The Playhouse was at 126 Renfield Street, Glasgow, Scotland, commissioned by George Green Ltd, designed by the architect John Fairweather, and built by the Cinema Building Company.

The Theatre Unique was centred on a 104-key Marenghi fairground organ, housed in a truck chassis which opened out to form a 50-foot (15 m) stage, complete with two carved gilded staircases flanked by four tall columns.

Offices in Glasgow and London were engaged in the renting of comedies, dramas and serials, with departments selling cinema projectors and printing publicity material including their own Green's Kinema Tatler magazine.

The building was the culmination of four years' work by the Green family, originally travelling fairground showmen from Preston who had moved their business to Vinegar Hill, Gallowgate, Glasgow in the late 19th century.

The interiors of both these buildings do not appear to have any features in common with Fairweather's style, however, and there is no mention of his contribution in the extensively researched published histories of either circuit, so his involvement is not certain.

The decor was luxurious for its time, and the installation of the Golden Divans seating on the lower balcony, was popular with courting couples, providing the cinema with a uniqueness that was exploited in newspaper advertisements of the day.

As a result of the general decline in ballroom dancing and the emergence of the multi-national cinema companies, the Playhouse found it increasingly difficult to obtain first-run films and consequently struggled to fill its vast spaces with paying customers.

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a reprieve of sorts, with many of the top Pop and Rock bands of the day hiring the cinema auditorium as a concert venue.

The ballroom was leased to Unicorn Leisure which operated a club named Clouds, and provided a guaranteed source of revenue for the Green family.

Shortly after the closure, a lease was negotiated by Unicorn Leisure who reopened the cinema auditorium as a music venue, the Apollo, in September 1973.