Spanning eras between moving pictures on screen and moving people that tread the boards, this old cinema in leafy Esher happily merges both. Dressing rooms for the stars of stage and a projector for those of silver screen.
Two distinct seating areas operate too, upstairs and downstairs, harking back to the stalls and royal circles of the theatre. Keeping the classes apart, the Victorians where very adept at this, entrances of course differ for both.
The seats and name of the place may have changed a few times, but the space remains firmly of 1937, from the year it first opened. The distance between the curtains is wide and gives for me the illusion that at any moment during the movie, an actor will wander out to continue the scene. My imagination running wild, enjoying the moment, but early on these places shared a great mixed use.
Now enjoying listed status as a neo-Georgian building, so unlikely to get knocked about anytime soon. It takes a quiet step back from the high street, much like the humble actor, acknowledging their wilder upstart appearance on an otherwise older street scene.
Everyman Cinema, Esher