Theatre Royal in Dumfries in fight to avoid programme cuts

Scotland’s oldest working theatre has launched a fundraising campaign in a bid to avoid making cuts to its programme.

The Guild of Players – the charity which owns and runs the Theatre Royal in Dumfries – needs £30,000 to maintain its offering this year.

It said grant funding was “increasingly difficult” to obtain while it faced rising costs for national insurance, energy bills and materials.

It is now launching a “Keep Theatre Live” campaign to ensure its full programme of entertainment and workshops can continue as planned.

The Theatre Royal first opened in 1792 and flourished for more than a century.

However, the advent of cinema saw it struggle for a role and – after being used to screen films, hold auctions and even host roller-skating – it closed completely in 1954.

That was when the Guild of Players acting group – formed in 1913 – stepped in.

In 1959, its home was earmarked for demolition and it looked around for new premises with the Shakespeare Street property proving the perfect fit.

It has run the site since then – with a major overhaul completed in 2015.

However, it now faces a struggle to keep delivering its planned broad programme.

The guild receives support from a number of organisations but director Mark Alexander said the failure to secure Creative Scotland multi-year funding earlier this year had been “disappointing”.

“We are determined to work through the challenge – as we did during Covid,” he said.

In addition to the fundraising campaign, the guild said there were a number of other ways people could support the theatre, including buying tickets to a show, making a one-off or regular donation or becoming a corporate sponsor.