The Princess Theatre was situated in High Street adjacent to the Ross and Glendining building (now South Pacific House). Purchased by the prominent theatrical entrepreneur John Fuller in 1907, it was used for vaudeville until 1930. It later became a cinema and was renamed the St. James in 1931, before being demolished in 1958.
Formed in 1898, The Dunedin Orphans’ Club is a long-established musical and literary club, originally for men. Women were admitted as associated members in 1987 and as full members in 1993. The Club celebrated its centenary in 1998.
Members of the Dunedin Orphans' Club meet … to toast the ladies, that's to say, to give their lady friends a warm welcome. (Dunedin Orphans’ Club). Tudor Hall, Savoy, Dunedin, July 21, 1925.
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Members of the Dunedin Orphans’ Club once more forgather to meet and entertain the ladies. (Dunedin Orphans’ Club). Tudor Hall, Savoy, Aug. 3, 1926.
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The white chateau (1925) was an anti-war play written for radio by English politician and playwright Reginald Berkeley (1890-1935). This programme features the striking artwork of Russell Clark (1905-1966), who became an Official New Zealand War Artist in the later stages of World War II.
The white chateau was the first play performed by the Dunedin Little Theatre Society at a packed His Majesty’s Theatre in 1935. Little Theatre’s frequently topical plays received typically enthusiastic reviews in the Otago Daily Times. Little Theatre resided in the former Tabernacle building in King Street from 1936, but the Society dissolved amidst financial difficulties in 1938.
The white chateau. Reginald Berkeley. (Little Theatre Society). His Majesty’s Theatre, Dunedin, Nov. 5, 1935.
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