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2025: The Year We Came Home
After seven years of transformation, 2025 will forever be the year we came home. It was the moment we reopened the doors of the Citizens Theatre and welcomed audiences back into a beautifully restored and reimagined building – one that celebrates its extraordinary past while stepping confidently into a bold and exciting future.
Together, we returned to a place that belongs to Glasgow, to the Gorbals, and to everyone who believes in the power of theatre to bring people together.
Our redevelopment journey was driven by both necessity and ambition
We preserved the heart and soul of the original theatre while embracing change, wrapping it in a striking new three-storey structure designed to open the building up in welcoming, exciting ways. Today, heritage and contemporary design sit side by side: a light-filled foyer and social spaces invite people to gather and linger; access has been transformed throughout to ensure our welcome is as inclusive as possible; and new rehearsal rooms, participation spaces and studio facilities place creativity at the centre of the building.
Our new 150-seat Studio Theatre has already expanded what’s possible, creating space for experimentation, participation and emerging voices. From the careful restoration of our iconic rooftop statues to the installation of a modern fly tower, every detail reflects a respect for our history and the skills of theatre-making alongside a commitment to innovation and the future.
On 23 August 2025, after years of anticipation, we threw open our doors with a joyful Homecoming Festival. This celebration was shaped by and for the people of Glasgow, and especially the Gorbals community who have always been at the heart of the Citz.
We marked the occasion with a vibrant community procession, filling the streets with handcrafted puppets, music, banners and laughter. It was a moment of colour, creativity and collective pride, culminating in that unforgettable first step back inside the theatre. During our Open House weekend, we welcomed over 1500 visitors for tours, workshops, and behind-the-scenes discoveries, reconnecting people with both the history of the building and its renewed sense of possibility.
Running from 23 August to 5 September, the Homecoming Festival captured everything we stand for: creativity, community, curiosity and connection – all beating at the heart of the Citizens Theatre once again.
We welcomed over 43,000 audience members to shows in our Main Theatre and Studio Theatre between September and December 2025
The Citz now has its own craft lager, available to buy in the Courtyard Café Bar!
The archways into the auditorium never appeared in any historical building plans or architectural drawings
With the building alive again, our artistic programme returned with confidence and care.
In September, our Main Theatre welcomed Small Acts of Love, a deeply moving collaboration between Frances Poet and Ricky Ross. Set against the backdrop of the Lockerbie atrocity, the production was widely praised for its emotional honesty and its focus on compassion, kindness and collective resilience — themes that resonated powerfully with our own story of renewal.
It was truly amazing. Small acts of love will live with me always. Thank you.
It is a piece of theatre where I have the privilege of being able to say: I was there.
Small Acts of Love
As Autumn unfolded, we presented a rich mix of local voices, new work and performances that made full use of our revitalised spaces. The new Studio Theatre came alive with work from Participate groups and artists, while familiar favourites returned to warm, enthusiastic audiences. Our Young Co. opened the Studio with a sold-out run of Close. There was a palpable sense of rediscovery — of artists and audiences learning the building together again.
Young Co.’s Close
Community Collective’s Making Your Mark
We welcomed companies and artists from across Scottish theatre, including Dundee Rep, Raw Material, Wonderfools and Barrowland Ballet, enabling audiences in Glasgow to experience even more theatre performances. Our new Associate Companies and Artists programme launched, all about nurturing creativity, sharing resources, and opening up our building to new ideas and voices. We have welcomed Bijli, Wonder Fools, and Joanna Bowman as the first participants in this new programme.
As winter arrived, we were thrilled to present the Citz Christmas show once again!
Beauty and the Beast brought sparkle, laughter and festive magic back to the Citizens Theatre, delighting families with inventive staging and joyful performances that filled the building with festive fun. The return of the Citz Christmas Show felt especially meaningful and a reminder of the shared rituals that make theatre such a vital part of community life.
Beauty and the Beast
As part of our ongoing Gorbals schools partnership with Blackfriars Primary and St Francis Primary, the senior G5 Creators created a special curtain raiser performance for their peers called The Big Freeze. Lewis Hetherington provided the group with a story prompt and over five weeks, the young people developed the characters, shaped the world, and expanded the story in their own creative ways. The Big Freeze was performed to a full house of pupils from both schools as well as the cast of Beauty and the Beast. We also treated the Junior group to a surprise visit from Beast!
The Big Freeze
2025 was about far more than reopening a building – it was about renewal, resilience and reimagining what a theatre can be.
Our redevelopment has safeguarded the Citizens Theatre for generations to come while creating a space that is more open, accessible and welcoming than ever before. As we move into 2026 and beyond, we carry with us the energy of our Homecoming year – the excitement of audiences returning, the strength of new collaborations, and the joy of shared moments of laughter, reflection and discovery.
We are home again, and the next chapter of the Citizens Theatre has only just begun.