REP THEATRE - OUTSIDE & INSIDE

1st pic - This was the main entrance to the original Rep Theatre in Nicoll Street. It had been here since 1939 until a fire in May 1963 completely destroyed the interior, forcing the Theatre Company to move into new temporary premises in St Columbus church in Lochee Road, a picture of which can be seen in the January 2009 Retro archives.

2nd pic - This is part of a mural commissioned by the Rep and painted by the guy in the photo, Richard Demarco. It's called "The Spirit Of Culture Descending Upon Dundee" and features a selection of local landmarks compressed into a kind of semi abstract skyline of the city.

This was actually thought "lost" in the 63 blaze, but apparently it was rescued and stored away until as recently as 2004, when it was rediscovered!

3rd pic - This then is the aftermath of the '63 Rep fire. Not much remaining inside. The gal sitting in amongst the charred debris is a student member of the Rep, Norma Longmiur.

DUNDEE'S EXOTIC MURALS - 1970'S

Back in the mid 70's, it was decided that an area around Tannadice Street needed cheering up a bit, so they got an artist to paint large murals on the gable end of 2 buildings on Wolseley Street and Court Street.
The pair depicted 2 exotic semi-abstract jungle scenes and were the work of Robert McGilvray, done in 1976.
The one with the large orange bird flying is called "Intro" - Court Street.
The one with the giraffe neck is called "Outro" - Wolseley Street.
Not sure how long they lasted because although the buildings are still there, they're back to being blank walls again.

ST.PETER STREET MURAL - 1984

I took this photo around 1984, so the paint would still be pretty fresh.

It's the St.Peter Street mural showing various scene's associated with Dundee, such as the Tay whale, Dundee docks, DC Thomson, Tay bridge, plus a few other local references.

It's quite literally got Dundee stamped all over it.

The only thing is, it was painted by...er...the Edinburgh Artists Collective..!!
Glad they didn't sign it!!!

 

(Not that slaughtering whales makes us feel proud..!!)

TELEPHONE HOUSE MURAL - 1976

I was always impressed with this piece of work every time I saw it.
The 30ft long Dundee Panorama Mural was made from cut-out copper panels and hung in the foyer area of Telephone House in Ward Road.
It was created by John Shields and Joe Millar who were lecturers in Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art.
These 2 images, taken on 7th April 1976, show the full panorama in the top picture and a close-up of the central section below it.