Fife Council agree to University takeover of Byre Theatre

 The University of St Andrews has been granted the lease to run the Byre Theatre, which, due to lack of funding has been closed for over a year.

The University hopes that the venue will be used for lectures in subjects such as English, Social Anthropology, Film Studies and Music, whilst the studio theatre would be used for the teaching of drama and script-writing as well as for orchestra rehearsals. The University hopes that the venue will also be beneficial to the local people of St Andrews with general public access in the evenings, weekends and holidays.

Major student festivals such as On The Rocks and Stanza will also be able to use the venue for their performances and exhibitions.

A spokesperson for the University of St Andrews said: “We are delighted that our proposed rescue package for the Byre Theatre has the support of Fife Council. We look forward to developing a detailed agreement together with them, Creative Scotland, theatre users, and the local community.”

The University rescue package is great news for theatre-lovers in St Andrews. It is a professional theatre, which has a larger capacity than the Barron and is of a higher technical spec. Societies such as Jazzworks and the Just So Society will be able to use the space to perform to both students and locals.