Leith Theatre

How Theatres Trust is helping a community breathe new life into its old theatre

Category B listed Leith Theatre opened in 1932, built for the people of Leith 'as a gift from the people of Edinburgh', following the Burgh of Leith’s incorporation into Edinburgh. The theatre had been closed since the 1980s and survived a threat of redevelopment in 2004, thanks to passionate local support. This led to the establishment of Leith Theatre Trust, which has been working ever since to restore and revive this wonderful building.

Leith Theatre was added to the Theatres at Risk Register in 2016 to raise its profile and Theatres Trust has been working with Leith Theatre Trust since then as it gradually restores the building and builds its own organisational capacity. This support has included a grant for mentoring and skills development to prepare the organisation to move from a campaigning group to operating a venue.

A further grant, from our Resilient Theatres: Resilient Communities programme funded an oral history project, which has enabled Leith Theatre to reach out to wider sections of its community and develop its pitch to funders with a much stronger narrative about the theatre’s importance.

Having recently secured funding from the City of Edinburgh Council Transient Tourist Levy, as well as funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Leith Theatre is moving closer to being fully reopened to provide spaces for the creative industries and cultural performances, events and community programming.

Removing Leith Theatre from the Theatres at Risk Register is an important milestone that reflects the progress made over the last decade and marks the beginning of a new chapter for Leith Theatre.

The next stage of the project will focus on developing detailed design plans, strengthening the organisation and securing the remaining funding needed to support a National Lottery Heritage Fund Delivery Phase application and, ultimately, the full restoration and reopening of Leith Theatre as a permanent cultural and community asset.

Removing Leith Theatre from the Theatres at Risk Register doesn’t mean ‘job done’. There is still much work to do, and a reopened Leith Theatre will still face the same tough operating conditions as other theatres do and Theatres Trust will continue to provide our support as and when it is needed.

This case study was produced as part of our Fifty@50 campaign to mark our 50th anniversary in 2026.

Photo credit: Courtesy of Leith Theatre Trust