The Troc-Ette Theatre, 115 Tower Bridge Road, Bermondsey, London
Formerly - The Super
See also in this area: The Elephant & Castle Theatre - The Trocadero Super Cinema - The Elephant & Castle Estate, 1898 and Shopping Centre, 1965 - The Astoria Theatre, Old Kent Road - The Old Kent Picture House - The Star of Bermondsey
Above - The Troc-Ette, Tower Bridge Road - From a 1938 guide book to Bermondsey - Courtesy Tony Moorcroft
The
Troc-Ette was a large Super Cinema built for George Smart and was situated
on Tower Bridge Road in Bermondsey. It originally opened with the name 'The Super' on the 18th of May 1929. The Theatre was designed in the
Art Deco Style by the well known Cinema architect George Coles and was
equipped with a small stage with a depth
of just 14 feet, and a proscenium width of 25 foot, there were 5 dressing rooms for artistes. The Theatre
had a Wurlitzer 2 Manual/8 Rank Theatre Organ
which was played by Arthur Jenkins on its opening.
Right - The Super, Tower Bridge Road - Courtesy Steve Kimpton.
The Theatre was taken over by the Hyams and Gale circuit in 1932 when
it was closed for a week for slight alterations by George Coles who
had originally designed the Theatre, it reopened with the new name of The Troc-Ette on the 8th of February 1932 with
a capacity of 3,000 and prices ranging from sixpence to eighteen pence.
Left - An advertisement for the Troc-Ette, Tower Bridge Road whilst under the control of the Hyams Brothers who also ran the huge Trocadero Elephant & Castle at the time - From a 1938 guide book to Bermondsey - Courtesy Tony Moorcroft.
The Theatre stayed open for most of the War, only closing for a month
in 1941. Later run by Gaumont British Theatres, who had taken over the
Hyams and Gale circuit in 1935, the Theatre was an early casualty of
the popularity of Television and was closed in January 1956.
Right - The Auditorium of The Super, Tower Bridge Road, when it first opened - From the Kinematograph Weekly, 30th of May 1929.
The Theatre then remained closed and derelict until it was finally demolished in later part of 1975, a building named Trocette Mansions occupies the site today (see image below).
Some of the above information was gleaned from the excellent Cinema Treasures Website.
Above - Trocette Mansions which is situated on the site of the former Troc-Ette Theatre - Courtesy Tony Moorcroft.
If you have any more information or images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.