Playhouse Theatre

The Playhouse Theatre is a theatre built between 1881 and 1882 by F.H. Fowler, originally named the Royal Avenue Theatre. The interior was reconstructed in 1906-07 by Blow and Billerey. The building features painted stone and has a concealed roof, showcasing a restrained and elegant classical design. It is two storeys high and 11 windows wide, with a curved southeast end. The ground floor has doorways grouped to the corner under a canopy, and the rusticated ground floor is articulated by blind architraved and corniced windows, supported by modified Corinthian pilasters that hold up an entablature.

The tall upper storey features architraved windows with pediments on consoles and blind oculi above, all articulated by giant pilasters supporting a full entablature and a balustraded parapet. Inside, the theatre displays an elegant Louis XV style as designed by Blow and Billerey. The outer foyer is kidney-shaped, with a cresting of ribboned sprigs at the inner archway, while the panelled inner foyer includes a cartouche-trophy of musical instruments. The auditorium features a basket-arch proscenium set in a deep reveal that frames the boxes, with the arch surmounted by figures of Fame crowning Thalia. The lower and upper balconies are kidney-shaped, with the lower balcony continuing the line of the upper boxes, all featuring turned baluster fronts. Caryatids flank the former lower boxes, supporting the upper ones, and a sweeping basket arch frames the uppermost part of the auditorium. The circular dome and oval ceiling panel, along with the basket arch wall panels, are all decorated in grisaille. The stage machinery likely dates from the 1906-07 reconstruction.