King's (Dundee)

• Theatre ID
  2349
• Built / Converted
  1909
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  Licensed premises (Pub/nightclub)
• Address
  21-29 Cowgate, Dundee, Dundee, Scotland

Details

This is important as the only surviving large touring theatre in the Dundee area. The dour ashlar façe of three storeys, rusticated to ground floor, has an almost industrial solidity with no obvious ornamentation. Within, the theatre was originally luxuriously decorated with commodious front of house spaces, lined in mahogany and teak, and a very opulent auditorium in the Edwardian manner. The two tiers faced the stage squarely with the boxes isolated between decorative panels. The plasterwork was in a free mix of Baroque and Rococo with a fine saucer domed ceiling with frescoes and a marble proscenium frame. Following post-war restoration in the early 1950s, this scheme was unnecessarily mutilated in 1955 through the partial demolition of the balcony and the insertion of a false ceiling above the circle. The side walls and original proscenium were consequently mutilated and covered over. Having failed as a bingo hall, much archaeological investigation took place and it was established that enough of the original (including the ceiling) remained intact to enable the theatre to be restored. If this had happened, the handsome King’s could have become a great asset to the City of Dundee which badly needs a capacious proscenium touring house. The King’s could have fulfilled this need but permission was given in 1998 to convert it to a themed pub. Although much original fabric remains it would now be difficult, without detailed investigation, to see that the interior was once a theatre.

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• Other names
  Garrison Theatre, Gaumont, Odeon, County Bingo
• Events
  • 1909 Design/Construction:
    • James Thomson - Architect
  • 1928 Alteration: converted to cinema
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1955 Alteration: rebuilt as cinema
    • Lennox Paterson - Architect
  • 1998 Alteration: converted to theme pub
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 2003 Alteration: further minor alterations
    • Nicoll & Russell - Architect
  • 1909 Design/Construction:
    • Mr Ward - Consultant: Plasterwork
  • 1909 Owner/Management: United County Theatre Ltd
  • 1928 Owner/Management: Provincial Cinematograph Theatres
  • 1947 Owner/Management: Circuits Management Association (Rank)
  • 1964 Owner/Management: Rank Theatres Ltd
  • 1982 Owner/Management: County Properties and Developments
  • 1995 Owner/Management: Various
  • 1998 Owner/Management: First Leisure
• Capacities
  • Original: 2227
• Listings
  • Grade B - 30.6.1989
• Dimensions
  • Proscenium width: was 29ft