The unprecedented immersive event, "Discover the State Theatre in All of Us", takes visitors back to the State Theatre's golden era in the 1950s with over 100 relics and memorabilia on display
After consolidating ownership of the 68-year-old State Theatre in North Point in 2020, Adrian Cheng announced his conservation project to preserve Hong Kong's last surviving movie palace and transform it into a landmark steeped in art and cinematic culture.
The meticulous project will restore the Grade I historic site while the iconic parabolic exoskeleton truss at the roof will be conserved. But before the theatre closes down for renovation, Culture for Tomorrow, a non-profit organisation under the New World Group, specially curated an immersive event to allow visitors to see it before it returns with a new look in 2026.
Called, "Discover the State Theatre in All of Us", the tour allows visitors to take part in and explore the exclusive story of the theatre through various activities. Visitors can feel like they've travelled back in time to the theatre's golden age in the 1950s.
See also: Adrian Cheng's New Project Aims To Conserve Hong Kong's Last Surviving Movie Palace
Upon entry, visitors can experience what's it like to buy a ticket at the lobby ticket box office and receive a vintage-style movie ticket. Visitors also have the chance to see the theatre's beginning as the Empire Theatre and how it became an international palace-level performance venue.
To fuel your nostalgia even more, over 100 relics and memorabilia of the State Theatre are on display and that help introduce the cultural landscape of the past. These include movie handbills from the 1950s, old tickets of midnight screenings, tickets of balcony and stall seats, staff uniforms, postcards, advertisements, cassette tapes, movie posters and more.
Both the interiors and exterior of the State Theatre shopping arcade has also been restored to match its original state, with movie poster lightboxes on the outer wall, a pavilion based on "Little Shanghai", founder Harry Oscar Odell's desk, the classic performance stage of the Empire Theatre, a large model of the parabolic truss and even a barbershop still in its original state.