The Opera House

The Opera House, formerly known as The New Theatre, is a theatre that has been converted into an opera house. It was built in 1912 by architects Richardson and Gill, with Farquarson, and has undergone alterations since its construction. The building features a rectangular plan oriented at right angles to the street and is designed in a classical style.

The front block is three storeys high with an attic, displaying a symmetrical façade with a total of five bays, where the first and last bays are set back. The exterior is finished in stucco on brick with a slate roof. It has a plinth and banded rusticated stucco across all levels. The first and second floors are adorned with a giant order, featuring a five-bay centre flanked by engaged fluted Ionic columns. The first and fifth bays project forward, each showcasing a lettered pedestal at the base and a mask roundel at the top. The three pilastered bays on either side, along with the three central bays, include windows at the top with geometric glazing.

An entablature runs along the top, with a frieze inscribed with the words "THE PLAY MIRRORS LIFE" in the centre, and decorated in a Wedgwood style in the adjacent bays. A dentilled cornice encircles the building, culminating in a large semi-circular tympanum featuring allegorical reliefs. The entrance on the ground floor is five bays wide and is covered by a later 20th-century canopy.