Who We Are
We are the largest independent theatre organisation in Scotland. Discover who we are and what we do.
Who we are and what we do
Capital Theatres presents world-class shows to entertain and inspire audiences of all ages. The three venues we manage include two of Scotland’s largest, oldest, and most respected theatres: Festival Theatre (1,915 seats), King’s Theatre (1,122 seats, currently closed for a major redevelopment) and The Studio (155 seats). Together they host over 700 performances each year with a broad and inclusive programme featuring the very best in drama, dance, musical theatre, family shows, live music, comedy, and pantomime.
We are a receiving house which means we work with producers across the UK to programme their work. We also commission and co-produce a select number of productions of our own each year. Much of our programme is exclusive to our venues in Scotland, providing the only opportunity for audiences to see the biggest shows touring north of the border, the best in international contemporary dance and the latest productions from leading local and national companies. We are also the home of Edinburgh’s largest community companies, providing them with a platform each year to share their work.
As Scotland’s largest theatre charity, we support access to the arts for everyone and have an extensive Creative Engagement programme of talks, workshops and events to introduce and develop participation and interest in the heritage of our buildings and all areas of live performance. We are also evolving an artist development programme, Open@TheStudio, and have just won the UK Theatre 2023 Award for Excellence in Inclusivity for our work with people.
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Consideration – We will treat everyone that we meet with respect and courtesy.
Collaboration – Working together as a team, we will share information, learn from and support each other and use this approach with our stakeholders and partners.
Professionalism – We will behave with integrity; remain aware of our responsibilities and our position in the community, our status as a charity and a publicly funded organisation.
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As Scotland’s largest independent theatre charity, we are uniquely placed to provide access to outstanding UK and international theatre
As Scotland's largest independent theatre charity, we believe theatre should be accessible to all. Our Learning and Participation programme creates a range of ways for people to discover and explore the performing arts, as audience members, and as participants and artists in creative projects.
Our long-term programme includes, among many strands, Relaxed and Inclusive performances, dementia friendly events, works with special need schools or a strand to engage with care-experienced children and young people.
Learn more about some of the events we've delivered in the past.
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At Capital Theatres we are committed to achieving excellence in customer service and to improving our service through continuous review and development.
Find out more about our performance standards and results and our commitment to our customers.
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At Capital Theatres we are committed to minimising the environmental impact arising from our activities and to exceeding the basic legal requirements where possible. Our environmental policy focuses on 3 areas: carbon reduction, influencing change and embedding environmental awareness and is championed across departments through our internal green team.
In line with our environmental policy we have recently welcomed an audience of bees to the Festival Theatre. The hive, which is on the roof of the Festival Theatre is managed by Plan Bee and currently has around 60,000 bees. Since bees are on the world endangered list we are happy that with our hive we are playing a small part in supporting the honeybee population and that our bees are working hard in Edinburgh city centre to pollinate nearby plants.
Other aims over the next three years include:
- Raising our recycling efficiency from 75 to 80%
- Converting our auditorium lighting to LEDs
- Installing water sub-meters to improve our knowledge of water usage and to identify areas of saving
- Developing sustainable ways to promote our shows, for example, by using digital innovations for marketing rather than print
- Working with our partners, visiting companies, suppliers and audiences to spread environmental awareness and ensuring that they aspire to the same high standards we expect of ourselves
- Addressing environmental issues through programming, seeking to raise the profile of these topics by identifying and building links with productions with environmental themes
- Ensuring that the King’s Theatre refurbishment project makes environmental concerns a fundamental part of planning and procurement
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As a registered Scottish charity, we present world-class shows to entertain and inspire audiences of all ages. With three busy venues in Edinburgh, the Festival Theatre, the King’s Theatre and The Studio, we bring world-class shows to entertain and inspire audiences of all ages.
