ATMOSPHERIC THEATRES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 238, 8 October 1928, Page 5

ATMOSPHERIC THEATRES.

DUNEDIN AND AUCKLAND, j SKY AND CLOUD EFFECTS. Arrangements are being completed by Mr. T. A. O'Brien, who has returned to Auckland after opening the new atmospheric theatre in Dunedin, for the rebuilding of the Britannia Theatre, Ponsonby Road, and for the erection of the new Civic Theatre at the corner of Queen Street and Wellesley Street West. In Dunedin during the recent cold weather it was necessary to raise the temperature of the theatre to counteract the open sky effect. Auckland's new theatre will probably follow the Indian motif inside, as in the Dunedin house, while the facade will be true Spanish. The rising and falling orchestral platform installed in the Dunedin theatre will be repeated on an even bigger scale in Auckland. The cloud effects in Dunedin are said to be even better than those in the Capitol Theatre, Sydney, and are obtained by a much simpler process. A system of lenses and powerful light projected through moving photographic plates was worked out by opticians and electrical experts, who were aided by data from the Otago University. The deep blue used in the Capitol's sky effects has been replaced by a lighter and slightly green blue,, thus allowing the use of the cloud effects even when the theatre is lighted. Auckland's new theatre will probably take about ten months to construct. Talking and sound effects will be part of the entertainment, but as in the best theatres in England and America these innovations are merely minor novelty principles and will not be allowed to obtrude themselves to an undue extent.