It all started when…

Since the early 1920s, the Yass Memorial Hall has been leased to premier movies for the town but, in 1938, the future of this arrangement is in doubt. Council and the man who runs the movies, Mr. H. L. Phillips, are in a standoff over rent and who will pay for upgrades to modernise the hall.

After 15 months of negotiations, a tense meeting is held on whether to “divorce” the picture theatre from the Memorial Hall. There was scarcely standing room at marathon four-hour public assembly and the enthusiasm was unprecedented for a meeting in Yass. Events of that evening were reportedly “dramatic and sensational” as it was announced there would be no more talkies in the Memorial Hall and Mr. Phillips would build a modern theatre on Carpenter’s Corner.

Mr. Phillips left for Sydney at dawn the next morning to secure a license from the Chief Secretary of the NSW State Government for building the new theatre. He returned triumphant the next day, promising “The Liberty” will be a 700 seat theatre with neon lighting, a dress circle lounge and a milk bar.

Construction

Construction began on 22 May 1939 and was completed and opened on 18 December that same year. The building cost is estimated to have been £7000, financed entirely by Mr. Phillips.

Mr. A. F. Little, who was responsible for the building of the Liberty Theatre, had already built 10 theatres in NSW, both in regional and metropolitan areas. He was a specialist in theatre construction, and the surviving condition of the Liberty Theatre is proof of the mastery of his craft.

Architecture

Theatre planning was specialised within architecture as it required the planner to consider acoustics and lighting in addition to structure and aesthetics.

At its gala opening on 14 December 1939, people gathered from miles around. They marvelled at the Liberty Theatre’s dazzling ‘ocean liner’ ambience. It was the work of Guy Crick and Gerald William Bruce Furse, two leading Sydney theatre architects.

The Liberty Theatre is Australia’s sole surviving 1939 Ocean liner style cinema designed by Architects Crick and Furse from Sydney.

Crick and Furse have been acknowledged as the foremost designers of cinemas in NSW during the second half of the 1930s and Australia leaders in the streamline cinema movement. They designed or renovated hundreds of picture theatres across Australia during their peak, having a huge impact on the architectural form and presentation of theatres, recognisable across the country.

The Liberty Theatre's carefully designed three-dimensional modelling and its composition of asymmetrical vertical and horizontal elements, linear decoration and curved returns is characteristic of Crick and Furse's mature work of the late 1930s. The composition of geometric forms makes the subject building's exterior a fine example of the Art Deco ‘ocean liner’ theatre style.

The Liberty Theatre’s significance is also vested in its rarity as a surviving example of the work of these theatre architects, whose prolific body of work has been reduced to very few examples across the state. The theatre represents the culmination of their work and, possibly, their final joint project prior to the dissolution of the firm in 1940.

Cinema and community

The opening of the cinema, on Friday 15 December 1939, was a huge public success. People interested in the picture industry declared that there was no better theatre in any NSW country town.

The retiring Mayor, E. J. O’Connor, declared that building the cinema was “one of the biggest local enterprises undertaken in Yass for many years.”

“The brilliant exterior lighting of the theatre and cafe and other buildings, the crowds on the pavement and the heavy car traffic, was like a cross-section of a busy city. In fact, it was described by many people as “little Pitt Street.””

— Yass Tribune-Courier, 18 Dec 1939

Over the years, the cinema hosted comedies, dramas, thrillers, mysteries, news reels, and many more.

It was also the place to meet up with friends not seen for a week and discuss the happenings. Many families made Saturday evenings a night out at the Liberty. Coupling a movie with a meal at the Art Deco Liberty Cafe or stronger liquid refreshments on offer over the road at either of the popular Commercial and Clubhouse Hotels.

But the Liberty also maintained a strong community involvement. In 1942, the Liberty offered after hours banking services so that people could access the War and Austerity Loan scheme, and many weddings had some formal wedding photos taken on the steps of the second-floor foyer.

Closure

The building remains a feature at the southern end of the main street in Yass and was the venue for cinema until its closure in 1970-1971. In April 1965, the Liberty Theatre was put up for sale by Mr. Phillips. The increasing popularity of television had created competition and impacted the cinema’s profitability.

The theatre changed ownership in 1974 and again in 2004. After the Theatre closed it had a chequered life as roller-skating rink, then an interior gift shop, and before that it was converted to small offices and the front foyer a video store.

Since 1995, the Theatre has been home to the Yass Repertory Society, the longest continuously running society in NSW. With the construction of a stage, false proscenium and dressing rooms, their productions, music halls and pantomimes have enthralled audiences across the generations, drama classes have been enjoyed for junior members of the community.