'Well, West Street... was a street of entertainment, it had the sports stadium there, it had the Academy cinema, it had the Odeon cinema and at the top it all seemed to be part of the Regent.'
Ron Stuart, Remembering the late 1940s.

	Programme for the musical 'A Southern Maid' at the Brighton Theatre Royal, 1919.

Theatre, cinema, and dancing were central to Brighton's social life. The first permanent theatre opened in Brighton in 1774. Early theatre-going could be a rowdy experience, with audiences shouting, hooting and whistling.

Music-hall began in the back rooms of pubs, and was most popular in the 1890s. The music-hall tradition was kept alive by end-of-the-pier shows and variety entertainers, such as Brighton's own 'cheeky chappy' Max Miller.

	Monthly programme for 'The Regent', Brighton, dated July 1927.

Cinema came to Brighton early, partly due to a group of pioneering early film-makers in Hove. By 1940, there were 24 cinemas in Brighton. The Regent cinema had seating for 3,000 and a dance-hall for 1,500 in the roof. It was one of the leading social venues in Brighton; 'nothing has ever replaced it'. Between the Wars, for two shillings and sixpence, (about £3.75 in 2001) two adults could see a film, have a drink and get a return bus or tram to the northern suburbs. 'Saturday night at the Regent...was an escape from reality.'

See objects on display in the Entertainment section of Exploring Brighton gallery