Everybody's Theatre (1912)

This two-storey building in Tasman Street was built in 1912 for Mr J.C. (John Callaghan) O'Rorke, a farmer from Oaonui. The contractor was Mr Cooper and the architect, Mr A.O'Brien. It was leased out to the grocers Thorpe and Callaghans (see image above), who took over the new premises on 4 November 1912. 

After World War I it was converted into a cinema. Mr Arthur White was responsible for the design and supervised all the construction work. All the electrical fittings were supplied and installed by Messrs Patterson & Co. from New Plymouth. The project was a joint venture between the owner of the building John O'Rorke and the sole lessee of the theatre Arthur White. It was known as White's Pictures in these early days. 

The opening night was Saturday 3 September 1921 and the film shown that evening was "The Virgin of Stamboul". Both the matinee ("Blue Streak McCoy")  and the evening session were attended by a sell out audiences, who expressed their delight at the opening of such an up-to-date theatre in the town.

The theatre closed in 1980, but within months was operating again thanks to community support.

The building was closed again in March 2012 (Taranaki Daily News 19 March 2012) due to safety concerns raised by an engineer's report. After earthquake strengthening the cinema re-opened in June 2014. Further upgrades to the theatre, both exterior and interior, were completed in 2015-16.

In February 2021 the cinema celebrated 100 years in existence with a 1920s-themed evening. (Live magazine, issue #135)

The building is listed in the Opunake Heritage Inventory (2003).

Please see the attached link to the cinema's website for photos of the upgrade and the latest news. 

Further reading: Everybody's Theatre 1910-2021, Maree Drought (2020).