The Playhouse

This month features the Playhouse and some surviving photos of the exterior and interior of the picture house/cinema.

The Playhouse stood at the Abbey Church end of the High Street and the space is now occupied by the Cherrytrees Nursery. The photos shows the Art Deco exterior of the Playhouse, with steps going up the middle and a board showing what films could be seen that week. In the 1950s, on the left hand side of the cinema was Frank Shield’s shoe repair shop and when you entered, there was a wonderful smell of leather and glue. On the right hand side at that time, there was Birrell’s sweetie shop. People bought sweets here before going to a film but there was also a counter which sold sweets inside the foyer.

The photo above shows part of the foyer in the Playhouse and this was taken after it closed in 1984. On the left is the where you paid for your ticket, and next to that is the entrance to the stalls. The stairs led up to the extensive balcony. For town the size of Dunbar in 1937 (when it opened) the Playhouse was a huge cinema and it was said that the people who came to judge the size of the potential cinema came in the summer months, when Dunbar was full of tourists.

The above advert from December 1950 shows the films – the “big” film and the “wee” film  on Monday to Saturday. As there was no television, people often went to the picture house more than once a week. The advert also shows that it was Gaumont British News which was shown in Scotland, and not Pathe News shown elsewhere in the UK. You can see a trailer for Challenge to Lassie here – and you may be surprised by the location. Listen out for some truly awful accents.

The final photo above shows the inside of the cinema and it is in this photo that you can really see the Art Deco features – on the wall next to the screen, in the ceiling patterns and in the stylish lights. You can see the balcony upstairs and just catch a glimpse of the front row of the stalls. On Saturday mornings, when the matineees were shown, there was a mad rush of kids trying to get a seat in the front row.