Setting The Stage by Eric Brans-Instone

Local Community in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders transforms Duns Volunteer Hall into a theatre for Scotland’s festival of new drama.

Theatre in Berwickshire: A Community Without a Stage

The eastern Scottish Borders has many community halls but completely lacks an actual theatre building. Despite this, it has a rich and vibrant community of playwrights and theatre groups, and has seen the rapid establishment of DunsPlayfest. This is an annual festival of new writing for theatre, that is becoming a key week in Scotland’s arts and culture scene. Born from community theatre it now attracts professional companies developing new shows. As a friendly festival of live theatre, comedy and music it is also rapidly becoming a springboard for new emerging artists and writers.

Transforming Duns’ Volunteer Hall into a Theatre

A true wonderment of the festival is the way that the Duns Volunteer Hall is transformed every May: taking a plain, stageless hall, converting it into a magical performance space with both cabaret and main theatre stages. Even the external frontage is transformed with an Art Deco facade. Next year we will also be spreading the magic to the neighbouring Cadet Hall which is going to become our new black box studio theatre for work-in-progress and other more experimental presentations.

The Local Heroes Behind the Magic

This transformation of the Volunteer Hall in Duns involves many people from the local community aided by our paid team of young interns and our superb professional sound and light technicians Marc and Kirk. The Art Deco frontage, designed by Edward Liscombe, a West End set designer who retired to Duns, was constructed by the local Men's Shed. Box office and cabaret furniture were designed and built by students from Berwickshire High School. Stage building and hall dressing is undertaken by the team of locals who regularly convert the hall into a theatre for Duns Players and Duns Opera. Whilst local artist and DunsPlayfest Trustee Karen Thomas ran print making workshops to produce our cabaret tablecloths. Borders Eco Flowers, local flower growers, supply floral decoration. All in all a brilliant collaboration between professionals and volunteers from across the community.

DunsPlayFest community celebrations from a festival well met!

A Personal Perspective

For me, volunteering to help with this magical transformation is incredibly rewarding for my overall mental health. Problem solving, making the best of the facilities and materials available, is like a practical puzzle: an excellent brain-workout. Mucking in as part of a team gives a sense of worth and belonging, reminding me of my carefree youth working on archaeological excavations. Seeing the end result provides a real sense of achievement: a community enterprise well done, a positive event in May itself, even before the festival opens. Being part of the magic of live theatre, the music, the comedy, the drama. Living the dream.

Join Us in 2026

If you have never come to DunsPlayfest, then make sure that 1-9 May 2026 is in your diary to soak up the magic of theatre. If you want to get practically involved to help create this wonderful festival then do get in touch!