Green's Playhouse

Coordinates: 55°51′47″N 4°15′22″W / 55.863°N 4.256°W / 55.863; -4.256

Green's Playhouse was an entertainment complex comprising a cinema, ballroom, tea rooms and other facilities. The Playhouse was at 126 Renfield Street, Glasgow, Scotland, commissioned by George Green Ltd, designed by the architect John Fairweather, and built by the Cinema Building Company. Opened in 1927, the Playhouse operated until the 1970s, a decline in audience numbers in the 1960s necessitated diversification as a music venue until closure in 1973. The building continued in use as the Apollo, after being acquired by Unicorn Leisure on a lease-holding arrangement, until final closure in 1985, with subsequent demolition in 1987.

The Green family

George Green, an apprentice watch-maker, the son of a cabinet-maker, came into ownership of a fairground carousel; from that solitary carousel he developed a number of travelling fairground shows. It is widely believed that along with Randall Williams, he was one of the original pioneers of the cinematograph on the fairgrounds in the UK. He had travelled to London in 1896 and purchased a theatrograph from Robert W. Paul, making its first appearance on the fairgrounds in 1898. Although Green travelled with several large shows, the most extravagant was the Theatre Unique, purchased in 1911 from George 'President' Kemp, who had previously purchased it from Orton & Spooners in 1908. The Theatre Unique was centred on a 104-key Marenghi fairground organ, housed in a truck chassis which opened out to form a 50-foot (15 m) stage, complete with two carved gilded staircases flanked by four tall columns. The Theatre Unique was travelled throughout the fairgrounds during 1911 to 1914.