MERCURY THEATRE (KING'S THEATRE 1910)
architect - Edward Bartley (1839–1919)
 

Located just off Karangahape Road is one of the most important buildings in Auckland; THE MERCURY THEATRE, which is the oldest surviving theatre in Auckland, built as the KING'S THEATRE in 1910.

The KING'S THEATRE went through several name changes; THE PRINCE EDWARD, THE PLAYHOUSE before eventually being named the MERCURY THEATRE in 1968.
 
Had this building been located almost anywhere else it would have doubtless enjoyed landmark status simply because of its engaging façade. However it’s position on a relatively narrow sloping street means it is quite difficult to really take in and appreciate the quality of the architecture.
 
 
The building is an imposing piece of Edwardian Baroque architecture but it’s importance lies not so much in it’s appearance but in its history.
 
Tthe Fullers company was one of the businesses concerned with public entertainment in Auckland at the turn of the 20th Century, providing excursion tours by boat and coach. In 1910 they expanded by constructing the KING'S THEATRE on what was then Upper Pitt Street.
 
26 November 1910
 

The theatre was designed by Edward Bartley to be as safe as possible being lit by electricity rather than gas and provided with an Asbestos Drop Curtain to separate the Stage from the auditorium in case of fire. Although intended primarily as a live drama venue the KING'S THEATRE was built with the facilities to screen the new Electric Moving Pictures. in fact it opened with the showing of a Film, obviously a very up to date and modern thing to do.
 
 
Moving pictures were first shown in Paris in 1896, within six months they were being shown in the AUCKLAND OPERA HOUSE and over the next 14 years several theatres and halls in New Zealand were converted to show Motion pictures on a regular or permanent basis.
 
[The first purpose built Cinema in Auckland was the 1911 LYRIC THEATRE on Upper Symonds Street (demolished). The oldest purpose built cinema is the VICTORIA CINEMA in Devonport from 1912, which is also the oldest Cinema in continuous use in the Southern hemisphere.]
 
In 1911 Fuller's showed the first Colour Film screened in New Zealand. This was not just a coloured in Black & White Film, but one of the twenty or so early colour processes that were experimented with before Techicolor was perfected in the mid-1920s, the earliest was patented in 1899.
 
The colour film shown in 1911 will have used the 1908 Kinemacolour process which required two projectors. One projected a red and the other a green image which had to be carefully syncronised to create a coloured moving image.  This was created by the viewer's persistence of vision. The process was not ideal; quickly moving items like the wagging tail of a dog tended to appear alternatively red and green.
 
     
1911 Kinemacolor

It isn't known what the colour film shown in 1911 was called; it would have been very short and was of course silent. These shorts tended to have very simplistic storylines or be shots of flowers, landscapes, gardens and fashion shows in order to show off the novelty of colour.
 
1911 Kinemacolor
These films were apparently screened by Fullers at their three major theatres; the GLOBE, Queen St, The KINGS THEATRE, Newton and the OPERA HOUSE Wellesley Street.
 
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By the mid 1920s it must have become obvious that an entrance on K’rd would be an asset to the business so the space between the Hallensteins Building and Bradstreets Drapery Store was built as the new entrance to what was now the PRINCE EDWARD THEATRE. The site for the new entrance cost £ 13,000. The theatre reopened on 16th of July 1926.

 
 
This new entrance was designed as a long corridor in the Art-Deco style. An elegantly slim space, two storied in height and distinguished by concealed uplighting {a very modern and glamourous touch}, the new entrance stretched from K'rd back to a marble staircase with metal railings. At the top of the stairs was a new lobby surmounted by a leadlight dome in the neo-greek style which was artificially lit from above at night. The whole effect was described in the Auckland Star as "extremely artistic"
 
The New K Road Entrance [behind Policeman]
 
 

New entrance: Ticket Booth [left] and display cabinet [right]

The marble stairs decend from Kroad to a lower level to make

the ascent up the Grand Marble Stairs more impressive.
 
 

Over the Marble Staircase was a leadlight skylight arch,

while at the top of the marble stairs was a new lobby

with a spectacular leadlight dome.

 
 
The Dome Room in 1941
 
The new entrance was designed by the architect Daniel B. Patterson. Patterson worked for Fullers designing cinemas at this time. Patterson was english and is known for many houses and commerical buildings in Auckland and Hamilton. These include many ASB branches, several Hospital buildings and the nearby 1944 Fire Station on the corner of Pitt Street and Greys Avenue.
 
 

The PRINCE EDWARD was one of about six cinemas operating in the Karangahape Road area between the turn of the century and the 1960s, when the popularity of suburban life & radio and the advent of television lead to a decline in the cinema business.

