Acclaimed Citizens' Theatre director ​Giles Havergal dies aged 87

The actor was the venue’s artistic director from 1969-2003 – a tenure described as one of the most celebrated periods in the theatre’s history.

Mr Havergal is credited with ensuring the theatre became a European creative powerhouse, alongside co-directors Robert David MacDonald and Philip Prowse.

The artistic figure died on Saturday – the same day the Citizens reopened following a seven-year closure.

The Gorbals venue had originally closed for a planned refurbishment in June 2018.

Pierce Brosnan, Glenda Jackson and Rupert Everett were among star actors brought to the stage in Glasgow by Mr Havergal.

His acclaimed productions at the theatre included an all-male Hamlet starring David Hayman.

Dominic Hill, Citizens Theatre artistic director, said he was “profoundly sorry” to hear of Mr Havergal’s passing “[It’s] all the more poignant in that it occurred on the same day we reopened the Citizens Theatre after seven years – a theatre that he worked tirelessly over more than 30 years to make internationally renowned,” he said.

"He always took great interest in how the theatre was faring and the work we were presenting, even after leaving Glasgow. I hugely enjoyed our chats over dinner and lapped up his stories as well as his immense wisdom and knowledge.

"We had been in touch earlier in the summer and he was looking forward to coming up to the opening of our first show Small Acts of Love, which he described as ‘the next step in a long journey for me … I first went to the Citz in 1953’.

"I am sorry that he will never see the newly restored theatre, but his legacy is hard-wired into the fabric of the building and his name will always be associated with it.”