The Palace Theatre of Varieties, Haymarket

Whenever I ‘gan doon the toon’ I invariably call in at the Oxfam shop on the corner of Percy Street and St.Thomas Street. The block of properties on this small parcel of land is an untidy affair: low-level, temporary-looking efforts, which do nothing for the general demeanour of the streetscape thereabouts. I’m on the hunt for second-hand books, of course - it being one of the few establishments in the city centre to offer such fare. Just round the corner, on St.Thomas Street, and forming part of the same uninspiring block, can be found a couple of other businesses, one of which, The Mean-Eyed Cat micropub, often separates me from my money from time to time, too.

Though there isn’t much to please the eye architecturally on this otherwise quite handy little spot, this hasn’t always been so. For, until c.1960, the site was occupied by the fancily-named ‘Palace Theatre of Varieties’. Built in the 1880s, it is perhaps best known for being the very first venue in the city to show moving pictures - movies, in other words - which notable event occurred on Thursday 26th March 1896. The ‘Cinematographe’, as it was called, was offered up to the public for about a week and a half, the theatre beating its main rival, the Empire Theatre of Varieties on Newgate Street, by a mere two days to this historic first. A promotional leaflet/poster informs us in March 1896 that “This commodious theatre has been reconstructed, handsomely redecorated, elaborately upholstered and magnificently lighted by electricity, and is acknowledged to be the favourite place of amusement in the city”. Better than the Oxfam bookshop and The Mean-Eyed Cat, then.

The double-headed rivalry between the two Newcastle theatres represented a very early move for the UK’s provinces in the world of ‘movies’, the craze seemingly migrating from London straight to Tyneside, missing out the country’s other major cities. The films themselves were nothing to get especially excited about, being little more than peep-show-type efforts lasting a few seconds - with titles like ‘Cats Dancing’ or ‘Acrobat Turning Somersaults’ - but the die had been cast. Within months, both theatres were showing greater ambition - with colour films making the breakthrough as early as 1897. Surprisingly, though, moving pictures never really took off until the technology improved in the Edwardian era. In the meantime, institutions like the Palace Theatre of Varieties reverted to, well, theatre-like entertainment for the most part.

The establishment had begun life as the People’s Palace, a theatre which seems to have been founded/built in the 1880s. It was reconstructed in the 1890s, as per above, reopening as the ‘Palace Theatre of Varieties’ in December 1895. Its new manager, Thomas Barrasford, was an early enthusiast of the ‘moving pictures’ phenomenon - hence the groundbreaking move of March 1896.

The heavily-revamped affair had a three-tier auditorium capable of seating between 3 and 4,000 folk. There was also an orchestra pit, and ‘four handsomely furnished boxes’ - and every seat in the house had an unrestricted and full view of the stage. The newly-appointed venue was lauded in the press and supported enthusiastically by local dignitaries.

As early as 1903 the theatre was deemed to be in need of yet another sprucing-up, as well as not a little further restructuring. The following image is dated 11th July 1906, and shows the theatre to the left, and St.Thomas Street stretching into the distance:

The theatre now had marble stairs, mahogany dadoes and panelling, richly-embossed wallpaper, decoratively plastered ceilings (featuring paintings), and ‘heavy carpets’. The colour scheme was ‘cream and gold’.

It remained thus until the 1940s, when its facade was radically altered. Then, after a period of gradual decline, the Palace Theatre of Varieties was closed in 1958 due to a radical downturn in touring shows - and demolition followed in 1961. As far as I’m aware nothing much happened to the site thereafter until the eventual appearance of the present-day gaggle of low quality establishments.

Above: The Palace Theatre, c.1960. It has just been closed, sold, and was due for demolition. Note the remodelled facade of the 1940s. St.Thomas Street turns away to the right.

Note: The first establishment in Newcastle city centre which was dedicated solely to showing films was the original Olympia ‘tin’ cinema on Northumberland Road, which operated as such for a few short, experimental months in 1903. This later burned down in 1907, and was replaced with a second incarnation in 1909.

[Major sources - both quite excellent - are the 'Music Hall and Theatre History website' at www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Newcastle/PalaceTheatreNewcastle.htm and Frank Manders’ Cinemas of Newcastle (2005)]

[The images are copyright-free but have been sourced at Newcastle Libraries Flickr page at www.flickr.com/photos/39821974@N06/ ]