Future bright for Eastwood Park following 50th year

Eastwood Park Theatre (EPT) kicked off the celebrations with a live stage performance by popular children’s entertainers, the McDougalls, on January 8, 2023.

The McDougalls with staff from Eastwood Park Theatre (Anna Meldrum, Martin Vivers, Lorraine McCourt, Graeme Aitken, Madeline MacDougall) in a photo published by the Barrhead News when the 50th anniversary programme kicked off in January 2023 (Image: Mark Gibson)

The show took place exactly five decades on from the day of the grand gala opening of the Giffnock theatre and the complex it is housed within.

The front page of the Mercury & Advertiser dated January 12, 1973 marking the opening of Eastwood Park Recreational Complex as it was then called (Image: Sourced)

The McDougalls also heralded the start of a new programme which entertained hordes of theatre-goers in 2023, including “audience with” events, live music, National Theatre Live and film screenings, a 65-show panto run, a production of Tally’s Blood attended by 600 schoolchildren and more.

Moira McFadden in the theatre (Image: Sourced)

Moira McFadden, head of communities and arts at East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure, told the Barrhead News: “It was a really special year for us with a diverse range of really good quality shows.

“We do really well with music and we have had a couple of really good tribute bands this year.

“The Fleetwood Mac one was great and the T. Rex one blew the roof off.

“That was right in the middle of our Summer of 73 campaign which included lots of stuff in the park.

“We had people painting portraits and taking part in singalongs. It was great fun and most things were free.

“We worked with a huge range of tutors and performers and we had some physical theatre performances as well.”

A cutting from the Mercury & Advertiser dated January 19, 1973 about the Giffnock Theatre Players and the first production put on at the theatre (Image: Sourced)

With 300 seats, when EPT first opened it was hoped that it would attract top amateur and professional companies and this has certainly proved the case over the years.

This year's panto production of Beauty and the Beast was a huge hit with audiences (Image: Sourced)

Most recently, since 2021, leading professional production company Spillers Pantomimes has delighted audiences with runs of Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz and Beauty and the Beast during the festive period.

Even prior to its bumper 2023 offering, the theatre hosted sell-out performances by well-known music acts such as Marti Pellow and Eddi Reader and attracted comedians such as Janey Godley and Dom Joly.

Pop Idol star Gareth Gates performed in The Best of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons at Eastwood Park Theatre in October (Image: Supplied)

It has built up a solid reputation beyond its size and one which the past year's programme certainly bolstered further, not least by providing events with big names such as musician and actor Martin Kemp, singer Gareth Gates and broadcasting legend Eamonn Holmes.

An audience with the world’s longest-serving breakfast television anchor took place in October and won rave reviews from audience members (Image: Sourced)

“We contacted artists directly and asked them if they would come and work with us,” explained Moira.

“We had a bespoke show with Martin Kemp who did an ‘audience with’, which was great fun.

“We are working hard to bring as many big names as we can so that people can come and see them in their own local community.”

West End star Kerry Ellis is heading to Eastwood Park this year (Image: Sourced)

Among the things lined up for this year are events with Reverend Richard Coles, Social Bite co-founder Dr Josh Littlejohn MBE (as part of a ‘Scotland Inspires’ series), the Sex Pistols’ John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten, Celtic legend Neil Lennon, Sabrina the Teenage Witch actress Caroline Rhea, and queen of the West End Kerry Ellis.Eastwood Park Theatre will host Reverend Richard Coles, “the only British vicar to have had a number-one hit single and to have appeared on Strictly Come Dancing”, this Saturday, January 13 (Image: Supplied)

Behind this ongoing success is a creative and ambitious team who are passionate about the venue and determined to make the theatre-going experience accessible to as many people as possible.

“It’s personal for me,” said Moira, who enjoyed her own first experience on stage by treading the boards at the theatre with her dance school when she was just five years old.

“I really genuinely care about what happens in there.

“It tugs at my heart strings. It’s only part of my job but it takes up quite a lot of my time and a huge passion of mine is around making our theatre accessible to everybody."

A photograph of Moira McFadden, right, taken circa 1977 at the theatre when she performed with Lillian McNeill School of Dance (Image: Sourced)

A photograph of Moira McFadden, centre leaning over, taken in 1977 at the theatre when she performed with Lillian McNeill School of Dance (Image: Sourced)

Part of this over the last year has been establishing an empowering initiative for people who would otherwise never come to the theatre because they are too nervous about attending or don't think it is for them.

Called The First Nights Group, a member of the team facilitates a workshop about a piece they are going to see, perhaps a play or a National Theatre Live screening.

Then on the night, the team member will take them in and also have a chat with them afterwards about what they thought about the show.

Moira (Image: Supplied)

“I know that feeling that it (theatre) gives you inside, and it's not something that you can change," added Moira.

“It's something you will then have with you for your whole life and that's just such a gift to be able to give that to somebody.”