Page 10 - The Palace @ 100

The Doors Open

The Palace Theatre first opened its doors in August,
1913, a comparative latecomer in the wave of new
theatre building in which public demand for
entertainment had been finding expression since the
beginning of the century.

During the Edwardian era, cinema was primitive and
audiences preferred live performances to picture
shows. Music Hall was still very popular and
widespread and influential performers included male
impersonator, Vesta Tilley and the comic, Little Titch.
Mr E Marshall The most popular playwright of the era was W.
Remembers...... Somerset Maugham, but there was also the rise of new
playwrights, such as George Bernard Shaw.
“Before the First
World War my
Father worked at
Cranmore and
Simmons as a sheet
metal worker and
told me about when
he helped install the
Ventilator in the
ceiling of the Palace
Theatre. I remember
him telling me of one
occasion when one of
his workmates (after
a lunchtime drink)
fell into the
auditorium.
Fortunately, he was
Prior to the building of the Palace Theatre,
not hurt.”
entertainment had been provided at the Public Hall in
Church Road, a venue with 600 plush lift-up seats and
improved heating and lighting, before it became a
Bosco’s Picture House in August 1913. It was later
replaced by the Gaumont Cinema and subsequently a
Bingo Hall. It is now a night club.

The Palace Theatre opened in August of 1913 with the
film “In a Fix”, plus a variety show on the stage.

1913
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