The Byre Theatre
The Byre Theatre is a diverse and culturally vibrant home for all the people who live, study, work and play in St Andrews and beyond. Our mission is to connect people, ideas and experiences.
The Byre Theatre has been part of the fabric of St Andrews for nearly 80 years and part of the University since 2014. It is an award-winning building, with a 216-seat auditorium, 80-seat studio theatre, a 30-seat conference room and social spaces, where everyone is welcome.
The Byre is a hub for culture and performing arts, recognised as a valued part of the national cultural infrastructure, presenting a diverse range of professional touring performances of theatre, dance, opera and music for a broad range of audiences. In addition, the Byre produces its renowned annual pantomime each year with Bard In The Botanics, featuring the local youth cast who work alongside the cast, professional director and choreographer.
The Byre is proud to regularly host local and student performance groups. It also develops projects within the local community to engage with the arts and promote well-being, and offers opportunities for learning, training and professional development.
As part of the University, The Byre supports teaching and research, develops skills and work experience for students and contributes to the student experience.
The Byre hosts the student run Barron Theatre’s permanent residency within the Lawrence Levy Studio Theatre. In addition, the Byre provides the main auditorium, equipment and resources, technical team, marketing support and training opportunities in a high-level professional environment to student productions, which are are enjoyed by fellow students and public audiences.
The Byre is also permanent home to the Playwriting and Screenwriting MLitt, led by award-winning playwrights Professor Zinnie Harris and Oliver Emanuel, and is a teaching hub and collaborative partner with the University’s Film Studies department.
The Byre works in partnership with academics, researchers, and colleagues to showcase some of the ground-breaking research at the University of St Andrews. This collaboration includes public engagement, enabling research to reach a public audience and contribute to the measurement of Research Impact. Byre World is a regular strand of programming connected to the School of Modern Languages.
The Director of the Byre Theatre is Julie Ellen.
General enquiries
Email: byreboxoffice@st-andrews.ac.ukPhone: +44 (0)1334 47 5000
The Byre Theatre
Abbey Street
St Andrews
KY16 9LA