Sun Theatre, Movie theater in Yarraville, Australia
The Sun Theatre is a cinema at 6–12 Ballarat Street in Yarraville, with a two-storey Streamline Moderne facade. The upper level is pale cream with large cut-cement letters spelling "SUN" and smaller vertical fin details; the lower level is light tan brick. A flat grey awning runs across the front above large glass windows and doors with a red-painted lower section and cursive "Sun" lettering.
The Sun Theatre opened in 1938 as a 1,050-seat single-screen cinema, the fourth built for promoter E. C. Yeomans, and was designed by Christopher Cowper of Cowper, Murphy & Appleford. It became a Greek-language theatre in the 1970s and was closed by the Department of Public Health, then stood abandoned for 18 years. Michael Smith bought it in 1995, ran monthly film-club screenings from 1997, and reopened it to the public on 22 May 2003 with four screens, later eight.
Each screening room carries the name of a former Melbourne cinema, preserving the memory of the city's entertainment venues. This naming practice connects the current venue with the city's cinematic past.
The theater offers various specialized screenings, including sessions for parents with infants and adjusted presentations for neurodiverse audiences with modified sound and lighting. These options make a visit flexible and accessible for different needs.
During its early years, the theater maintained a numbered pram room where parents could leave their babies and receive screen notifications if their child needed attention. This facility shows how cinemas once supported family life.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,469 contributors worldwide.