Peterhead

The Playhouse opened in 1931

with the futuristic film "Just Imagine" and was run by CAC. Original

seating was 429 in balcony, and approx. 800 in stalls. The auditorium

was quite plain, apart from the ceiling which had a flat dome lit

around the edges. There were large openings on either side of the

procenium opening, lit from behind with coloured lamps. Screen tabs

were lit by traditional footlights and battens. The balcony was entered

by two sets of doors at the rear. Original projection equipment was

Ross, with front shutter projectors and RCA sound.

The cinema was taken over by J.B. Milne theatres in the late 1950's

(the same time as the Playhouse Montrose), when projection equipment

was replaced with BTH projectors and sound. Arc lamps were Peerless

Magnarcs. The only other change made at this time was replacing the

carpet in the stalls aisles with the JB Milne trademark green rubber.

The cinema was again taken over by Kingsway Entertainments in 1968/69.

No changes were made, and films continued three times weekly on

Mon-Wed-Fri opening at 5.30pm and 2.00pm on Saturdays - there were no

Sunday performances.

Interior c.1960s

Courtesy of the Scottish Screen Archive

In October 1972…

The Playhouse opened in 1931

with the futuristic film "Just Imagine" and was run by CAC. Original

seating was 429 in balcony, and approx. 800 in stalls. The auditorium

was quite plain, apart from the ceiling which had a flat dome lit

around the edges. There were large openings on either side of the

procenium opening, lit from behind with coloured lamps. Screen tabs

were lit by traditional footlights and battens. The balcony was entered

by two sets of doors at the rear. Original projection equipment was

Ross, with front shutter projectors and RCA sound.

The cinema was taken over by J.B. Milne theatres in the late 1950's

(the same time as the Playhouse Montrose), when projection equipment

was replaced with BTH projectors and sound. Arc lamps were Peerless

Magnarcs. The only other change made at this time was replacing the

carpet in the stalls aisles with the JB Milne trademark green rubber.

The cinema was again taken over by Kingsway Entertainments in 1968/69.

No changes were made, and films continued three times weekly on

Mon-Wed-Fri opening at 5.30pm and 2.00pm on Saturdays - there were no

Sunday performances.

Interior c.1960s

Courtesy of the Scottish Screen Archive

In October 1972 the Playhouse closed for six weeks for modernisation.

the entire cinema was stripped out, including all light fittings. The

balcony was altered to create two small entrance tunnels near the

front, and the old rear entrances were used as exits. New red seats

were installed, and capacity reduced to 340 seats. Stalls seating was

also upgraded with much improved legroom, seating 390 and leaving a

large open space between the front row and the stage. All houselighting

and stage lighting was removed and replaced with a new battery of spots

mounted in the front of the balcony in order to floodlight the

procenium. New screen curtains were put in, and the splay wall openings

curtained over. The dome cove lighting was reintroduced around 1976/77.

Kingsway did a very good job of the refurbishment and it looked modern

and airy with a hint of the old.

The next change was to the projection equipment around 1979 when Westar

projectors and a new Westrex transistorised amp was installed along

with two Peerless xenon conversions. Projectors were adapted to take