Pok Lok Theatre [????-1886]

Submitted by Admin on Wed, 04/30/2014 - 12:32
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date closed / demolished

Herostratus writes:

The site of the new extension of the Tung Wah Hospital was previously the Pok Lok theatre, owned by Ying Kit of Nam Pak Hong. The theatre was destroyed in a fire on 02-02-1886, according to the China mail:

This afternoon a serious conflagration took place in the Pok Lok Chinese theatre in Hollywood Road, resulting in the complete destruction of the interior of the building and probably necessitating the pulling down of the greater portion if not the whole of the walls, and unfortunately, attended by loss of life.

Full article here (bottom of page 3 first column) https://mmis.hkpl.gov.hk/coverpage/-/coverpage/view?_coverpage_WAR_mmisportalportlet_actual_q=%28%20verbatim_dc.category.category%3A%28%22Newspaper%5C%20and%5C%20Serial%22%29%29&_coverpage_WAR_mmisportalportlet_sort_field=dc.publicationdate_bsort&p_r_p_-1078056564_c=QF757YsWv59AEIh5cL32y324bAI%2B7NiN&_coverpage_WAR_mmisportalportlet_sort_order=asc&_coverpage_WAR_mmisportalportlet_o=28&_coverpage_WAR_mmisportalportlet_filter=dc.publicationdate_dt%3A%5B*+TO+1900-01-01T00%3A00%3A00Z%5D&_coverpage_WAR_mmisportalportlet_filter=verbatim_dc.collection%3A%22Old+HK+Newspapers%22&_coverpage_WAR_mmisportalportlet_hsf=china+mail+1886

The fire was caused by a woman knocking over a Kerosene lamp that she was cleaning. Two children, a girl Kung Chi Hai aged 5, and another girl, Wo Kung Knk aged 9 died in the fire at the theatre, which was closed in preparation for a grand play on Chinese New Year's day. The inquest into their deaths is reported in the China Mail dated 03-03-1886 (page 3, column 3)

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Please take note of spelling of the name of the theatre.

 “The authorities of this colony have deemed it necessary in the interests of decency and morality to close a Chinese house of entertainment, the Po Lok Theatre in Hollywood-road. The building was leased by a Swatow company of actors, and they have introduced to the stage such gross indecency that the Registrar-General had the place closed. How long this order is to remain in effect, or what other proceedings will be taken, is not yet known.”

Source: Hong Kong Daily Press, page 2, 8th December 1884