Dundee Repertory Theatre

Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a theatre and arts company in Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house with some shows co-produced by other theatres and a receiving house – hosting work from visiting companies throughout Scotland and the United Kingdom including drama, musicals, contemporary & classical dance, children's theatre, comedy, jazz and opera. It is home to Scotland's principal contemporary dance company, Scottish Dance Theatre. 'The Rep' building is located in Tay Square at the centre of the city’s "cultural quarter" in the West End.

Dundee has had a number of purpose-built theatres. Apart from early wooden theatres, the Theatre Royal in Castle Street opened in 1810 and became firmly established from the 1840s until 1885 when the new Her Majesty's Theatre and Opera House opened on the Seagate. Others included the Alhambra – renamed the Whitehall in the 1970s – the Palace, renamed the Theatre Royal in the 1960s, and the King's Theatre in the Cowgate which opened in 1908. By around 1920 many theatres had converted into cinemas, and for most of the 1930s Dundee no longer had a designated drama theatre. Robert Thornely – Manager of the last touring company to perform in Dundee was determined to find a home in the city for his professional theatre company. He approached the Dundee Dramatic Society, an amateur company, who, also faced with nowhere to perform had recently purchased their own premises in the form of a disused jute mill.

In May 1939, Dundee Repertory Theatre was founded as a collaboration between professionals with amateur support. Around this time people thought it strange to be concentrating on drama during the turmoil of World War II. However the company performed weekly repertory during the war and the rest of the 1940s and throughout the 1950s. The company was housed in Foresters' Hall (6 Nicoll street to 3 Rattray Street) which was built for the Ancient Order of Foresters in 1901, when in June 1963 a fire completely destroyed the building and the Rep was forced to live a nomadic existence for a short period. Eventually a temporary refuge was found in the converted former Dudhope Church on the Lochee Road of Dundee although the company remained at the venue for a further 18 years.

In the late 1970s, Charles Nowosielski had his directorial debut at the Rep, directing a series of short plays, including Joan Ure’s Something in it for Cordelia.

After negotiation with the City of Dundee District Council and the Scottish Arts Council it was agreed that the company would have its own purpose-built premises on land donated by University of Dundee. Work began in January 1979 under the leadership of Robert Robertson who had been artistic director for a number of years and who was instrumental in overseeing the building and completion of the new theatre. However, the building work looked like being stopped in its tracks due to rising prices and inflation. A public appeal was launched which raised a massive £60,000 in under six weeks, reaching an eventual total of £200,000 outstripping all possible expectations, in a city that was then in the midst of economic recession. The new theatre opened on 8 April 1982, designed by Dundee-based architects Nicoll Russell Studios. The building proved a great success – with a personal 455-seater auditorium, providing one of the best stages in Scotland in terms of its relationship with its audience, it received a civic commendation from The Civic Trust Award in 1984 and in 1986 won the RIBA Architecture Award. Robert Robertson retired from Dundee Rep in 1990.

In April 1992 Hamish Glen was appointed artistic director, the same year saw the building extended and undertook a major refurbishment to facilitate a growing community and education department and to include a dance studio as well as extending its existing workshop, wardrobe and rehearsal capacity. In September 1999 it opened its doors to one of the most ambitious experiments in Scottish Theatre for many years – a permanent company of 14 actors.

James Brining became artistic director in 2003 and during that time the company created over 50 productions. The Ensemble developed its international reputation, being the first UK company to tour to Iran in 30 years with Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. In 2005, it visited the prestigious Cerventino Festival in Mexico with a new version of Jarry's Ubu the King and in 2006 it took David Greig's Dr Korzcak's Example to Tokyo and Hiroshima. The company has developed co-productions with some of the UK's leading producers including the Barbican, the Young Vic, National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, The Traverse Theatre Company, Paines Plough and the Tron Theatre, performing in all of Scotland's major venues. The repertoire was broad, encompassing Shakespeare, musicals, American classics, new plays and work for children and young people.

In 2004 a new £1 million dance studio was completed to house Scottish Dance Theatre. The Rep's in-house productions offer a repertoire of works. The Rep also commissions playwrights to create new works and translate and adapt classical texts.^{[citation needed]}