BY DANIEL CULLEN
Las Port Rìgh reopened its doors this winter following an extensive refurbishment, marking a significant new chapter for the cinema, theatre and live events space within the Isle of Skye Candle Company building in Portree.
The redevelopment represents a shift in focus, prioritising live music, standing gigs and comedy while also delivering an upgraded cinema experience.
James Robertson, founder of the Isle of Skye Candle Company, told the Free Press about the decision to rethink the space and what has changed at the venue.
“The old space was a really good theatre that was good for some performances – pantomimes and theatrical events, that kind of thing. I think it covered the cinema ‘okay’ and the sit-down concerts ‘okay’. It was a bit of a jack of all trades! It hadn’t really been touched much for the last 15-20 years.”
James explained that live music, something he and his brother Raghnall are enthusiastic about, was at the heart of the renovated venue.
“The space now is focused more on what we’re passionate about, which is live music and standing concerts. The new setup means we will hopefully be able to attract some bigger names as well as offering a better cinema experience.”
One of the most immediately noticeable changes for audiences who visit Las will be the new seating. The old static seating has been removed, with movable, tiered seating installed in its place. The total number of seats has been reduced, but James said he believed the trade-off is more than worthwhile.
“We have a lot less seats, but the seats we have are a lot more comfortable with a lot more legroom, which helps create a better atmosphere. The seats are also a lot more luxurious – they’re about twice as wide as the old ones and they have cupholders for your drinks which is great.”
James added: “The back row of seats are called ‘Love Seats’, which means the hand rest in the middle can pull up, so couples can cosy up together! There’s about a metre of leg room in front of the chairs too, so if someone needs to get up in front of you, you shouldn’t even need to move your legs.
“We’ve gone as luxurious as we could without the seats being too heavy – as we still need to be able to move the chairs for our live events.”
Rather than a fixed layout, the new Las Port Rìgh has been built around flexibility, allowing it to transform between cinema, concert and cabaret-style setups.
“The apparatus that makes the tiered seating actually becomes the stage we use for live music, and the cinema seating is then stored backstage when we have standing events. It’s quite an ingenious design, that was a lot more complicated to put together than I thought it would be! But we got there in the end and we’re really happy with the results. We’ve built something that should be reliable and work well for the years to come.”
Removing the well-used fixed seating from the venue, which used to sit around 165 people, has meant Las can dramatically increase its capacity for standing gigs.
“We’ve increased the capacity massively for standing gigs as you need a lot less space per person than with the old seated arrangement”, James explained, “so I think we’re looking at about 290 people, which enables us to try and attract bigger, better bands as it directly impacts how much revenue they make from selling the tickets.”
The adaptable layout also allows Las Port Rìgh to cater for smaller or more intimate events, with James admitting it can sometimes be hard to get people out to gigs, something felt by many venues and promoters across the Highlands.
“It can definitely be hard to get people out to stuff sometimes but for gigs that are smaller, or for comedy gigs for example, we can use our tables and chairs to set the room up in a more comedy-club, cabaret style. You’ll also be able to get drinks at the new bar we have at the back of the room.”
That bar, James said, is another important part of improving the overall atmosphere.
“It’s a nice new bar with draft beers getting finished off this week, which will enable a better atmosphere. You won’t need to leave the space to go and get drinks while the band are playing.”
Looking ahead, James said Las will also be used for regular cèilidh dances through the summer months.
“We’re also planning to run cèilidhs in the summer that will hopefully be attended by tourists and locals. We can teach them all the dances and then stay in the space for drinks! The venue will be nicely lit and an enjoyable place to spend an evening.”
Early events in the refurbished venue have been well attended and successful, whilst providing some valuable early learning experiences.
“Our opening events sounded great, we removed a lot of the heavy fabrics in the space so the acoustics are a lot better now.
“The gigs went really well, we’re learning each time we do one about how people react to the space. So we’ll probably make some tweaks. The first event was a bit like a school dance where everyone stayed at the sides and were a bit nervous to move into the middle and dance. But there are things we can do to help with that.”
Finally, James was keen to acknowledge the support that made the redevelopment possible, including Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the Highland Council.
“Thankfully HIE have been really good to us and they helped support our vision of updating the space. They’ve been very helpful for everything we’re trying to do at the visitor centre. We also had good support from Building Control at the Highland Council and are so thankful to have so many skilled tradespeople come in and complete the work, sometimes jumping and changing as our plans changed! So I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who made it all happen.”