King's Theatre
- Box office 0131 529 6000
- General enquiries 0131 529 6000
- Website www.edtheatres.com
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Generations of Edinburgh residents have fond memories of being taken to the lavish annual pantomime that still packs the audiences in, just as it did in the celebrated days of Stanley Baxter, Rikki Fulton and Jimmy Logan. Today, the 1350-seat venue in Tollcross is run by the Festival City Theatres Trust, which is also responsible for the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. It is an important venue for the Edinburgh International Festival's drama programme and a year-round receiving house for good quality touring theatre productions, many of them – such as Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot starring Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan – en route to the West End. Built in 1906 by theatre entrepreneur Robert C Buchanan as a rival to the Royal Lyceum and later taken into the Howard and Wyndham chain, it is a traditional theatre, rich in baroque period details, and rather more comfortable than the days when somehow another 1100 people managed to squeeze into the stalls, grand circle and upper circle.
The King's Theatre on Leven Street was built in 1905 and opened in 1906. It houses visits by major touring drama productions as well as being home to Edinburgh's annual pantomime.
For information about what’s on or how to book tickets, visit www.eft.co.uk.
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Event times
Sorted by title / date.
American Lulu
Seductress, victim, manipulator: Lulu lives off men as both tortured and torturer, purveyor of ecstasy and angel of death. Caught up in greedy games and seedy schemes, and surrounded by lovers driven to despair, Lulu makes an inexorable rise to the highest levels of power, money and fame. But her descent is just as swift.
Fri 30 Aug
£15–£35 / 0131 473 2000
Sat 31 Aug
£15–£35 / 0131 473 2000
Embers
‘silence in the house, not a sound, only the fire, no flames now, embers. Embers.’ Henry sits on a beach, remembering and imagining stories and incidents from his life, tormented by his father’s suicide, his own dysfunctional family history and his failure as a writer. Hallucinations and reality merge as he attempts to…
Sat 24 Aug
Sun 25 Aug
£10–£20 / 0131 473 2000
Part of Beckett at the Festival.
Histoire d'amour
European Premiere: An English teacher sees a woman on the underground and decides she will become his wife and the mother of his children. He takes over her life and when she tries to escape, all doors close before her. Once re-captured he abuses her again, over and over. Histoire d’amour explores a world where guilt and…
Thu 15 Aug
£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000
Fri 16 Aug
£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000
Sat 17 Aug
£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000
Madame Freedom
European Premiere: A two-dimensional, cinematic black-and-white woman of yesteryear struggles to break free of the social, economic and political straitjacket of the time, while a three-dimensional woman of here and now struggles to what … ? Break free … ? Of what … ? When the unfulfilled soul of a fictional woman surges…
Tue 20 Aug
£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000
Wed 21 Aug
£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000
Metamorphosis
World Premiere: Travelling salesman and sole breadwinner for his family, Gregor Samsa awakes one day to discover that he has been transformed into a giant insect. Unable to communicate and shocking to anyone who sees him, he is forced into a solitary existence confined to his room. As he becomes insufferable to himself…
Sat 10 Aug
£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000
Sun 11 Aug
£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000
Mon 12 Aug
£12–£30 / 0131 473 2000
Reviews & features
Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates
4 Dec 2009
‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s panto tiiiime!’ The sense of excitement in the theatre is palpable long before the curtain rises. And no wonder: the dream team that brought us last year’s 3D thriller, Aladdin is about to spirit us off to…
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