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THE GEELONG THEATRE by Richard Twentyman

he provincial City of Geelong
Tis located some 75 km south-
west of Victoria’s capital city,
Melbourne, and has a current
population of around 230,000.

Since the latter part of the 1800s,
and well into the 1900s, Geelong
has been fortunate to have many
theatres, most of which have now
been demolished or serve other
purposes. The only remaining
cinemas in Geelong are the
Village 11 (11 screens), which is
housed in the original Geelong
Theatre building in Ryrie Street,
and Reading Cinemas (8 screens),
located within the Waurn Ponds
Shopping Centre precinct, situated
8 km south-west of Geelong’s
CBD. This article focuses on the
history of the Geelong Theatre.

In the Geelong Advertiser of 9
August 1911, Mr. George
Wheatland and Mr. J.H. Tait
announced the completion of The Geelong Theatre 1913, with roof ventilation structure visible at top right of image
arrangements for the construction of a new
theatre on the south side of Ryrie Street, on The Geelong Advertiser commented that “the (When the theatre was converted by Village
land which was then occupied by Hargreaves building of the theatre has been viewed with Roadshow to a twin cinema in the early 1970s,
and Armstrong, Coachsmiths, and the Church some apprehension by those connected with the original façade was covered over by
Missionary Association depot. The site had a the Yarra Street Methodist Church and horizontal sheets of white cladding,
frontage of 70 feet and was 194 feet deep. The Sunday School”, these abutting the eastern dominated by a large, internally illuminated
theatre design included dress circle, stalls and boundary of the future theatre’s site. red “VILLAGE twin” sign. Fortunately, the
an orchestra pit, with a seating capacity cladding was removed during conversion
between 1500 and 1750. The theatre was to be The theatre was designed by Geelong from the Village Twin to the Village 11 in the
used primarily for film screenings, but would Architects, Tombs & Durran, in association mid-1990s, the original façade was restored,
also be provided with a large stage and with Melbourne Architect Frank G. and was given a fresh, new colour scheme of
dressing rooms to accommodate live Richardson, designer of some ten important cream, soft blue and pale green. The façade
productions. The auditorium was to be suburban theatres before 1920. The original now stands out dramatically at night under
equipped with a sliding section of roof to aid design is described as “Federation Free lighting mounted above the entrance canopy).
in ventilation. Three shops were planned for Style”, and it is this appearance that graces
the Ryrie Street frontage, and a spacious 198-204 Ryrie Street today. Construction started in late September 1911,
meeting room was provided on first floor level and was completed by May 1913 at a reported
at the front of the building. cost of £15,000. The Ryrie Street façade was
dominated by three entry points, flanked by
clad columns, above which was a large
archway including recessed balcony. Initially,
there was no verandah, but this was added in
the latter half of 1913 to provide better
protection for patrons queuing in Ryrie Street.
A high gable dominated the central third of
the building’s width. Either side of the gable
were sections of perforated wall. In later
years, these sections of wall were filled in to
provide a more unified appearance with the
central gable. The side and rear walls of the
theatre were constructed of dull red
brickwork. As noted above, there was a
section of the roof which could be opened to
provide additional ventilation on hot nights.
Part of that structure is still visible above the
roof line today.

The original projection room for a single
projector was mounted on the rear wall,
wholly inside the auditorium. However,
Geelong Theatre auditorium in 1913, showing original projection room in front of archway between 1920 and 1930, the original arched

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