Bedlam Theatre
Bedlam Theatre | |
---|---|
Decorated Gothic | |
Address | 11B Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ |
Town or city | Old Town, Edinburgh |
Country | Scotland |
Coordinates | 55°56′46.49″N 3°11′26.60″W / 55.9462472°N 3.1907222°W |
Current tenants | Edinburgh University Theatre Company |
Construction started | 1846 |
Completed | 1848 |
Renovated | 2012 |
Owner | University of Edinburgh |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Thomas Hamilton |
Website | |
www | |
Listed Building – Category B | |
Official name | Bedlam Theatre (Former New North Free Church), Including Boundary Walls, Forrest Road and Bristo Place, Edinburgh |
Designated | 4 July 2001 |
Reference no. | LB30020 |
Bedlam Theatre is a theatre in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The building was completed in 1848 for the New North Free Church. After closing as a church in 1941, the building served as a chaplaincy centre and then a store for the University of Edinburgh before reopening in 1980 as the student-run theatre of Edinburgh University Theatre Company (EUTC), operating during Edinburgh Fringe festival as venue 49.
The New North Free Church originated in the
The building was designed in the
New North Free Church
The New North Free Church originated in the
The established congregation having returned to its historic home at
The church ministered in an area of significant poverty, founding missions, a
Brown's death in 1884 greatly affected the congregation, as did the deaths of nine other senior office holders between 1885 and 1891. By 1893, membership had declined to 470; though, during the ministry of John Kelman from 1897 to 1907, this revived somewhat, standing at 560 in 1900.[4][10] The church also had a long connection with student life that continued into the early 20th century and Kelman established a special students' service.[4][11] Both Kelman and his successor, John P. Sclater, were celebrated preachers of the liberal evangelical tendency.[12]
In 1900, the Free Church united with the
Ministers
The following ministers served New North Free Church (1843–1900); New North United Free Church (1900–1929); and New North Church of Scotland (1929–1941):[4][13][14]
1843–1884 Charles John Brown
1860–1867 Andrew Crichton
1866–1897 Robert Gordon Balfour
1897–1907 John Kelman
1907–1923 John Robert Paterson Sclater
1923–1928 William Wallace Gauld
1928–1941 Duncan William Park Strang
Bedlam Theatre
History
After the congregation vacated the building, the University of Edinburgh used it as a chaplaincy centre from 1957.[16] In this period, the building was the site of a teach-in on Northern Ireland in 1969, during the early days of the Troubles.[17] After the completion of a purpose-built space within the Potterrow Student Centre in 1973, the chaplaincy vacated the former New North Church two years later and the university used the building as a store.[15][18][19] Contemporary suggestions for the building's use included a library for nursing students.[20]
After the chaplaincy vacated the building, it was occasionally used for student dramatic performances and as an overspill venue for the
The university saw the building as only a temporary home for EUTC and funds for its conversion were limited. Chris Ward of Centaur Lighting was charged with leading the conversion. Initially, the
In June 2001, the university proposed that EUTC vacate the Bedlam Theatre to allow for its demolition by hotel developers. EUTC rejected the proposal and, the following month,
In this context, the Friends of Bedlam formed in 2003. The friends are an association of EUTC alumni which supports the theatre.
Today
The auditorium can accommodate 90 patrons.[33] The theatre also has a bar and cafe.[34]
The building is the United Kingdom's oldest fully student-run theatre and one of Edinburgh's leading smaller venues. In addition to around 40 productions staged each year by EUTC, it can host up to eight shows a day during the
Building
With the Disruption, the Free Church moved to erect buildings as quickly as possible with comfort and safety being the only requirements. In this context, Thomas Hamilton emerged as an arbiter or architectural taste for the new denomination. At the New North Free Church, he was pitched against David Cousin and George Smith in a competition to choose the design of the church.[37] After his design was accepted, Hamilton argued unsuccessfully for the addition of a spire to the building.[38]
The resulting building is, in the words of the
Additions to the building include a single-storey, flat-roofed vestry and waiting room at the east side of the building. This was constructed in 1903 to a perpendicular Gothic design of Scott & Campbell. Alexander Lorne Campbell of Scott & Campbell also undertook work on the interior of the church in 1932.[41]
The theatre has been protected as a
Assessment
Critical responses to the design have been generally negative. Comparing it to contemporaneous churches in Edinburgh, the Buildings of Scotland guide to Edinburgh says: "Unusually honest was Thomas Hamilton's New North Free Church (1846–48), where no serious attempt was made to hide the breadth of the gable or, for that matter, to design an authentically Gothic building."[42] Church historian A. Ian Dunlop described the building as "small, inconvenient and in no way architecturally pleasing".[3] Architectural historian Joe Rock stated the simplicity of Hamilton's Gothic church designs was best complemented by exteriors of rough masonry: as at Free St John's and Roxburgh Free. Rock argued that, in contrast to these, the ashlar of New North Free is "not so successful".[37]
Nevertheless, the building forms an important part of the Old Town's cityscape, terminating the view south along George IV Bridge.[12][40] Two decades prior to the opening of the New North Free Church, Hamilton had, along with William Burn, led the design of civic improvements in the Old Town. Hamilton's plans were not executed in their entirety but they included both the George IV Bridge and the triangular block formed by Teviot Row, Bristo Place, and Forrest Road at whose northern point the Bedlam Theatre now stands.[40]
References
Notes
- ^ The site of Argyle Square is now covered by Chambers Street; the congregation of this chapel would go on to form Augustine Congregational Church.[3]
Citations
- ^ Livingston 1893, pp. 24-25.
