Globe Theatre (Stockton-on-Tees)

• Theatre ID
  1654
• Built / Converted
  1935
• Dates of use
  • 1935 - 1974: as variety theatre and cine-variety.
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  disused (last use as bingo 1996)
• Address
  High Street, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, TS18 1LE, England

Details

The first cinema on the site was built in 1913, demolished in 1925 and replaced on a larger scale in 1926, still as a cinema. In 1935 Charles and Alfred Lewis rebuilt it in Art Deco style as the New Globe Theatre of Varieties. It had full stage facilities with dressing rooms on three floors and was intended as a number one variety house, but with film projection facilities. It became an ABC cinema in 1937, but still with much live use including annual pantomimes. There were regular stage shows with national companies after the war. In 1977 it converted to bingo, closed in 1996 and now stands dark and neglected, but it still seems to have real theatre potential. The ground floor front, which originally had shop fronts flanking the entrance, has now been tiled, but in a perfectly discreet manner. Above this, the moderne stucco façe has fluted giant pilaster strips rising through two storeys to a stepped attic with two short, cubist towers. Internally much of the original ornament has survived. Auditorium has characteristic, almost unaltered ornament to the single balcony front, side walls with light fountains and broad, square proscenium. An excellent example of its kind and date.

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• Other names
  ABC
• Events
  • 1935 - 1974 Use: as variety theatre and cine-variety.
  • 1913 - 0 Design/Construction: first cinema on site (architect unknown).
  • 1926 - 0 Design/Construction: new ciné-variety on same site.
    • Percy L Browne & Son (Newcastle) - Architect
  • 1935 - 0 Design/Construction: rebuilt as ciné-variety.
    • Percy L Browne & Son (Newcastle) - Architect
    • Webster Davidson & Co (Sunderland) - Consultant: Decorative Plasterwork
    • Fred A Foster (Nottingham) - Consultant: Decoration
  • 1935 Owner/Management: Stockton Palace Ltd, owners
  • 1937 Owner/Management: Associated British Cinemas Ltd, owners
  • 1974 Owner/Management: Lipthorpe Brothers, owners
  • 1978 Owner/Management: Mecca, owners
• Capacities
  • Original: 2372
  • Later: 1936: 2400 1937: 2429 1956: 2429
• Listings
  • Grade II
• Dimensions
  • Building dimensions: exterior 100ft deep; 96ft wide at front elevation
  • Stage dimensions: Depth: 28ft Width: 50ft
  • Proscenium width: 49ft
  • Height to grid: 52ft
  • Inside proscenium: 56ft