No More Movies At England’s Oldest Movie House

posted by Ross Melnick on September 30, 2002 at 8:00 am

BEVERLEY, ENGLAND — England’s oldest cinema, The Picture Playhouse, has just suspended programming of its “pictures” due to increasingly difficult competition from a newly-built UGC multiplex in nearby Hull.

According to the Hull Daily Mail, the 91-year-old theater will continue on as a venue for live music and festivals, but movies, which have being exhibited at the theater since 1911, will be suspended.

Fewer and fewer patrons have been coming to the Playhouse since the UGC at Kingswood Leisure Park opened and the theater is now reviewing its operations with the possibility of bringing films back two nights a week in December.

The aging theater is also awaiting news on a 67,000 pound bid to the National Lottery for an 87,000 pound refurbishment scheme. Theater management has said that if movies do return, they will only remain if audiences turn out to support them.

We’ll keep you posted…