Venue: Brunton Theatre
Address: Ladywell Way, Musselburgh, East Lothian, EH21 6AA, Scotland
Town: East Lothian, GB

The Brunton Theatre is a building in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland that was a mid-scale performing arts venue 1971-2023. It is part of a wider complex, incorporating council offices, called Brunton Memorial Hall. The building is textured concrete and glass, and was designed by William Kininmonth, with a gilded relief sculpture by the Scottish sculptor Thomas Whalen on the facade. 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. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother led the official opening on 23 June 1971. The building had two main performance spaces: a 300 capacity theatre, with notably clear sightlines, and a main hall upstairs, which seated 500. The main hall (also known as "Venue 1") was used to host 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. In 2023, part of the theatre was "zoned off" because of the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the roof panelling. In October 2024, East Lothian Council voted unanimously to close the building and to consult on its demolition after consultants said that repairing it would be "untenable". Historic Environment Scotland received a proposal to list the Brunton Hall Civic Centre complex, including the theatre, in October 2024. The assessment stated that it met the criteria to be listed at category B for special architectural or historic interest. Local politicians published a letter against the listing proposal. In November 2025 it was determined that the building complex would not be