Final performance at the grassmarket, edinburgh premises of the traverse theatre

The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded as The Traverse Theatre Club in 1962 by John Calder, John Malcolm, Jim Haynes, Richard Demarco, Terry Lane, Andrew Muir, John Martin and Sheila Colvin.

The Traverse Theatre company commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary playwrights, and also presents productions from visiting companies. The Traverse produces shows under its banner and acts as a host venue for Edinburgh Fringe shows in August.

It is also the home of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, previously known as the Imaginate Festival.

The Traverse Theatre Club, originally opened by Cambridge Footlights as “The Sphinx Nightclub”, began at 15 James Court, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh, on 20 August 1962.

Following a surveyor’s report in March 1969, which stated that the internal floors of James Court were unsafe, the Traverse moved to a former sailmakers’s loft at 112 West Bow in the east end of the Grassmarket

In 1992, the Traverse moved to its current location, 10 Cambridge Street, a £3.3 million purpose-built two theatre space with bar café created as part of Saltire Court development on Castle Terrace.