Elizabethan Theatre

The Brennan family purchased the land on the corner of Erskineville Road & Wilson Street, Newtown in 1915 with the intention of building a theatre there. Brennan’s Ltd. also owned the rest of the block on Wilson Street, as well as the department store opposite at 294 to 302 King Street which survived until 1988. Theatre construction began from 17th October 1916 after an application from Daniel Brennan was sent to the Council and the theatre was completed on June 2, 1917. The architect was Henry Eli White (who also designed the State Theatre, Sydney amongst others around Australia and New Zealand). The buildings were Elder and Totterdell. Once the jewel of Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Newtown, the Majestic Theatre was leased to Fullers Theatres. Sir Benjamin Fuller & his brother John had contributed some finances during the construction of the theatre. Sir Benjamin Fuller’s company specialised in musical comedies and began building impressive theatres modelled on European opera houses, the St. James Theatre and the Majestic Theatre being good examples.

The Majestic Theatre alternated stage comedies with films, and was one of the city’s first ‘talkie’ theatres. It weathered the Depression by showing films. The theatre over the years presented vaudeville, various dramas including Shakespeare, movies, Sydney Symphony orchestra concerts as well as a venue for union meetings and the Unity Conference for the Labour Party during World War II, The Fullers Theatres lease on the theatre expired sometime around 1953.

In 1954 Charles Moses established Australia’s first national theatre company, The Elizabethan Trust. They leased the Majestic Theatre from June 27, 1955 and it was re-named Elizabethan Theatre. It was initially a success, but the theatre began to suffer declining audiences due to the then unsavoury reputation of Newtown (today it is a trendy upmarket district). The opening of the new Sydney Opera House was also blamed for loss of attendance at the Elizabethan Theatre.

The Elizabethan Theatre was closed and was destroyed in a mysterious fire which occurred in 1980. Offices have been built on the site.

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