Regent Theatre

The Regent Theatre, now Mecca Bingo, 85-87 Regent Road, Great Yarmouth, must have offered, I believe, the most beautiful surroundings in which to play bingo anywhere in the country!  Sadly Rank Group, the owners of Mecca Bingo, decided to close the bingo club in December 2011 as it was losing money and considered no longer commercially viable.  A petition signed by 382 people to keep the bingo hall open was unfortunately not successful in persuading the Rank Group to change its mind.

This Grade II Listed Building has been opened for guided tours as part of Heritage Open Days and each tour was, unsurprisingly, fully subscribed.  Opened on 26th December 1914, the whole building, which  was designed by architect Francis Burdett Ward, is lavishly but elegantly decorated in Louis XVI style.   

The venue was designed for both cinema and theatre and has a 30ft deep stage and a spacious auditorium with seating for 1679 in stalls and circle, including the wonderful box seats above (poorly photographed, I am afraid).  There was a separate entrance at street level to the restaurant, also beautifully decorated with ornamental plasterwork and once but no longer panelled in wood.  There were 30 staff in the kitchen in the basement, where the original oven is still in situ and where there is an open well which used to supply the kitchen with its water.

The theatre was taken over by Associated British Cinemas in 1929 but closed in September 1982.  It stood unused for a while before being converted into a bingo club and now operates as a Mecca Bingo Club.  It is a great credit to the proprietor that the wonderful original features of this building have been so wonderfully preserved.   Thanks are due too to the friendly staff who were most accommodating during the tour in 2010. 

It would be good to have better photographs if anybody is willing to share them!