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