In 1946 Fullers sold their public entertainment venues in New Zealand and concentrated on providing ferry services.
 
 
On June 30th 1953 the first performance of the Royal New Zealand Ballet took place at the PLAYHOUSE THEATRE. The opening work, entitled ‘Dance Without Tears’ waschoreographed by Poul Gnatt. Gnatt had been the principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet until moving to New Zealand and founding the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
 
When the PLAYHOUSE THEATRE closed around 1960 the K'rd entrance building was sold off as a seperate title and became the Norman Ng fruit shop [said to be the only fruit shop with a marble floor]. When Norman Ng's closed in the early 1990s the space was fitted out as one of K'rd's most famous and popular cafe's; Brazil. In 2008 it's interior was renovated again with a new mezzanine floor and staircase.
 
 
In 1968 the Cinema became the home of the MERCURY THEATRE COMPANY which provided a focus for theatre in Auckland for many years. Both as a venue and as a training ground for actors, it played a significant role in the theatrical life of NZ and is remembered fondly by a great many people.
 

In 1992 France St was eventually renamed Mercury Lane  to honour this memory.

 
The MERCURY THEATRE building is currently the premises of the Equippers Church.
 
 

During the time it was used as the MERCURY THEATRE the interior of the auditorium had been left intact but was painted matt black. The Equippers Church has tried to recreate the original colour scheme  of cream, red & blue. Much of the detailing has been painstakingly highlighted in gold.

 

 
 
The building is available for hire and recently saw the production of a theatrical work for the first time in over 15 years when the Auckland Opera Studio staged the opera “The Seven Deadly Sins”.
 
The MERCURY THEATRE is now owned and operated by:
www.equipperschurch.co.nz
 
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Current Theatre entry
Mercury Lane
 
 

Formerly Brazil Cafe, now Theatre Cafe.

256 K Road

 
 
 Porcelain floor tiles
 
 
 
  BRAZIL exterior
 
  BRAZIL interior
 
 BRAZIL interior
 
HANDMADE BURGERS
 
THEATRE Cafe
 
Marble Staircase
 
 
The Client
 
Sir Benjamin Fuller
 

(1875–1952).
 

Born in London on the 20th of March 1875, Fuller started his stage career at the age of nine as a member of a troupe of nigger minstrels and, later, as a young man, sang in the chorus of grand opera at Covent Garden. In 1895 he worked his passage to Australia, where he joined his father's touring variety show. The show afterwards toured New Zealand, where the Fuller family settled, and John Fuller senior began in business himself by organising popular concerts in Auckland.

 
By 1927, he and his brother John controlled 13 theatres in Australia, in addition to their New Zealand holdings. With the advent of “Talkies”, the firm, in association with Henry Hayward of Auckland, went over to pictures, and these interests were maintained until the complete Fuller holdings in New Zealand, 64 theatres, were sold to Kerridge-Odeon in 1946.
 
Sir Benjamin made large donations to many Australian educational institutions, and in 1921 he was knighted for his gifts to the University of Sydney to help young doctors.
 

He died suddenly on the 10th of March 1952, in a London tube train.
 
 
The Architect
 
Edward Bartley (1839–1919)
 
Bartley was born in Saint Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. He arrived in New Zealand in 1854 and married Elizabeth Hannken in February 1859.
 

Trained as a carpenter and joiner, he worked as a builder when he arrived in the colony. In 1872, he went into partnership with another builder, forming Matthews & Bartley, Builders.

He moved to the North Shore in 1872, later building his own home in Victoria Road, Devonport. He became a prominent Devonport resident and was active in local politics.
 
He was active in the Eight-Hour Movement, a member of the Royal Rifle Company Volunteers, the Auckland choral Society, the Microscope Society, Tthe Photography Society, the Museum Institute, the Auckland Institute of Architects and was a founding member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in 1906.
 

His work is found from Whangarei to Cambridge.

His notable Auckland buildings include;

Auckland Savings Bank, Queen Street, 1881

St John's Church, Ponsonby Road, 1882

Jewish Synagogue, Princes Street, 1884

Costley Home for the Aged Poor, Greenlane, 1889.

Jubilee Building, Royal Institute for the Blind, Parnell, 1892

KING'S THEATRE, Newton, 1910

Mt Eden Public Library, 1912.
 
He trained Keith Draffin in his office, along with his sons Alfred, Arthur and Frederick. The firm of Bartley & Son continued under Alfred Bartley after the retirement of Edward Bartley in 1914.
 
During his long career he served as architect to the Anglican Church, the Auckland Savings Bank and the Auckland Hospital & Charitable Aid Board.
 
The KING'S THEATRE was probably his last building. He died quietly at his home in Devonport in 1919.