The Webster Memorial Theatre in Arbroath was listed as part of our theatres thematic study, and when it opened in 1865 it contained a museum and a hall for concerts and public meetings. It hosted touring plays and vaudeville, and it was eventually gifted to the town by the Webster family who were local flax manufacturers. It was designed by local architect James Maclaren, who was based in Dundee and had worked in the celebrated Scottish architect David Bryce’s office. In common with civic-type buildings of the period, it is designed in a classical style to give the building gravitas in the streetscape.

In: Acting with confidence. Scotland's theatre architecture. ISBN: 978-1-84917-038-3.