When the old original Rep Theatre in Nicoll Street burnt down in the early 60's, this church in Lochee Road became the Rep's 2nd home. It was only supposed to be a temporary base, but it remained in use right up until the opening of their present theatre in Tay Square in 1982.
Under the photos are some items pertaining to Lochee Rep, the advert being 2 plays performed in 1966.
I can remember visiting the Lochee Road Rep in the late 60's as a special school treat when my class went to see a "marionette show".
Being primary school age, we were used to string puppets on TV with shows such as Thunderbirds, Stingray, Joe 90 and them all, so needless to say the show was a big hit with the kids.
They had to construct a small puppet stage onto the main stage for them to perform. All the drapery & cloth surrounding it was black, as was the puppeteer's clothing. This was to keep the puppeteers hidden during the performance of course, which meant we could concentrate on the puppet action better!
Read the 1968 article above for more details.
I also recall my parents going to see John Cairney do his show at Lochee Rep, a play about Robert Burns which was also very popular at the time.
On the final night of the performance, however, he created a little confrontation afterwards, which you can read in the above clipping dated 1967.
Many big names started at the rep- including Christopher Reeve (superman) . They also had a sideline in hiring out their costumes to the public for fancy dress nights.
ReplyDeleteIn Spring of 1971 I had the great pleasure of putting on the Dundee University Students Charities Revue. Based on a Day’s TV, the News, the Weather, the Test Card, Crossroads Motel all human life was there. Great theatre!
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