Page 12 - CinemaRecord #11R.pdf

43. The Tatty Theatre by Alan Windley

The "Tatty" - Some of the audience and the bio-box

On Sunday the 10th of December, 1995, Cinema And Theatre Historical Society of Victoria visited the "Tatty
Theatre" in Seymour, about 60 miles north of Melbourne on the Hume Highway. This was our second visit to
this venue.

Leaving my place at about 10.30 with Fred Page, John Fitzsimons, John Polianakis and Martin Powell the
weather was just fine, and the gossip in the car was something that I cannot repeat. Arrival time was just right,
and our host Neil Harris, a member of CATHS-V, and his very charming wife Nancy made us more than
welcome again. Directed to drive straight into the yard and park in the shade it was no surprise to see the lawn
mowed (you could practice putting on it), the tables and chairs spread around among the trees, and the barbie
set up and ready to go. Talk about service.

After a very pleasant lunch in this great outdoor setting it was movie time and we all made our way into the
"Tatty". From the street it just looks like a house, which it once was. Inside however Neil has made a few slight
changes. Being a typical style house where the front room is usually the lounge room, the middle room the
dining room, and the back room the kitchen, enabled Neil to remove the wall between the front and middle
rooms, giving him one long room, put some ports in the kitchen wall, and suddenly you have the makings of a
small cinema.

In the bio-box there is a raised platform for the projectors, which are one 35mm and two 16mm. This was
necessary as the seats at the back of the cinema are raised up for better viewing. If you can visualise houses
that were built in the late 1800's with timber walls and ceilings, then that's the "Tatty", God bless it. The bio-box
might not be the biggest, but it's not the smallest, and if it gets cold in the winter then you can always light a fire
in the kitchen stove. How many theatres have that facility.

After about an hour of film we broke for afternoon tea, coffee and biscuits in the little snack room off to one
side. It probably used to be a bedroom at one stage, then back to another hour of film. As you know time flies
when you are having a good time with excellent company, so it soon came time to farewell, with great reluc-
tance, our hosts, Mr., and Mrs Harris of that famous theatre, "The Tatty". Thanks Fred for arranging another
great outing.