The refurbishment of the Citizens Theatre will improve visitor, performer and staff experiences, ensuring the treasured Victorian venue remains central to culture and community in Glasgow. The transformation of the front-of-house spaces will create a vibrant and unique social gathering place that properly supports the breadth of work and ethos of the theatre.
A dramatic series of foyer spaces will replace the theatre’s lacklustre 1980s frontage on Gorbals Street. Audiences will enter the auditorium through its iconic stone gable and upper galleries will connect with new spaces for studio theatre, rehearsal, learning and administration.
Actors’ facilities, backstage areas and construction workshops will be improved through reorganisation and refurbishment, whilst public access will extend further into the building where the public can see the inner workings of the theatre and its heritage: the historic understage machinery and paint frame, the scenery and wardrobe departments.
Image by John Crallan
The history of the six stone statues dates back to when the building first opened in 1878 and they adorned the front of the building as part of a shared façade with the Palace Theatre. Having survived a fire and demolition in 1977 when the Palace Theatre was condemned, they were reunited in the Citizens Theatre foyer in 1989.
Restoration by Scottish sculptor David J Mitchell
In August 2023, they were lifted back on their new resting place
