Empire Theatres Company

The are two companies known by this name.

Empire Theatres Company (known as Empire Theatres S. A. Limited) (1894-?)

In July 1894, the Empire Theatres S. A. Limited (managed by Edgar Hyman) entered into a lease of the Globe Theatre in Johannesburg, which was renamed the Empire Palace of Varieties and was formally opened on 1 December 1894, with a programme of famous British variety artists, including W. C. Fields, Marie Lloyd, and Kate Harvey. Its bar also became an informal stock exchange.

In 1894, the company also took over the lease for the Gaiety Theatre (3/5 Kort Street between Market & Commissioner Streets, Johannesburg).

Empire Theatres Company (1912-1913)

In July 1912, The Grand Theatre in Market Street was bought out by Hyman's newly formed Empire Theatres Company in a mutual deal consolidating all their theatres. The Empire in Kruis Street (among others) was struggling to keep up with ‘bioscopes’ hence the consolidation. The company also contracted with The Bijou, but this did not last.

In 1913 Isidore W. Schlesinger bought Africa's Amalgamated Theatres and the Empire Theatres Company, as well as several other companies, thereby forming the African Theatres Trust Ltd on 10 April 1913, with A.H. Stodel (Harry Stodel) as partner.

For more information, see African Theatres Trust Ltd.