The Edinburgh Playhouse

Built as a "super cinema" in 1929, the category A-listed building has had a turbulent history, changing hands many times before claiming its place as one of the UK's key venues for post-West End tours in the late-1980s. With a capacity of over 3000 on three levels, it is Britain's largest theatre, attracting coach parties from substantial distances away. From the front, it is hard to get a sense of the Edinburgh Playhouse's scale, but inside, you start to appreciate how much architect John Fairweather capitalised on the steeply sloping site to come up with a design that could accommodate so many. Today the building, which has five bars and many period features still intact, programmes a broad range of entertainment, from popular musicals such as Les Miserables and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to comedians such as Dara O'Briain and Ross Noble; and from big name music acts such as Bob Dylan and Kenny Rogers to high-prestige dance productions in the Edinburgh International Festival.