The Theatre Royal is situated on the corner of Corporation Street and Henry Street, Hyde, Cheshire.

Theatre Royal is an Edwardian, purpose-built theatre seating 1200 -one of the country's first intended not to be used solely as a playhouse-which opened in November 1902 to replace an older Theatre Royal, which had stood on Frank Street, Hyde. Building work began on the present theatre in 1901, the Architects being Campbell and Horsley of Manchester and the building contractors Robinson and Sons of Hyde. The cost of building was £10,000.

1901 Architect drawing-Theatre Royal does not have a decorative pediment at the side.

No major changes or additions were made to the theatre until 1914 when a cinema screen was added, making the Theatre Royal dual-purpose--for live stage and cinema-the screen being wheeled to the back of the stage to make way for live shows. Sixty years later, live stage shows came to an end when a second cinema was built upon the stage, resulting in Royal One and Royal Two twin cinemas, losing the title of Theatre altogether. The final live show was "Annie Get Your Gun" in October 1974. In 1992 the Theatre Royal closed completely and was soon on the market for sale. Following failure to attract a buyer and the listing of the building preventing its demolition, the theatre is still vacant and in need of extensive repair and restoration to return it to its former glory and enable the doors to open again. Outline planning permission for demolition and/or change of use is now out-of-date but re-application and application to de-list can never be considered to be out-of-the-question. The theatre cannot be saved without the help of the kind of pressure group, putting across people's opinions, which saved the Opera House Manchester, The Palace Manchester, the Plaza, Stockport and many other theatres, other precious buildings and our countryside. It all depends on making your opinion known.

The Theatre Royal has played host to such diverse stars as Vesta Tilley, Enrico Caruso, Laurel and Hardy, Frankie Vaughan, George Formby, Frank Randall, a young Julie Andrews and John F. Savident upon its stage; as well as the amateur Operatic and Musical Societies and various repertory companies. Hyde Musical Society, Hyde Operatic Society and Romiley Operatic Society all made use of the theatre until the conversion to twin cinemas meant they had to find alternative venues. Possessing, as it still does, beneath the floor of the second cinema, one of the biggest staging areas in the North of England and possibly one of the largest playing areas within the UK, the Committee and Trustees feel that, historically and futuristically, the building should be preserved and restored for its original purpose.

With an overall stage size of 2480 sq. ft. (including wings), a playing area of 1222 sq. ft. and a seating capacity of over a thousand, it is felt that this theatre fulfils the needs of the amateur groups within the Greater Manchester area as well as bridging the gap between the large professional theatres and the small fringe theatres which are, respectively, too expensive to hire and too small for larger productions. The seating capacity makes the Theatre Royal a worthwhile venue for professional touring companies, plus the bonus that the main auditorium can rapidly be converted to cinema with the existing, moveable screen.

Listing the Theatre Royal

Such a task is not always easy as part of the process is to decide who foots the bill for lost income to the owners; the Government or the Local Authority? Not easily solved! However, after hundreds of letters from local people the application, applied for by English Heritage, was passed under the Planning (listed buildings and conservation area) Act 1990, as a building of special architectural and historic interest. The listed entry is as follows:

The following building shall be added to the list

Former theatre, later cinema.1901-2 by Campbell and Horsley of Manchester. Red brick and terra-cotta; some render and stock brick to rear; slate roofs. Three storeys and attics. Elaborate symmetrical frontage, nine bays wide with broad and elaborate central bays under round terra-cotta arch with keystone. Pilasters to either side and three central bays have a distinguished composition with windows in terra-cotta surrounds to second storey, two oeuils de boeufs above flanked by balustrading. Elaborate molded and cut brick decoration in pediment, flanked by finials. Simpler short pilasters and keystones to the remaining three bays and these features are continued on the Henry Street elevation. Sash windows in timber frames throughout. Doors under projecting ground-floor canopy blocked. Roof with lantern.

Interior. Substantially intact auditorium of stalls, circle and gallery, supported on cast-iron columns in circle, which also has a plaster ceiling. Large coved ceiling forms central dome over auditorium, with raked gallery continuing behind. Elaborate balcony fronts with plaster swag decoration. Proscenium arch survives, with top cresting, blocked by later inserted cinema screen. Theatrical flies, grid and 13.4m deep raked stage survive behind this.
The Theatre Royal was opened in 1902 as a replacement for an early Theatre Royal nearby in Frank Street. It first showed films in 1914, which were combined with live shows until 1972. Included as a complete Edwardian theatre, its balconies and decorative areas remain intact, with proscenium arch. The exterior is notable for its lavish terra-cotta and brick decoration.

Source
Curtains!!! A New Life For Old Theatres Trust, 1982,p126

Signed by the authority of the Secretary of State
Eleanor Hodge
Department of Culture, Media and Sport
13th April 2000

The opening night from The North Cheshire Herald of 8.11.1902 on the first performance:

"Little Jim" is adapted from a French play called "Le Petit Muet" by Henri Karoul adapted by Arthur Shirley and Ben Landeck. The decision to stage this play was made by the management of the Theatre produced by Mr. J.F. Elliston's company. The first scene is the saloon of an ocean steamer and later the play moves on to a fairground in Montmartre. It has everything that drama of the time is renowned for: the heroes and villains; the love interest; the little boy of the title watching is mother die after a villain has drugged her and somewhere comedy. In the cast there is reference to a Mr. T.E. Conover the clever comedian who keeps the audience in fits of laughter.
The article goes on to announce that the following week Mr. Edmund Tearle [a well-known actor of that era] will appear in a repertoire of well known classical plays including "Ingomar", "The Three Musketeers", "Othello", "School for Scandal" and "Julius Caesar". In his opening speech the Mayor of Hyde, Counsellor T.C. Beeley also announced that all the leading musical shows had been booked including "San Toy", "Floradora", "Lady Slatrey", "Dandy Fifth", "Belle of New York" etc. and also many Drury Lane pieces.