Short film screening with talk by Dr Alistair Fair

Thursday, 07 November, in Edinburgh and online

This event will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the transformation of Edinburgh’s old Empire Palace Theatre into the Festival Theatre. Dr Alistair Fair will briefly outline abandoned post-war plans to build a new theatre (the ‘opera house’) before introducing a short film, recorded in 2019, in which he interviews the architect Sir James Dunbar-Nasmith and theatre consultant Iain Mackintosh discussing the Festival Theatre project.

This event will be in person and streamed online. The venue has barrier-free access by lift. Tickets cost £7 / concession £5 / Docomomo members £3 in advance. You can buy tickets at TicketTailor buy tickets at TicketTailor.

Dr Alistair Fair is a Reader in Architectural History at the University of Edinburgh. He is a historian of architecture in Britain between 1918 and the 1990s who is interested in the relationships between architecture and wider themes in social, urban, and political history, with particular interests and expertise in the history of theatres, hospitals, universities and new towns.

Image – Festival Theatre – photo Alistair Fair

About Docomomo Scotland

We are Scotland’s national chapter of Docomomo International, the international committee for the documentation and conservation of modern buildings, sites and neighbourhoods.

You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) and subscribe to our free email newsletter.

Docomomo Scotland is a membership organisation raising awareness about Scotland’s 20th-century historic environment and campaigning its conservation and documentation. You can join us from £10 per year easily online.

We are a registered charity, registered in Scotland (SC032552), and are run by an elected committee, based on our Constitution.