Exclusive:Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh to launch 'substantial' capital project to protect historic buildings

Directors of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh said in a statement published with its latest set of accounts filed to Companies House the project would need to be undertaken over the “next few years” to protect its three operational buildings.

The theatre, which recently announced it was entering a redundancy consultation with its stage door team, said there had been “a number of substantial challenges” in the financial year to March, adding some performances last year had generated ticket sales which did "not meet expectations". The theatre published a “disappointing” deficit of £66,355 for the period, while it revealed one play, Shirley Valentine, had been filled to less than a third of capacity.

The plans for a capital appeal come weeks after the theatre appointed Lynsey Jackson as executive director. Ms Jackson, who was previously deputy chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, was responsible for securing £7 million of government funding for the organisation’s new headquarters Fringe Central.

The three buildings referenced in the accounts - the main theatre, rehearsal rooms on Grindlay Street, and the costume and props warehouse at Roseburn - are all owned by Edinburgh City Council and leased by the Lyceum. The theatre said it was extending its leases by five years beyond 2027 to allow it to apply for capital grant funding.

The statement said: “Financial year 24/25 continued to present a number of substantial challenges to the Lyceum. Costs continued to increase and ticket sales for some key projects did not meet expectations.

“The long-running delay in implementation of the new funding structure by Creative Scotland was finally resolved in January 2025, with the announcement of the funding decisions in the new multi-year funding round which came into effect in April 2025.

“We were pleased to receive an increase on our previous grant levels, but the changes in employer's NI [National Insurance] will offset some of the benefits of the increase.

“Against this background, we delivered another strong season of work, in our theatre, but also took our work outside Scotland, including major productions to New York and Sweden, as well as producing a production for the Edinburgh International Festival. We finished the year with a very strong spring season, but the year still showed a disappointing deficit of £66,355.”

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The statement added: “A substantial capital project will require to be undertaken and funded over the next few years to keep the buildings fit for purpose.”

The Lyceum, which recently welcomed James Brining as its new artistic director, said the costs for maintaining the buildings, excluding rent, utilities and scheduled maintenance works, were around £250,000 a year. The theatre pays £66,000 in rent to the council. The body said it had recently renegotiated maintenance contracts and was moving away from a reliance on reactive repairs towards planned maintenance.

Mr Brining said: “Our home is a 142 year-old council-owned A-listed Victorian theatre, of which we are long-term custodians. Like all historic buildings, it will always need continuous upkeep.

“In the coming years, we want to think about what it would mean for the Lyceum to be more open - to open up parts of our building that have been closed off for decades; to make existing areas accessible and available; and to welcome more audiences from around the city, country and world.”

He added: “We’re not sure where this journey will take us yet, but the Lyceum has been at the heart of cultural life in Edinburgh for 60 years, and we want to make sure we remain relevant for another 60 - and beyond."

In addition to £328,830 funding from Edinburgh Council and £1.21 million from Creative Scotland, the theatre received a number of grants from private individuals over the year, including from author Sir Ian Rankin, who supported play Macbeth, An Undoing.