The Adelphi Cinema was a cinema in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England. Earlier names are the Lido Cinema and the Palladium Cinema. It was the David Garrick Memorial Theatre in the 1950s, and the site of the Theatre Royal in the 19th century.

History

1790 to World War II

A theatre, designed by John Miller of London, was built on the site on Bore Street (coordinates ) in 1790. Companies usually played at the time of race meetings, for not more than a week.

Isabella Mattocks Isabella Mattocks (1746 – June 25, 1826) was a British actress and singer. Early life Hallam (later Mattocks) was baptised in Whitechapel in 1746 by Lewis and Sarah Hallam. Her father and her uncle William were also actors. Her grandfather T ...

Edmund Kean Edmund Kean (4 November 178715 May 1833) was a British Shakespearean actor, who performed, among other places, in London, Belfast, New York, Quebec, and Paris. He was known for his short stature, tumultuous personal life, and controversial div ...

and

Dorothea Jordan Dorothea Jordan (née Bland; 22 November 17615 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time partner of Prince William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV), and the mother of 10 illegitimate children ...

were among the players seen in its early years. It was known as the Theatre Royal by 1859.'Lichfield: Social and cultural activities', in ''A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 14, Lichfield'', ed. M W Greenslade (London, 1990), pp. 159-170
British History Online. 18 August 2021."The Palladium, Bore Street, Lichfield
''Staffordshire Past Track''. Retrieved 18 August 2021. The theatre was replaced by St James's Hall, built in 1873, a venue for theatre performances, concerts and dances. From the early 1900s films were shown, and in 1912 it was converted into the Palladium Cinema. It was refurbished in 1937 and re-opened as the Lido Cinema, when the first film shown was '' Captain January''."Adelphi Cinema"
''Cinema Treasures''. Retrieved 18 August 2021. The cinema was badly damaged by fire in 1942. To continue providing entertainment for American troops at

Whittington Barracks DMS Whittington, otherwise known as Defence Medical Services Whittington (formerly Whittington Barracks), is a military base in Whittington, Staffordshire, near Lichfield in England. It is home to the Staffordshire Regiment Museum, the Headquart ...

, it was rebuilt, to the designs of Hurley Robinson, and re-opened in 1943.

David Garrick Theatre and Adelphi Cinema

The cinema closed in 1949, and after refurbishment was opened as the David Garrick Memorial Theatre (named for the actor

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

, who grew up in Lichfield). The theatre was managed by R. F. Cowlishaw and his wife Joan. The first play produced was ''

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

'', and during the first year

Kenneth Tynan Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Initially making his mark as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised John Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) and encouraged the emerging wave ...

produced ''

The Beaux' Stratagem ''The Beaux' Stratagem'' is a comedy by George Farquhar, first produced at the Theatre Royal, now the site of Her Majesty's Theatre, in the Haymarket, London, on 8 March 1707. In the play, Archer and Aimwell, two young gentlemen who have falle ...

''. The theatre closed after Joan Cowlishaw's death in 1953, and re-opened as the Adelphi Cinema. It finally closed in 1959. The building was converted into a supermarket; it was demolished some time after 1991, and a branch of the hardware chain Wilkinsons was built on the site.

References

{{Reflist Former theatres in England Theatres completed in 1790 1959 disestablishments in England Demolished theatres in the United Kingdom Former cinemas in England History of Lichfield