The Show Must Go On - Despite RAAC Closure Of Brunton Theatre

BBC Two male actors on stage. The one in front is wearing a beige shirt, scarf and hat. He has unruly white, curly, hair and has large goggles around his neck. He is gesticulating with his hands. The man behind him is dressed as a pantomime dame. He is wearing a dress and has green feathers around his neck and a green bonnet on his head featuring yellow pound signs. — The Brunton Theatre pantomime this year is a version of A Christmas Carol

It’s panto season – oh yes it is – but for one performance company in East Lothian, its usual theatre will remain dark.

The Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh has been closed since 2023 when potentially dangerous Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was discovered – and it is now likely to be demolished, leaving the area without its only dedicated modern theatre space.

Artists have been trying to find other venues and ways to keep the show on the road.

This year’s pantomime from the Brunton theatre is a version of the classic A Christmas Carol. But while the production bears name of the Brunton, it will never be back in the original theatre.

The show has found a temporary home a few miles down the road at the Corn Exchange in Haddington.

Male actor on stage facing the side of the stage and holding up a Rubiks cube. He is wearing a red tank top with the letters LH on a badge over a pink shirt. He also has stripey red, green and white trousers on and has a brown satchel over his shoulder. He is partly obscuring a green sign behind him that says Welcome Class of 1972.

The Brunton Theatre was closed suddenly in 2023 when unsafe Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was discovered

Brunton Theatre A side view of the exterior of Brunton Theatre. The building is grey, with a gold design on one side. The words Brunton Theatre are on the other side in white. A tree with red and orange leaves is in front of the building above three stone bollards. — The Brunton Theatre was closed suddenly in 2023 when unsafe Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was discovered

Actor and co-director Robbie Gordon – who is playing Tiny Tim this year – is from Prestonpans and says that without the Brunton he may not have become a theatre maker.

He says the company is trying to see the closure as a chance to do things differently.

“I went to youth theatre there and it was where we took one of our first professional shows,” he says. “There’s a rich history with the Brunton in terms of getting out into the community and I think this is a really fascinating time for the theatre.

“As much as we’re all saddened by the closure I think there’s a real fantastic wealth of opportunities that can be found – touring into town halls and community spaces, and I think it’s the perfect way to take work to the people that need it most. “

The Brunton has tried to keep its varied programme going at different venues across the county, using a range of halls, churches and schools to accommodate performances.

Kirsty Somerville, general manager of the Brunton Trust, says it has been a challenge.

“Obviously the loss of the theatre and the performance spaces is massive, both for the community in East Lothian and for artists who’ve made their careers here,” she says.

“But I think with any challenge there’s also opportunities for new ways of doing things. And we’ve been able to work with our partners and performers and organisations to bring our work into these spaces.”

She says that now the company knows the long-term future for the building it can plan ahead and develop the spaces it is using a bit more intuitively.

The Brunton has tried to keep its varied programme going at different venues across the county

A female actor on stage raising her hands and grimacing in an exasperated way. She is wearing a flamboyant pink and gold costume and has a large bow on top of her head. She is wearing a label that says For Scrooge. Beside her is a man dressed as a pantomime dame wearing a long coat and feathers round his neck. — The Brunton has tried to keep its varied programme going at different venues across the county

Other cultural hubs have also been affected by RAAC.

The Motherwell concert hall and theatre is now earmarked for demolition after the concrete was discovered there. Blackhall library in Edinburgh has also been shut.

There will now be a consultation on demolishing the Brunton Hall. But Michael Stitt, chairman of the Brunton Theatre Trust, is determined it will be rebuilt.

“We want to rebuild in Musselburgh and we want it to be in the same place,” he says

“To do that though we need the funding, we need the design and we need the budgets. We need to bring a lot of people together to make that happen. But it can happen and it should happen.

“I think it was a place where people came together and enjoyed and shared wonderful experiences. I think it’s a very special part of East Lothian life.

“It’s where people started out in the arts, where they laughed, cried, experienced so much. So I think there’s a lot the Brunton has to offer and still does in the various venues it’s in at the moment. “

The company feels the show must go on but in times of financial restraint in public funding there is a long road ahead before the pantomime will be back at any new Brunton theatre in Musselburgh.

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