- ^ Livingston 1893, p. 25.
- ^ a b c Dunlop 1988, p. 92.
- ^ a b c d e Ewing 1914, ii p. 7.
- ^ Livingston 1893, p. 28.
- ^ Livingston 1893, p. 37.
- ^ Livingston 1893, pp. 30-32.
- ^ Ewing 1914, ii p. 3.
- ^ Livingston 1893, p. 48.
- ^ Livingston 1893, pp. 51-55, 65.
- ^ Steele 1993, p. 13.
- ^ a b Pinkerton 2020, p. 35.
- ^ a b Lamb 1956, p. 21.
- ^ a b Lamb 1961, p. 29.
- ^ a b Dunlop 1988, p. 93.
- ^ Savage in Hunter et al. 1991, p. 2.
- ^ Edwards in Hunter et al. 1991, p. 39.
- ^ a b Webster in Hunter et al. 1991, p. 8.
- ^ Haynes and Fenton 2017, p. 215.
- ^ Savage in Hunter et al. 1991, p. 3.
- ^ a b Savage in Hunter et al. 1991, p. 4.
- ^ Webster in Hunter et al. 1991, p. 39.
- ^ Savage in Hunter et al. 1991, p. 5.
- ^ a b "Bedlam Theatre". scottish-places.info. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ a b Webster in Hunter et al. 1991, p. 9.
- ^ a b c "A Potted History". friendsofbedlam.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ O'Donnell, Frank (21 June 2001). "Hotel Plans could be final curtain for Bedlam Theatre". The Scotsman.
- ^ O'Donnell, Frank (27 July 2001). "Bedlam saved by B-list". The Scotsman.
- ^ O'Donnell, Frank (15 March 2002). "Council to reject plans to build hotel next to theatre". The Scotsman.
- ^ "Projects". friendsofbedlam.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Bedlam: A Bright Future". friendsofbedlam.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Old Town theatre to throw up barricades to cut antisocial behaviour". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Bedlam Theatre". edinburghguide.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Bedlam Theatre". edfringe.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy. "The Improverts". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "Case Study: Behaviour Change – Bedlam Theatre". 2 February 2017. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ a b Rock 1984, p. 66.
- ^ Rock 1984, p. 67.
- ^ a b Gifford, McWilliam, Walker 1984, p. 166.
- ^ a b c d "Bedlam Theatre (Former New North Free Church), Including Boundary Walls, Forrest Road and Bristo Place, Edinburgh: LB30020". historicenvironment.scot. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ "DSA Building/Design Report: New North Free Church". scottisharchitects.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ Gifford, McWilliam, Walker 1984, p. 40.
Bibliography
- Dunlop, A. Ian (1988). The Kirks of Edinburgh: 1560–1984. Scottish Record Society. ISBN 0902054104.
- Ewing, William (1914). The Annals of the Free Church of Scotland. T. & T. Clark.
- Gifford, John; McWilliam, Colin; Walker, David (1984). Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh. Penguin. ISBN 0300096720.
- Haynes, Nick; Fenton, Clive B. (2017). Building Knowledge: An Architectural History of the University of Edinburgh. Historic Environment Scotland. ISBN 9781849172462.
- Lamb, John Alexander
- The Fasti of the United Free Church of Scotland: 1900–1929. Oliver and Boyd. 1956.
- Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: The Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation: Volume IX: Ministers of the Church from the Union of the Churches, 2 October 1929, to 31 December 1954. Oliver and Boyd. 1961.
- Livingston, Josiah (1893). The New North Church, Edinburgh. Bishop & Sons.
- Pinkerton, Roy M. (2020). Threads in a Tapestry: The Greyfriars Congregations. ClaroPrint.
- Rock, Joe (1984). Thomas Hamilton: Architect: 1784–1858. Talbot Rice Gallery.
- Steele, Alan (1993). The Kirk of the Greyfriars, Edinburgh. Society of Friends of the Kirk of the Greyfriars. ISBN 0-9521115-0-0.
- Hunter, David (1991). Edinburgh's Bedlam Theatre: A History. Diehard. ISBN 094623020X.
- Edwards, Owen Dudley. It was the Best of Bedlams
- Savage, Roger. A Mixed Marriage
- Webster, Jon. Drama Society to Theatre Company – The Early Years
External links
- Canmore: Edinburgh, Forrest Road, New North Free Church
- Historic Environment Scotland: Bedlam Theatre (Former New North Free Church), Including Boundary Walls, Forrest Road and Bristo Place, Edinburgh: LB30020
- Dictionary of Scottish Aarchitects: DSA Building/Design Report: New North Free Church
- Bedlam Theatre