Glasgow Theatre Royal named one of the UK’s most beautiful theatres

The hotel chain, Premier Inn, conducted an eye-tracking study on over 35 of the world’s most beautiful theatres to reveal which the human eye is drawn to the most, and Glasgow ranks on the list.

The study used a unique way of analysing the objective beauty of theatres. Participants were asked to look at a series of images of 36 of the world’s most famous theatres, looking at both the outside building and interior theatre, and eye-tracking technology was then used to reveal which images drew the human eye most. Glasgow ranked 10th place for it’s UK rankings, and 7th for its interiors.

Opened in 1867, Theatre Royal Glasgow went through two fires before the turn of the century. Standing tall through thick and thin, the theatre has since presented a wide variety of productions covering all genres, including residents Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet. Featuring a Victorian auditorium, Theatre Royal presents first class entertainment for the city of Glasgow.

The open-air Minack Theatre which perches on Cornwall’s atmospheric cliffs ranked first, meaning it was the theatre that participants deemed most beautiful during the study. Originally constructed in 1930, the theatre offers sweeping panoramic views over the emerald waters of Porthcurno Bay. It was followed by the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Dubai Opera Theatre in worldwide rankings.

In the UK rankings, the Minack Theatre is followed by Shakespeare’s Globe, the Grand Opera House in Belfast, and Wales Millennium Centre. Glasgow had an average eye fixation length of 1.555 seconds compared to the Minack’s 5.69 seconds, Shakespeare Globe had 4.19 seconds, and the Grand Opera House in Belfast had 4.11 seconds.

Overall the Theatre Royal was the tenth most beautiful theatre. A spokesperson from Premier Inn commented: “The Christmas season is a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends, knowing you can rest easy and enjoy the festivities by heading to a beautiful theatre to take in a winter play or pantomime and then relaxing with a great night’s sleep afterwards in a nearby Premier Inn.

“We were delighted to see that the UK was home to so many eye-catching theatres, but also great to have stunning, travel-bucket-list worthy buildings such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Palais Garnier make the global rankings too.”

A full breakdown of the eye-tracking study revealing the most beautiful theatres can be found on their website.