Yaumati Theatre - History of The Theatre

History of The Theatre

Sources conflict over the exact year the Yaumati Theatre was completed and open to public, which fall between 1925 and 1931. The décor of the theatre has shown some hints for the opening time of it. In the late 1920s, the dominant architectural style was the Neo-classicism while the Art Deco was an emerging trend of the next decade. While the front and the proscenium arch were designed as Neo-classical style with Art Deco influence, the interior décor of the theatre is Art Deco. This provides a crucial clue that the theatre was built in the late 1920s but not the mid-1920s. Another important clue is the manufacturers’ label found on the vintage film projectors kept in the projection room. Both of them were manufactured by Strong Electric Corp. of Toledo, Ohio, USA, and one of them has a patent registration year of 1927 and 1928. From this it can be proves that the cinema was opened no earlier than 1928.

The Theatre used to be the venue of entertainment for working class citizens and was patronized by rickshaw riders, coolies and low-income families. It gradually lost customers to newer theatres in later time, particularly in the 1980s when the popularity of home video entertainment increased. Toward the end of its life, it screened erotic films to maintain its business. Some traditional cinemas in Hong Kong were demolished and re-developed into shopping malls and ‘mini-cinema complexes’ (a complex of small cinemas with 200 or less than 200 seats). Yaumati Theatre was not converted to either of because of its inherent spatial and technical problems of its pre-war design. In order to survive through the vigorous competition with other cinemas, Yaumati Theatre started to screen erotic films and even sold pornographic tapes in the concourse in order to increase the profit.

The theatre finally closed on 31 July 1998. In the same year, it became a Grade II historical monument and the only pre-WWII monument that survived in the Kowloon area.