Princess Theatre, Woolloongabba, Heritage theatre in Woolloongabba, Australia
Princess Theatre is a two-storey rectangular brick building fronting Annerley Road, with narrow laneways on either side and at the rear. Its rendered west facade is symmetrical and classical in style: a central entrance portico with two corner columns on square bases, an entablature with a laurel frieze in relief, double timber doors and an arched fanlight with coloured glass. A first-floor verandah with balustrade and arched spandrel panels sits below a rooftop balustrade with spheres and a curved pediment. The front has a mansard roof; the auditorium and backstage have hipped corrugated iron roofs with raised central ventilators.
The building was erected in 1888 by architect John Beauchamp Nicholson as the South Brisbane Public Hall before being renamed Princess Theatre in 1893. During World War II, from 1942 to 1945, it functioned as an administrative and rehearsal facility for the United States Entertainment Unit.
The building's name changed with its uses: South Brisbane Public Hall (1888–91), Boggo Road Theatre (1892–1904), then The Princess under West's Pictures. In the 1930s Brisbane's early amateur companies — Brisbane Repertory (now La Boite), Brisbane Arts Theatre and Twelfth Night — all staged work here. From 2001 the LifeCity Church held services in the auditorium and hired it out for weddings and events.
The theatre fronts Annerley Road, with narrow laneways on both sides and at the rear. The auditorium and backstage areas sit under hipped corrugated iron roofs with raised central sections for ventilation, while the entrance elevation faces west. Visitors enter through double timber doors beneath an arched fanlight with coloured glass panels.
From 1942 to 1945 the Princess served as the administrative and rehearsal centre for the United States Entertainment Unit, which prepared shows for troops stationed in Queensland. The stage area had already been leased separately to a printing firm from 1948 to 1979, more than thirty years.
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