Futurist Theatre

About

The Futurist Theatre was a theatre and cinema in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It was located on Foreshore Road, on the sea front of the South Bay.

The Futurist Theatre was built to the design of Scarborough architect Frank Tugwell and opened on 27 June 1921 as a cine-variety theatre operated by William Catlin (Catlin Entertainments Ltd). The Futurist could seat 2,393.

Originally it boasted a grandiose, ornate façade of robust, self-cleaning white glazed Carraraware tiles, the design of Henry Doulton, although this was later obscured during spring 1968 by a 'facelift' of rectangular plain yellow cladding. However, once the cladding was removed (under cover) around 2018, the tiles were judged to still be in a reasonable condition for their age.

Its fitting out included an Abbott and Smith 3 Manual 45 stop organ, played by Horace Shepherd. By the end of 1929, a Western Electric sound system had been installed to the cinema, and 1954 saw the addition of a CinemaScope and 38-feet wide screen.

Plans for a radical stage redesign by Captain J. H. Ritson were approved in early November 1957, stretching it a further four feet into the auditorium. Extra dressing rooms were to be positioned on the roof of the Arcadia/Palladium next door and the organ removed. This was undertaken from September 1958 once the twice nightly 'The Cyril Stapleton Band Show' had finished and although Plaxtons Builders kept at it 24 hours a day in the final weeks, they still overran – allowing the next summer production a single stage rehearsal before its opening night! During this redevelopment, film showings ceased.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.