The Origins of The Little Theatre Cinema

The Little Theatre Cinema goes back to 1913 when, as part of Citizen House, it was a community Arts Centre and home to the Citizen House Players, an amateur troupe founded by local artist Helen Hope and actress Consuelo de Reyes. Performing to packed houses, the Citizen House Players entertained over 2000 soldiers stationed in Bath for the Christmas season of 1915.

By 1935 and before most homes had television, The Little Theatre was showing mainly cinema newsreels to keep audiences in touch with the wider world. Amazingly, the following year, The Little Theatre survived a fire that entirely destroyed Citizen House.

By 1939, and as popular as ever, The Little Theatre Cinema was regularly showing feature films – titles such as ‘Peg of Old Drury’ and ‘Oh Mr Porter’ – and alternating these film presentations with live theatre.

During the 1970s and 80s when the cinema industry was suffering stiff competition from video and audiences were in decline around the world, The Little Theatre Cinema boldly underwent a complete refurbish and in 1978 opened a second screen. So it was ready for the new surge in audiences who began flocking back to the cinema from the middle of the 1980s to discover the delights of a real cinema experience.

Over the decades, four generations of the family have worked at The Little and the family connection remains strong. In 2003 The Little Theatre Cinema went into partnership with City Screen which manages several independent cinemas including The Phoenix in Oxford and The Gate in Notting Hill.