The Lyric Cinema in Heaton opened on the 6th January 1936 with Shirley Temple in "The Little Colonel". It was built for and operated by Tyne Picture Houses Ltd. of Wallsend. The building was designed by Newcastle architects Marshall & Tweedy Ltd , with internal decorations by R.J. Richardson.

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The Lyric Cinema in Heaton closed on the 20th of June 1959 with a showing of Alec Guinness' "The Horse’s Mouth". Audiences had declined following the start of Tyne-Tees commercial television broadcasting in the area, which began in January 1959.

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The People's Theatre moved into the former Lyric Cinema building in Heaton, opening in September 1962 with Shaw's Man and Superman. The People's Theatre had outgrown their former premises in Rye Hill; chairman Arthur Kay launhed an appeal fund for a new theatre in the mid 1950s, with the help of Peggy Ashcroft and John Gielgud. This facilitated the purchase of the cinema in 1959 for £27,000, and it's subsequent conversion into a theatre arts centre.

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