287 Queen Street, Auckland, Auckland

The Civic Theatre Auckland

An architectural and social triumph in its day (1929), the Civicis New Zealand's last surviving 'atmospheric theatre', on the site of the colonial day marketplace in the centre of the city. Peter Jackson found the architectural elements, many drawn from the East, were fitting for the setting of New York Theatre 'The Alhambra' in his 2005 remake of King Kong. The interior has a life of its own and is worth seeing and photographing. Fortunately, Auckland has preserved this icon and it still hosts a varied and extensive programme of films, theatre and dance and more.The link also takes you to an accessibility tour.

Listen to the Audio Guide (click above) for a comprehensive account of its history.

New Zealand’s greatest atmospheric cinema, The Civic, occupies colonial Auckland’s old marketplace, replaced by shops in 1918, which in turn came down a mere seven years later, victims of the council’s latest grandiose plans for a civic centre. And there things rested, for the site lay empty after ratepayers struck down the council’s scheme.

In 1929, however, the chastened council leased it to Thomas O’Brien Theatres Ltd, which ran up a massive new picture palace in nine short months to a design by Bohringer, Taylor and Johnson. It cost £200,000 and could seat 3500, the jewel in a phenomenon that saw New Zealand cinema admissions soar from 550,000 in 1917 to 30 million in 1939.

The builders cut many corners but nevertheless constructed an impressive example of the new ‘atmospheric theatres’, the opulently decorated picture palaces that enjoyed a brief heyday from the late 1920s. New Zealand built three, Dunedin’s Saint James, Christchurch’s Regent and the Civic, with its Moorish and Hindu arches, pierced screens, minarets and balconies, all overarched by a twinkling ‘sky’. Fittingly for a city known as the ‘Queen City’, the Civic’s interior is a high-camp riot, a Pierre et Gilles photograph come to life. In 1987 the Historic Places Trust saved the building, which reverted to council control eight years later.

*Early in 2000 it emerged from a major council-funded facelift, our last proper atmospheric theatre (the Regent’s interior was burnt out in 1979 and Dunedin’s fell before ‘adaptive reuse’ in 1997).*© 2002 Original text – Gavin McLean

Image Credits: Jackie White and The Civic Theatre in 1957, Mr Burns via Archives New Zealand and Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK

Landmarks: Notable Historic Buildings of New Zealand

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