Gaiety Theatre, Ayr

The Gaiety Theatre is a category B listed performing arts venue in Ayr, Scotland. It is noted for its interior rococo features, its atmosphere and its acoustics.The Ayr Gaiety was built in 1902, reconstructed after a fire in 1904, its façade remodeled in 1935, and further reinstated after a fire in 1955. In 1995, an annex was constructed, including a new café, box office, dressing rooms and studio space. After a faltering start, which saw several years as a cinema after World War I, the theatre was bought by Ben Popplewell, from Bradford who already had a track record of success running the Pavilion theatre on Ayr seafront. For fifty years the Popplewell family ran the theatre – latterly as part of the Glasgow Pavilion business. During this time the Gaiety developed a reputation as a variety theatre with a ‘summer’ variety show – the Gaiety Whirl – which ran for 26 weeks at its height. Many Scottish and UK stars appeared regularly on its stage, and several started their careers there. The programme offered more than a summer show however, with several weeks of Shakespeare and regular transfers from Glasgow Citizens theatre, being part of a varied offer. After seventy years in private ownership the local Council acquired the Gaiety theatre freehold in 1974. It then operated as a municipal theatre under direct local authority management. The programming had much in common with the Popplewell years, with the Gaiety Whirl still a feature and the, by now, popular panto at the core of the programme. But the scope of performances developed and, while the family oriented theme continued, a wider range of presentations developed, including controversial shows such as Borderline Theatres production of Dario Fo’s Mistero Buffo and a touring version of Oh Calcutta! After many years of successful operation the theatre began to lose audiences and the Council felt the revenue subsidy it provided and the requirement for capital investment required a new approach. In January 2009 the theatre closed, leaving Ayr without a theatre – as the Civic Theatre, which had mainly presented drama, had been closed and demolished a little earlier due to asbestos contamination problems.