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The Marlowe Theatre, The Friars, Canterbury

The new Marlowe Theatre which is currently being constructed on the site of the old one which was demolished in April 2009, is actually the third incarnation with the same name to be built in the City since 1950.

The new Marlowe Theatre, which is scheduled to open in September 2011, will have two auditoriums, the main one being built on three levels, with seating for 1,200. The second smaller auditorium will have seating for 150.

More information on the construction of the new Marlowe Theatre can be found here. And the Theatre's main website is here.

Information on the original, and second, Marlowe Theatres can be found below.

 

The First Marlowe Theatre, St Margaret's Street, Canterbury

Formerly The Empire Theatre / The Central Picture Theatre / ABC Cinema

The first Marlowe Theatre, in St Margaret's Street, Canterbury, was named after the playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe who was born in Canterbury in the late 1500s. The Theatre was originally built just before the First World War and is thought to have opened as the Empire Theatre. This small Theatre was later converted to a Cinema called the Central Picture Theatre in 1927.

The Central Picture Theatre was equipped with Western Electric sound and had seating for 719 people. The Cinema was later run by ABC and suffered two bouts of war damage during World War II. ABC closed the Cinema in 1949 and it was then converted back to a live Theatre, this time called the Marlowe Theatre.

This first Marlowe Theatre opened in 1950 but was demolished in 1984 when a new second Marlowe Theatre was opened in The Friars.

The site of the first Marlowe Theatre / Central Picture Theatre, is now occupied by the Marlowe Arcade.

If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.

 

The Second Marlowe Theatre, The Friars, Canterbury

Formerly The Friars Cinema / Odeon Cinema

The second Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, formerly the Odeon Cinema, in February 2007 - Courtesy Roger Fox.

Above - The second Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, formerly the Odeon Cinema, in February 2007 - Courtesy Roger Fox.

The second Marlowe Theatre, in The Friars, Canterbury, was originally built as a Cinema called The Friars in 1933, but was renamed the Odeon Cinema in 1946. The Odeon Cinema was then converted by Canterbury City Council into a Concert Hall and Theatre in 1984 when the first Marlowe Theatre was demolished to make way for the Marlowe Arcade.

The alterations to the Odeon included redesigning the stalls with a steep rake reaching up to the former balcony of the Cinema, adding new access corridors to the side of the old auditorium, new dressing rooms under the stage, and totally rebuilding the stage house with a new 13 by 11.5 metre stage and an orchestra pit capable of housing 48 musicians. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 1,000.

In 2008 the Foyer and frontage of the building still remained pretty much unchanged from its former incarnation as the Odeon Cinema, although the new glazed elevations to the side of the auditorium were clearly visible and looked out of place on this 1930s building.

Although this second Marlowe Theatre had run successfully since its opening the building itself was thought of as something of a blot on the landscape, and less than functional, and proposals to demolish it and build a new, third, Marlowe Theatre in its place were soon being worked on.

 

Plans were finalised and permission granted in 2008 and the Marlowe Theatre closed on the 22nd of March 2009 and was then demolished the followng month, in April.

The new Marlowe Theatre, the third incarnation in the City, with its main auditorium on three levels, seating 1200, and a smaller second auditorium with seating for 150, is now being constructed. The Theatre is scheduled to open in September 2011. More information on the construction can be found here. And the Theatre's main website is here.

 

New Theatre, Orange Street, Canterbury

Also known as the Prince of Orange Theatre

The New Theatre, which originally backed onto Canterbury's Orange Street but had its main entrance in the yard of a dancing school, was built for Mrs Sarah Baker in 1790 and was a conversion of an earlier building. Sarah Baker had been running 'theatrical events' around Canterbury for many years but when her principle establishment, Buttermarket House, was demolished she was inspired to build her own Theatre. She ran the New Theatre for 25 years and was very successful there but sold the building to a Mr. Dowton in 1815.

Dowton then reconstructed the Theatre with a Roman Portico for its main entrance, now in Orange Street, and windows in the Egyptian style, indeed the Theatre is said to have resembled the character of the Egyptian Hall in London.

The Theatre closed in 1859 due to it being condemned as unsafe, and was subsequently converted into a warehouse which it remained until 1960. After this the interior was gutted and converted into offices. Dowton's Orange Street Facade still partly survives today and the building which currently houses the shop 'Merchant Chandler' is known as Theatre House.

If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.

 

The Electric Theatre, 49, St Peter's Street, Canterbury

Later - The Odeon Concert Hall and Spring Dance Floor / The Canterbury Repertory Theatre

The Electric Theatre, St. Peter's Street, Canterbury around 1912-1918 - Courtesy Jenny Glover

Above - The Electric Theatre, St. Peter's Street, Canterbury around 1912-1918 - Courtesy Jenny Glover

The Electric Theatre was built in the 1910s at 49, St Peter's Street, Canterbury. The facade of the building still stands today although the building is currently being used as Brasserie (See map below right).

 

The photograph above of the Electric Theatre was sent in by Jenny Glover who says 'The sign advertises "Pathe's Animated Gazette" - which appears to have been shown here from June 1910 until 1918 when it was shortened to "Pathe Gazette". Below that is written "Gallant Little Wales" and a book of that name (sketches of its People, Places & Customs) was printed in Boston New York in 1912. The author was Jeanette Augustus Marks (1875-1964) ... so the photo probably dates c1912-18.'

Jenny's husband, Mick, says that 'the Electric Theatre started in the 1910's combining silent films with theatre shows. By the 1930's it was known as the Odeon Concert Hall and spring dance floor (Tel 419). By 1940 it was called the Canterbury Repertory Theatre (manager Capt Julian Bainbridge).

 

 

No. 48 St Peter's Street ( Now a Subway Restaurant) was The Kings Head public house up until the 1930's, but had closed by 1940. No. 50 was a bakery showing as G. Saunders in the 1930's & owned by Albert Bowkett by 1940.' Text and photograph courtesy Jenny and Mick Glover.

If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.

 

Alexandra Music Hall, 30/ 31 Northgate, Canterbury

Also known as The Princess Alexandra Theatre / Canterbury Music Hall / Regency Theatre / Royal George / The Cannon / Princess Alexandra Music Hall / Penny Theatre

The Alexandra Music Hall in Northgate, Canterbury was built in 1850 and was converted from an older seventeenth century house by adding an auditorium to the rear of the building. The whole Theatre was only 18 foot wide by 35 foot long, and had an un-raked ground floor with a three sided balcony capable of housing only one row of seats. The balcony was a later addition, probably added in 1860, and has simple paper panels decorating its frontage which are thought to have come from an earlier pleasure garden. The stage has a small proscenium with what is probably a more modern stage house.

The Theatre is thought to have ceased business in 1898 and had been in use as shops and storage premises until it was later converted into a restaurant and variety hall, which closed in 1989. Since then it has been converted into a public house called the Penny Theatre which sometimes presents music and comedy. The building is now Grade II Listed.

If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.

 

The Theatre Royal, Guildhall Street, Canterbury

The Theatre Royal in Guildhall Street opened in 1861 and was financed by Thomas Sidney Cooper, the famed animal artist and Royal academician. On his death ownership passed to his son Nevill Cooper, who did not have his father’s love of the theatre and found it a financial burden. In 1926 the Theatre Royal was closed and the site was then sold to become a Lefevre Department store. Today it is a branch of Debenhams, a plaque on the eterior says: 'Here stood the Theatre Royal where Canterbury’s first film show took place 16th November 1896.'

If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.

Some of the information on this page was kindly supplied by Stephen Wischhusen and N. Desmond Morley.