Explore performance spaces near you

This September theatres around the country are opening their doors to the public with a range of events celebrating their architecture and history with Heritage Open Days, Scotland’s Doors Open Days and Open House London.

England’s largest heritage festival Heritage Open Days returns this September, taking place between Friday 6 and Sunday 15, with more than 50 theatres around the country taking part. Burnley Empire, which is on our Theatres at Risk list, is inviting visitors to explore the venue on 6 and 14 September. Other highlights include tours of Blackpool Grand Theatre and Theatre Royal Wakefield, both of which celebrate 130-year anniversaries this year. Plus, you can see inside the Grade I listed Tyne Theatre and Opera House in Newcastle, and The Guildhall of St George, Kings Lynn, which is claimed to be the only remaining theatre at which William Shakespeare performed. Visit the Heritage Open Days website for more information.

Every weekend in September there will be the opportunity to explore sites across Scotland with Doors Open Days, a free festival celebrating the country’s heritage and the built environment. Take a tour around Theatre at Risk, Leith Theatre and learn about plans to preserve and bring this heritage building back to the people of Edinburgh. Go behind the scenes at Theatre Royal Dumfries, the oldest theatre in Scotland or drop in to Biggar Puppet Theatre, the first and only fully working puppet theatre of its kind in Scotland. Online you can access a short film to take a whirl around The Gaiety Theatre in Ayr or visit in person for a tour. Visit the Doors Open Days website to find out more.

Celebrating London’s architecture and urban landscape, Open House takes place from Saturday 14 to Sunday 22 September. The Shaftesbury Theatre, in the heart of the West End, will be providing tours, while over at Theatre Royal Stratford East you can view the Frank Matcham auditorium or go backstage at west London’s Bush Theatre. To the north of the city there will be the opportunity to join architects for a tour the RIBA-award-winning National Youth Theatre or you can drop-in to the 113-seat Bromley Little Theatre to the south. Visit the Open House London website for details of all the venues taking part.

Photo: Stratford East, credit Ian Grundy