Because of its long history, Edinburgh is stuffed full of very old and quite large abandoned buildings that have long fallen into disuse.
As the wheels of history turned, they left behind some very beautiful buildings, unused and ignored as changing tastes passed them by.
Hidden Door have been throwing open the doors and literally sweeping away the dust and ashes of history, to open these spaces up to human activity and it’s like finding a family for a lost puppy.
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In a sense, you are dancing with the ghosts of Edinburgh’s Victorian and pre-war communities, from the 19th century Market Street Vaults to the Pre-War era Street Lighting Depot, and now at the 1920s Leith Theatre for this year’s Hidden Door. The space itself is a magnificent example of 1920’s Art Deco with a thick veneer of neo-Greek classicism (probably wouldn’t be Edinburgh without it, to be fair).
In its current state it looks like the only theatre in Edinburgh with eczema, but Hidden Door will soon be transforming the place into a 21st century artist’s palace! Here’s the cinema space and some other photographs to whet your appetite!
We’re very much looking forward to holding 3 film nights at Hidden Door this year and though the cinema looks like a melting lemon cheesecake at the moment, Hidden Door will be letting some of Edinburgh’s finest artists transform the space into something new and exciting for the festival run!
And we’d love to know what the flapper girls and lounge lizards would have made of Idlewild and Riot Jazz Brass Band and not a Charleston in sight…hmm, now there’s an idea!
