Everyman Cinema

The Everyman, in Hampstead, London, England opened as a cinema on 26 December 1933.

The building was first opened as the Hampstead Drill Hall and Assembly Rooms in the 1880s. Later it was transformed into a theatre, the Everyman Theatre, which opened in 1920 under the direction of Norman MacDermott (1890–1977) with the first British production of Jacinto Benavente's The Bonds of Interest (Los intereses creados, 1907). You Never Can Tell, opened two weeks later and was a success, leading to the performance of more revivals from George Bernard Shaw. Some of the greatest of modern plays were performed on its stage and many actors now famous made their bow at the Everyman Theatre. Noel Coward's The Vortex was first performed there.

Sir Gerald du Maurier presided at the opening of the Everyman and the first programme consisted of Le Million, Turbulent Timber, a Mack Sennett comedy, a Disney cartoon and Paramount News.

The cinema was threatened with closure in 2000. It was rescued by a group of investors who have expanded their interests into a chain of cinemas, the Everyman Cinemas group.

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