Hidden Door 2017 Hidden Door Programme 2017_Web | Page 3

w elcome
For this, the fourth Hidden Door Festival, we are delighted to be stepping
out of the city centre and into the thriving creative quarter of Leith. The
reason is simple; we have found an incredible venue.
It beggars belief that the old Leith Theatre has sat there, boarded up for
nearly 30 years and all but forgotten, having hosted the likes of AC/DC
and Kraftwerk in its day. It is as though the beautiful art deco building has
fallen into a deep sleep and has begun to slip from the city’s memory.
But now it is time to wake it up.
Hidden Door will transform the entire complex for the festival, filling the
labyrinth of backstage rooms with visual art installations and turning old
changing rooms and halls into bars, a cinema, theatres and performances
spaces.
The main auditorium will be turned into a live music venue for the first
2 days, then a cinema for the next 2, then a theatre for the following 3
days, then back to a live music venue for the final weekend. This reflects
the theatre’s varied past - but it also reflects the strength of this year’s
programme, not just in music, but in theatre, poetry, film and art. The
programme is bigger and bolder and more varied than ever before, with
music nights curated by The List and Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, as
well as a theatre programme featuring new work by Scottish site-specific
masters Grid Iron.
Hidden Door has found a huge venue, and has stepped up to the
opportunity with a bigger and better programme than any before. It is a
testament to the vital energy and talent of Scotland’s emerging arts scene
that Hidden Door can put on such a strong line up, and it is one that does
justice to the venue.
One of the best things about this year’s festival is that the Leith Theatre
has a future. It is by no means certain, but by putting on a successful
10-day event here we hope to show just how good this venue can be and
start garnering support for its future. We are working with the good
people of the Leith Theatre Trust to ensure the Festival is as useful as
possible to this end.
It is going to be an amazing 10 days, and it is going to be a privilege to
work with such dynamic talent and creativity to bring the Leith Theatre
back to life.
DAVID MARTIN
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
whats on //
hidden door
2017