The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland is a Scottish conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to enjoy".The Trust owns and manages around 130 properties and 180,000 acres of land, including castles, ancient small dwellings, historic sites, gardens, and remote rural areas. It is similar in function to the National Trust, which covers England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and to other national trusts worldwide.
The Brunton Theatre is a mid-scale performing arts venue in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. It is part of a wider complex, incorporating council offices, and called Brunton Memorial Hall.
The building is textured concrete and glass, and was designed by William Kininmonth, with a gilded relief sculpture by Tom Whalen on the facade. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother opened it in 1971. The name derives from John D. Brunton, son of John Brunton, the founder of the Brunton Wireworks. He died in 1951 and left a bequest of £700,000 to the people of Musselburgh for the purpose of creating a community hall. The Town Council supplemented this and created a larger scheme which incorporated their offices.There are two performance spaces in the building: a 300 capacity theatre, with notably clear sightlines, and a main hall upstairs, which seats 500. The main hall hosts classical music concerts, comedy and contemporary dance performances, as well as regular cinema screenings and live screenings from the National Theatre and Royal Opera House. The theatre underwent refurbishment in the late 1990s, while the entire building was refurbished in 2010-11 for £3.2 million. There is also a curved bar area, and artwork around the theatre complex by Glasgow-based glass artist Deborah Campbell. Venue hire is managed by East Lothian Council, while artistic programming is organised by the Brunton Theatre Trust, established in 1994.Children's theatre company, Catherine Wheels, are the resident company, and the theatre also acts as venue 191 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
