Citizens theatre in Glasgow to reopen in 2025 after major refurbishment
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Venue’s return after delays and soaring costs will usher in ‘exciting phase’ in Scottish theatre, says artistic director. The long-awaited reopening of the Citizens theatre in Glasgow will mark a turning point for Scottish drama in 2025, with new artistic leadership across venues, including the Hollywood star Alan Cumming at Pitlochry Festival theatre, and a renewed determination to champion work beyond London.
![[Detail from inside the theatre]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1e369454490d3754db74c179c7af72f67ce76886/0_182_5472_3283/master/5472.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The Citizens will return to its historic Gorbals home after the first major refurbishment of the category B listed building since it began life as a working theatre in 1878. After a seven-year hiatus, a new commission, Small Acts of Love, will premiere in September 2025. The collaboration between the playwright Frances Poet and composer Ricky Ross, the lead singer of the rock band Deacon Blue, examines the bonds of friendship forged between the people of Lockerbie and the American relatives after the Pan Am flight 103 bombing in December 1988.
![[Stage of the Citizens theatre seen from above]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/13580517da9c440dc8e82a12e352b0434ee49aec/0_368_5808_3485/master/5808.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The artistic director, Dominic Hill, said that despite delays and soaring costs, momentum was building towards the reopening, while incoming artistic directors at Pitlochry as well as Jemima Levick at Glasgow’s Tron and James Brining at Edinburgh’s Lyceum would usher in “a really exciting phase” in Scottish theatre.
![[The name of the theatre reflected in a muddy puddle on the building site.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ab5bf742c7637f2f15c1d7beee935e99ef5caa91/0_106_5808_3485/master/5808.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Hill said that after a recent dinner for artistic directors from across the country, “there’s a real desire and ambition to get going and to create the best work that we can, and to make sure that Scottish work is seen as exciting as work in London”.
