ABSTRACT
Mackintosh Iain was Design Director of Theatre Projects Consultants. Some 20 years ago, He wrote Architecture, Actor and Audience. He studied neither architecture nor the histories of theatre, whether of theatre practice, theatre architecture or theatre painting. In the 1960s the clients for most new theatres in Britain were repertory theatre companies which produced their own shows, neither touring nor taking in tours. In the 1960s and 1970s, Modern theatre architects appeared to have no answer when it came to creating new theatres with capacities above 550 seats. Architects rightly complain that the theatre profession is not good at articulating what is needed. The Edinburgh Festival Theatre, built in 1928 by the Milburn Brothers as a variety house called The Empire, was used as a theatre for the early International Festivals from 1948 although it was woefully inadequate for the task, before becoming a bingo hall in 1963.
