Gaiety Theatre

Theatre in St John Street, opened 1857, seating 800. Architect: W. H. Clayton. Partly rebuilt in 1878 and thereafter known variously as Gaiety Theatre, Empire Theatre and Lyceum Theatre. Now Lyceum Hall, used as craft shop.

Possibly the oldest little-altered theatrical structure in Australia is the two-storey Lyceum Hall in Launceston (Tas.). It was built in 1856 by the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Odd Fellows as members' rooms and offices, with a hall in the upper storey. Like many such halls, it would have been fitted up with a temporary or semipermanent stage and dressing rooms in front of the rear windows. The ground floor has been gutted for modem shops but the second-storey front and rear facades retain the windows that originally illuminated the simple, high-ceilinged rectangular hall. A straight stair from a rear lane enters one side of the hall. The original stair came from the main entrance on the ground floor and turned. 

As the Theatre Royal from 1857 to 1878 the hall saw major touring performers such as G. V. Brooke, Sir William and Lady Don, Charles Poole's dramatic company and W. S. Lyster's Royal Italian and English Opera Company. The building became the property of the Bank of Tasmania in 1872 and was partly rebuilt in 1878. After this it seems to have housed mainly variety. From about 1892 to 1910 the hall was one of four in Launceston that were fitted up for theatrical performances. The others were the Academy of Music, the Albert Hall and the Mechanics' Institute. The Theatre Royal was the home of Todd's (Lyceum) Pictures from early in the 20th century until 1921, when it became the Lyceum Billiard Saloon.