Regent

Amongst the surprising theatre riches of Great Yarmouth, the Regent is worthy of special attention. This is an unusually well-preserved cine-variety theatre of 1914, located on a main shopping street. It features a free classical facade with a giant order of Ionic pilasters above ground floor. Semi-circular central entrance arch rising above a projecting canopy into the first floor level. In the centre bay the pilasters are replaced by giant Ionic columns carried on console brackets. They originally supported an entablature, now absent. Stained glass windows and relief frieze below parapet. Much moulded decoration including festoons, panels and masks. The interiors retain their fine and rich original plasterwork. Former tea rooms at front with enriched plaster ceiling featuring elaborate fruity-vegetable bolection panels; wooden panelling and relief plaster figures. Rectangular auditorium is concealed at one end only by a modern false proscenium. There are boldly projecting, bow-fronted boxes, four on either side, each carried on a single, slender iron column. Between the boxes, at balcony level, are free-standing columns carrying a five-bay arcade of elliptical arches. The balcony and box fronts have elaborate full relief ornament. The upper walls are ornamented with consoles over the columns, scrolly arch keys and treillage panels and, above this, a frieze with garlanded oiel-de-boeuf motifs, then a cove with rococo mouldings and a flat ceiling with shallow-domed centre. A magnificent example of its type, featuring a riot of decorative plasterwork. Alterations for bingo were made sensitively, without compromising the possibility of future theatre use. There is sufficient space at the rear of the site to permit construction of an enlarged stage house. The Regent closed as a bingo hall in December 2011 and in April 2014 it reopened as a nightclub and show bar. The building has been vacant since the bar and nightclub closed in 2016. With prolonged vacancy there is a risk of damage and deterioration.