Skip to main content

Empress Theatre Of Varieties

429

Immediately before demolition the Empress was visibly a mixture of different periods. The carcase of the auditorium and the whole of the stage house were of 1898 by Wylson & Long. The rendered corner tower, in a hard Art Deco manner, belonged to the 1931 reconstruction. The auditorium and other areas were of 1931, slightly altered in the 1950s and later, but still quite presentable. The stage, although finally used only for bingo, was complete. Four storey frontage building (the front of house accommodation seems to have been generous) extended along Brighton Terrace.

Not a great architectural loss (although the tower was of townscape value) but this was a theatre of some potential which could have been returned to operational use (with reduced capacity) at a lower cost than the building of a new theatre - which this area will undoubtedly need in time.

Built / Converted
1898
Dates of use
Current state
Demolished
Current use
Demolished
Address
Brighton Terrace, Brixton, London, Lambeth, SW9, England
Website-
Further details
Other names
Empress Music Hall , Granada Cinema , Granada Bingo & Social Club
Events
  • Owner/Management: See Diana Howard op cit for list from 1898 to 1950
  • 1898 Design/Construction:
    Wylson & Long
    - Architect
  • 1931 Alteration: radical reconstruction (architect unknown).
  • 1958 Alteration: conversion to cinema (architect unknown).
  • 1993 Demolition:
Capacities
  • Capacity
    Original
    Description
    1260
  • Capacity
    Later
    Description
    1912: 1500
    c.1946: 1950
Listings
  • Listing
    Not listed
    Comment
    Might have had a chance of survival if it had been listed
Stage type
Raked
Building dimensions: -
Stage dimensions: 1898 Depth: 40ft-30ft 1946: 28ft
Proscenium width: 1946: 40ft
Height to grid: 1946: 60ft
Inside proscenium: -
Orchestra pit: -