The Playhouse is a Wetherspoon's pub in Colchester, Essex, the building of which was previously The Playhouse Theatre. Originally opened in 1929, the theatre became the A.B.C. in the 1960s, and it was redeveloped into a pub in 1994.

History

The Playhouse Theatre was built in 1929 by John Fairweather; and the first production in 1929 was the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

's So This Is Love. In 1930, The Playhouse became a cinema, the interior was redesigned in 1931, and in 1932, the cinema was taken over by

Associated British Cinemas ABC Cinemas (Associated British Cinemas) was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Originally a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), it operated between the 1930s and the 1980s. The brand name was reused in ...

. The building was redeveloped in 1962, and renamed the A.B.C. In 1981, the building was taken over by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, who used it as a bingo hall. After renovation, the building reopened as a Wetherspoon's pub in 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Playhouse, Colchester, The Former theatres in England Pubs in Essex Event venues established in 1929