| Description | The Playhouse Cinema was Wakefield's first purpose built cinema. The cinema was constructed by Sydney Tolfree who also owned the Hipperdrome and had a long running rivalry with the Sherwoods who owned both the Theatre Royal and opera house (1894) and the Empire (Taylor 2007, p.34). In response to losing his upmarket clientèle Tolfree decided to construct the cinema, which was officially opened on 22nd December 1913 as the Picture House (Taylor 2007, p.34). Tolfree formed the Wakefield Picture House Company and instructed Albert Winstanley to design the building. The building was renamed to the Playhouse in 1915, when the Sherwoods decided to put on films in their theatres (Taylor 2007, p.34). Tolfree responded by putting live acts on in his cinema. The interior of the cinema was renewed in 1920 as more cinemas were appearing nearby, at this time an organ was also placed in the cinema, this was first heard in 1921.
The Playhouse Cinema was purchased by Classic Cinemas when it bough out Essoldo in 1972 (Taylor 2007, p.39). In November 1977 it was used as a skateboard centre which was created by the removal of stalls seating and after 8pm was used as a 280 seat cinema (Taylor 2007, p.39). The playhouse finally closed in June 1978.
The building was purchased by Rank Leisure and became a nightclub. In 1997 it was acquired by Barnsley firm Brook Leisure, when it became famous throughout the nightclub world as Rooftop Gardens. The building was completely refurbished in 2004 and renamed Quest (Taylor 2007, p.39) |