Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin
The Mayfair Theatre is a former cinema building in the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. It belongs to the Dunedin Opera Company and is used with its 400 seats as a stage for performances of local theater groups and as a guest venue for Foreign theater.
The building is located on King Edward Street 100 in South Dunedin, near the road junction known as Cargill 's Corner.
The building was constructed in 1914 by King Edward Picture Theatre Company as a cinema. This group included some significant Dunediner businessmen such as William and Mary Ann Hudson from the eponymous confectionery company, the brewer Charles Speight and Robert and Charles Greenslade of the Speight's brewery.
The cinema was opened as the "King Edward Picture Theatre" on December 8, 1914. The name officially associated with the design of the building is Edward Walter Walden († 1944), but it seems the expertise and the personal style of Edmund Anscombe ( 1874-1948 ) reflect.
It was one of the early examples of a purpose-built as a cinema building. While the theaters had a fan-shaped seating arrangement and a deep stage area, the Mayfair had a rectangular auditorium and originally only little space behind the proscenium. It was decorated by Robert Wardrop (1858-1924) with extensive stucco..
The theater was rebuilt in 1934 for the talkies and renamed " Mayfair Theatre". The proscenium was remodeled according to plans by Llewellyn E. Williams and other stucco and stained glass windows installed. The cinema closed on 25 September 1966.
The building was purchased in 1967 by the Dunedin Opera Company and converted into a theater venue. The number of seats was reduced from 862 to 413 by the boxes away in the stalls and the proscenium was further drawn into the auditorium to get a bigger stage. It has since been used as a theater, especially opera house.
2008, it was one of only three historic buildings in New Zealand that have been specially built as a cinema. The other are the Princess Theatre in Gore (1913 ) and the Victoria Theatre in Devonport in Auckland (1912).
In 2008, a modern fire alarm system was installed by donations. Previously, the code "Mr Sands to report to the dressing rooms" was used to instruct the staff to evacuate. However, this was no longer banned by the New Zealand Fire Brigade as the laws accordingly.
On 5 December 2008 the theater from the New Zealand Historic Places Trust under number 7786 was as a Category II Historic Place classified ..