was raised in Broughty Ferry, outside of Dundee, Scotland. Her father and grandfa ...
were members of the Company in the 1960s.
In 1987
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a Scottish actor, writer and presenter. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and an Olivier Award. He re ...
was at the Rep as Phil McCann in two of the three plays from
John Byrne's
The Slab Boys Trilogy
''The Slab Boys Trilogy'' is a set of three plays by the Scottish playwright John Byrne. The trilogy was originally known as ''Paisley Patterns''. The three plays which make up the trilogy are: ''The Slab Boys'', ''Cuttin' a Rug'', and ''Still ...
, 'The Slab Boys' and 'Cuttin' a Rug'. Other alumni include
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes ( ; born 18 May 1941) is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Marti ...
,
Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...
,
Geoffrey Hayes (beloved of British TV-viewers as the host of cult children's show ''
Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...
''), and
Hannah Gordon
Hannah Campbell Grant Gordon
Film reference website (born 9 April 1941) is a Scottish actress and presenter ...
.
''Doctor Who'' alumni
Several actors who would later take on the role of
The Doctor
The Doctor, sometimes known as Doctor Who, is the protagonist of the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An extraterrestrial Time Lord, the Doctor travels the universe in a time travelling spaceship called th ...
from the British sci-fi television series, ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' had performed at or were alumni of the Dundee Rep.
In the 1940s,
William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell (; 8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor, who is best known for portraying the first incarnation of the Doctor, in the long-running British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 t ...
who played the
first incarnation of the Doctor performed in two plays at the theatre, ''The Rookery Nook'' and ''Ghost Train''.
In the early 1990s,
David Tennant
David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
appeared in several productions starting with a role in ''The Princess and the Goblin'' before making his big break in television and going on to portray the
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series and nine specials. The character has also appeared in other ''Docto ...
and the
Fourteenth Doctor
The Fourteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor and the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' for the 2023 specials. He is portrayed by Scottish actor David Tennant, who previously portrayed the Ten ...
.
Ncuti Gatwa
Mizero Ncuti Gatwa ( ; born 15 October 1992) is a Rwandan-Scottish actor. After a screen Breakthrough role, breakthrough portraying Eric Effiong in Sex Education (TV series), ''Sex Education'' (2019–2023), he rose to further prominence as the ...
, who would go on and play the
Fifteenth Doctor
The Fifteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa in two series and two specials.
Within the series' narr ...
, started his career and was granted a position in a graduate scheme, at the Dundee Rep in 2013 where he went on to perform in several roles including one in
David Greig's ''Victoria''.
Joanna Lumley who portrayed
the Female Doctor in the Comic Relief special, "
The Curse of Fatal Death" also starred in several plays at the theatre.
Other Rep alumni who have appeared in ''Doctor Who'' include Alan Cumming, Miriam Margolyes, and Brian Cox.
Archives
The archives of the Rep, covering the period c1936 to 2010, are held by Archive Services,
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...
.
They include programmes and photographs of stars such as
Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...
,
Michael York
Michael York (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television, and stage actor. After performing on stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Romeo ...
,
David Tennant
David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
and
Gregor Fisher
Gregor Fisher (born 22 December 1953) is a Scottish comedian and actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the comedy series '' Rab C. Nesbitt'', a role he has played since the show's first episode in 1988. He has also ...
performing at the theatre. Material from the Rep collection was displayed as a key part of a major exhibition on
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
and theatre held at the Lamb Gallery, University of Dundee in late 2009 and early 2010.
Archive Services also hold various other collections relating to the Rep.
References
External links
Official Site
{{authority control
Theatre companies in Scotland
Buildings and structures in Dundee
Theatres in Scotland
1982 establishments in Scotland
Producing theatres in Scotland
Recipients of Civic Trust Awards
Arts organisations based in Scotland
Tourist attractions in Dundee
Theatres completed in 1982
Category A listed buildings in Dundee