Arrow Theatre

In July 1914 a two-storey building opposite the Middle Park railway station was advertised for sale by auction "suitable for picture theatre or other form of public entertainment".

[1] The building, known as the Middle Park Hall, was part of the insolvent estate of one Edward Hocken Watts, and had two shops on the Armstrong Street frontage.

[3] It is almost certain this building, at No.3 Armstrong Street, is the "Middle Park picture theatre" refurbished by Sydney Blacker Turnbull (a professional engineer) and his volunteers.

[4] The Melbourne Repertory Club, under the direction of Sydney Turnbull and Lorna Forbes,[5] repurposed the old picture theatre[6] at 1–3 Armstrong Street using volunteer labour.

The freehold of the building was owned by a St Kilda woman who, as a condition of a generous lease, stipulated that it could only be used for "live drama of the spoken word".

[11] Others to use the stage included the Australian Repertory Players, whose first production there was Euripides' Alcestis, with an all-female cast directed by Maie Hoban in November 1945.

His mother, Olive Thring, attended every first night until 18 February 1953, the opening of Ring Round the Moon,[16] at which Lady Brooks was a prominent guest.