The Newcastle Civic Theatre, also known as ''The Civic'', is a heritage-listed building located on

Hunter Street, Newcastle Hunter Street is a major road in the central business district, in New South Wales. The street, formerly three separate thoroughfares, extends from Pacific Street in the city's east, to Selma Street in and since 2008 has been the focus of comm ...

, Australia. Opened in 1929, the 1520-seat theatre is now the venue for a wide range of musicals, plays, concerts and dance events each year and is the city's oldest surviving theatre. Together with the

Newcastle City Hall The Newcastle City Hall (currently known as O2 City Hall Newcastle for sponsorship reasons) is a concert hall located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has hosted many popular music and classical artists throughout the years, as well as sta ...

, each site is, individually, of state heritage significance, and they are listed jointly on the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

as the Newcastle City Hall and Civic Theatre Precinct.

History

Built under the direction of the Council of the City of Newcastle, the venue has grown to become one of Newcastle's most popular and prestigious venues. The building was opened by the

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

Thomas Bavin Sir Thomas Rainsford Bavin, (5 May 1874 – 31 August 1941) was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1927 to 1930. He was born in New Zealand and arrived in Australia at the age of 15, where he stud ...

in 1929 as a theatre but was for decades only used as a cinema. The Civic Theatre and Newcastle Town Hall were completed at the same time at a cost of £300,000. Designed by renowned theatre architect,

Henry Eli White Henry Eli White (21 August 1876 – 3 March 1952), also known as Harry White, was a New Zealand-born architect best known for the many theater (structure), theatres and movie theater, cinemas he designed in New Zealand and Australia in the 1910 ...

, the exterior of the building is in the

Georgian Revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...

style, with the interior decoration in the

Spanish Baroque Spanish Baroque is a strand of Baroque architecture that evolved in Spain, its List of provinces of Spain, provinces, and former Spanish Empire, colonies. History The development of the style passed through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, ...

style with a marble staircase, terrazzo balcony and chandeliers. Prior to the theatre's opening, the older Victoria Theatre on Perkins Street in the city's east end had been the premier venue for entertainment and also the city's largest and most opulent auditorium; it now stands unoccupied.

Description

The Civic Theatre is a two-storey rendered brick Georgian Revival building. Its facade exhibits features of the Georgian Revival style with Italian Renaissance elements, particularly in the elegant, repetitive semi-circular-headed windows. According to the National Trust, the facade of the shop at No 14 Wheeler is the only original. Entranceways are timber framed with glass, and

leadlight Leadlights, leaded lights or leaded windows are decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came to be known as came glasswork. The term 'leadlight' could b ...

above. The

awning An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of Acrylic fiber, acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tight ...

is painted in heritage colours with circular motifs and

pressed metal A tin ceiling is an architectural element, consisting of a ceiling finished with tinplate with designs pressed into them, that was very popular in Victorian buildings in North America in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were also popu ...

soffit A soffit is an exterior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of the roof edge. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of rafters or trusses over the exterior of supporting walls, is t ...

. The interior is an elaborate example of White's style in "Spanish Baroque" featuring a traditional proscenium arch, crowned with a classical

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

, a grand ornamental dome in the ceiling, with smaller

domes A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

above the back stalls and huge, recessed arches over the Royal boxes which flank the stage. Within these arches are Alamo-style

parapets A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

containing statues. The domes are indirectly lit and a "blue sky" surround flanks the stage. The auditorium walls were decorated to imitate stone castle walls. Renovations in the early 1970s enlarged the stage and orchestra pit. The theatre was reported to be in good condition as at 3 May 2013.

Current use

Designed initially as a live-theatre, The Civic was initially leased as a cinema to interests associated with

Greater Union Greater Union Organisation Pty Ltd, trading as Event Cinemas, Greater Union, Moonlight Cinema and Birch Carroll & Coyle (BCC Cinemas), is the largest movie exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand, with over 140 Multiplex (movie theater), cinema c ...

between 1929 and 1940, and then

Hoyts The HOYTS Group of companies in Australia and New Zealand includes HOYTS Cinemas, a cinema chain, and Val Morgan, which sells advertising on cinema screens and digital billboards. The company was established by dentist Arthur Russell in Melbo ...

between 1941 and 1973. From 1974, Newcastle City Council decided to move towards more live productions and phase out cinema operations completely, which was completed by 1976. With little maintenance on the building over the years, the Civic was renovated between June 1992 and November 1993 at a cost of 10.4 million.

Heritage listings

The Civic Theatre is of state significance under a number of criteria as one of the finest theatre buildings in New South Wales having been designed by prominent theatre architect Henry Eli White, architect of Sydney's State and Capitol Theatres. It is one of few surviving late-1920s atmospheric theatres in the country. The building is a finely crafted example of the Georgian Revival style, employed on a large scale. Along with the Newcastle Club and the BHP Administration Building, it represents the influence of this style in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River (New Sout ...

. The theatre's largely intact interior is considered to be an outstanding example of the Spanish/Moroccan style. The building is also an important townscape element, being part of the civic cultural precinct, located adjacent to the City Hall (also designed by White at the same time as the City administration and council chambers) and reflects Newcastle's status as the state's second capital at the time of the theatre's construction. The theatre has operated almost continuously as an entertainment venue since 1929 and continues to be a focus of social and cultural activity, highly valued by the citizens of Newcastle for its outstanding historical, aesthetic and social significance and rarity. The Civic Theatre, in conjunction with the Newcastle City Hall, was listed on the

on 27 September 2012.

References

Bibliography

Attribution

{{Hunter Region places and items of interest Newcastle, New South Wales Theatres in New South Wales Art Deco architecture in New South Wales Civic Theatre New South Wales State Heritage Register History of Newcastle, New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register 1929 establishments in Australia Government buildings completed in 1929