Connaught Theatre

Connaught Theatre

Picturedrome, New Connaught Theatre
The theatre from the northwest
Address	Union Place Worthing England
Coordinates	50°48′49″N 0°22′13″W / 50.8136°N 0.3704°W / 50.8136; -0.3704
Parking	On-site parking
Owner	Worthing Borough Council
Type	Provincial
Capacity	520[1]
Current use	Theatre/cinema
Construction
Opened	1935 (built in 1914 as cinema)
Years active	1935–1966; 1967–present
Architect	A.T. Goldsmith
Website
worthingtheatres.co.uk

The Connaught Theatre is a Streamline Moderne-style theatre and cinema in the centre of Worthing, in West Sussex, England. Built as the Picturedrome cinema in 1914, the venue was extended in 1935 and became the new home of the Connaught Theatre (established nearby in 1931). The theatre houses touring West End theatre productions, musicals, thrillers, dramas and children's productions. Since 1987, it has been a dual use cinema/theatre with two screens, and has a seating capacity of 512. When it opened, it was a rare example of a conversion from a cinema to a theatre: the reverse was much more common in 1930s Britain, when many theatres became cinemas.^[2] The Connaught Studio (previously known as The Ritz cinema), next door, was the venue for the short-lived The End of the Pier International Film Festival.