Tron Theatre
![]() | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (December 2009) |
![]() | |
Address | 63 Trongate Glasgow Scotland |
---|---|
Owner | Tron Theatre Ltd. |
Type | End on |
Capacity | 230 (Main Auditorium) 50 (Changing House Studio Theatre) |
Construction | |
Opened | 1981 |
Rebuilt | 1999 |
Architect | James Adam RMJM |
The Tron Theatre is located in Glasgow, Scotland. The theatre was formerly known as the Tron Kirk. It began as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne.
The Tron Theatre building is home to the Tron Theatre Company and serves as a producing house for contemporary theatrical work. It also acts as a receiving house for a visiting program of theatre, comedy, and music from Scotland, the UK, and abroad. Its Education and Outreach department offers a range of activities, from drama workshops for children and young people to creative writing for adults and professional development opportunities for theatre students and practitioners.
History
The present day Tron Theatre Company, based in the Trongate, started life as the Glasgow Theatre Club in 1978, established by Joe Gerber, Tom Laurie,
The theatre opened its doors on 10 May 1981, and two days later the first season of short plays opened with a production of Eine Kleine Nacht Musik, directed by Ida Schuster-Berkeley, in the Victorian Bar.
An earlier, separate manifestation was RF Pollock's short-lived Tron Theatre Club which was active from 1929 to 1932. Pollock's vision was to develop a distinct Scottish style of acting using principles similar to those developed by
Artistic legacy
In 1984 Faynia Williams became the Tron’s first Artistic Director and, with her husband Richard Crane acting as dramaturg, wrote the first Tron Theatre Company script, Burke and Hare.
In 2000, the Tron Theatre Company presented two world premieres of plays by Scottish writers: "Our Bad Magnet" by Douglas Maxwell and "Further than the Furthest Thing" by Zinnie Harris. "Further than the Furthest Thing," directed by Irina Brown, was a co-production between the Tron Theatre Company and the Royal National Theatre. The production premiered at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival 2000 to universal critical acclaim, winning four major awards before a London run at the National Theatre, a subsequent transfer to the Tricycle Theatre, London and tour of South Africa.
In 2002, Neil Murray was appointed Director of the Tron, serving as Artistic Producer for the Company. Shows produced by the Tron in this period include Iain Heggie's "Love Freaks," "Possible Worlds" by John Mighton (as the centrepiece of the Canadian Six Stages Festival), Forbes Masson's "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Cinderella" and Chris Hannan's "Shining Souls" in a co-production with v.amp productions which was awarded Best Production in the Critics Awards for Theatre In Scotland in 2003.
Previous productions include the world premiere of David Greig's "San Diego" (2004 EIF,) Antand hony Neilson's "The Wonderful World of Dissocia" in 2004, this time in a collaboration with EIF and the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. "The Wonderful World of Dissocia" subsequently went on to win 5 out of 10 awards in the 2005 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland. The production was also revived in 2007 in conjunction with the National Theatre of Scotland, touring the UK including performances at the Royal Court Theatre, London.
Murray left in 2005, to take up the post of Executive Director of the
In April 2008 the Tron appointed a new Director Andy Arnold, previously founder of the Arches Theatre Company. Productions since 2008 have included The Drawer Boy, Monaciallo (Naples Theatre Festival, A Slow Air by David Harrower (London and New York), Sea and land and Sky - new play by Abigail Docherty, Edwin Morgan's Dreams and Other Nightmares - new play by Liz Lochhead, a new adaptation by John Byrne of Three Sisters, and the UK and Irish stage premiere of James Joyce's Ulysses adapted by Dermot Bolger and touring to Belfast, Dublin and Cork - named best production of 2012 by The List magazine.
In 2023, Jemima Levick was appointed the new Artistic Director of the Tron after Andy Arnold stepped down. She will bring a wealth of experience of her previous roles in Scottish theatre to the leadership of the theatre.[8]
The Tron Theatre has two notable contemporary sculptures that were added to the exterior of the theatre as part of its lottery funded refurbishment in 1999. The sculptures are of a large golden cherub and of a skull. The works are by artist Kenny Hunter.[9]
References
- ^ Old Tron Steeple (Glasgow University Library, Special Collections, Wylie Collection), The Glasgow Story
- ^ The Building, Tron Theatre
- ^ "Dictionary of Scottish Architects - DSA Architect Biography Report (September 1, 2022, 4:37 am)".
- ^ "The Company". Tron Theatre. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ "The Stage / Reviews / The Patriot". Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ "Antigone, Tron Theatre, Glasgow". HeraldScotland. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ "The Wall, Tron Theatre, Glasgow". HeraldScotland. 6 March 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ Morgan, Fergus (20 December 2023). "Jemima Levick named Tron Theatre artistic director". The Stage. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
- ^ "Glasgow Merchant City Public Art Trail". Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.