Darlington Civic Theatre

Darlington Civic Theatre

Theatre built in 1907 to designs by G. Gordon Hoskins of Darlington, with construction supervised by George F Ward of the Birmingham firm Owen & Ward, and built by local builder Mackenzie Bros.

The building is constructed of red brick with terracotta dressings and a slate roof. It has a rectangular plan with a central auditorium, stage at the west end, and flanking corridors on three sides providing access to administrative rooms, dressing rooms and foyers.

The main south elevation presents a symmetrical three-bay, three-storey entrance pavilion with centrally placed main doors flanked by paired rectangular windows. Above these is a replacement cast iron canopy featuring a pair of keyed oculi. At first floor level, ionic pilasters with swags support a scrolled gable decorated with a semi-circular lunette and exaggerated voussoirs creating a 'sunburst' pattern. Tall round-headed windows flank this feature, topped by a prominent pyramidal roof with iron cresting. To the right of the entrance pavilion stands a plain single bay with a semi-circular lunette at first floor level, serving as the main stair to the dress circle. To the left are two identical bays with paired round-headed windows on the ground floor and single large semi-circular lunettes at first floor level flanked by ionic pilasters supporting shaped gables above; a modern attic-level extension rises slightly above these. The two end bays are plain with a stage door and four-pane sash windows.

The right return to Borough Road presents a symmetrical three-bay, two-storey entrance pavilion with two double-height round-headed doorways flanking a round-headed three-light window. At first floor level is a row of three sash windows with keyed surrounds and a rectangular plaque reading 'NEW HIPPODROME' below a shaped gable. Above this rises a later brick projection room. Either side features single bays with varied window forms including keyed oculi and sliding sashes. The right end bay is a modern brick extension.

The interior is entered through the main entrance off Parkgate, which gives access to the front stalls and dress circle foyer. The double-height foyer has an elegantly half-panelled rear wall with the original box office at its centre. The original doorway to the front stalls is to the right, featuring original double ten-pane glass doors with a semi-circular fanlight above, flanked by fluted ionic columns. The upper foyer walls are plain with a series of large plaster panels. A plain arched opening to the right leads up the main staircase to the dress gallery. The auditorium contains a dress circle and a balcony above with single pedimented boxes on either side at circle level, all ornamented with fine and richly decorated plaster work. The rectangular proscenium features a roll moulding and central cartouche; the ante-proscenium walls and area above the proscenium are decorated with bolection mouldings in a square panelled design. The circular ceiling, set in a square, has plaster ornamentation at each corner. Five sets of original fire-extinguisher fittings remain within the auditorium.

The theatre was commissioned by Signor Rino Pepe, a theatre impresario who created a chain of music halls across northern England and developed the 'Pepiscope' for showing films as part of variety routines. It opened on 2 September 1907 with a capacity of 1,210. The building originally carried two names: The Hippodrome on the Borough Road elevation and the Palace Theatre on the Parkgate/Borough Road corner.

Following Signor Pepe's death in 1927, the theatre faced uncertain times, compounded by competition from cinema. At one stage it was equipped with a projection box at the rear of the upper circle. In 1966, Darlington Borough Council, which had taken over the building some years earlier, renamed it the Civic Theatre. The ornamental canopy is a replica of the original, destroyed by a traffic accident in the 1960s. The interior was restored during the 1990s and the building extended to the rear. The theatre is said to be haunted by numerous ghosts, including that of Signor Pepe himself.