S3556 Sugar Club

Why did a semi-state sugar processing and canned foods company need a private theatre? Whatever the reason for it, the mid 1960s headquarters of the Irish Sugar Company was built with a theatre in the basement. There were other corporate theatres in Dublin at the time - Guinness's Rupert Guinness Theatre; and the Players Theatre at the John Player factory on the South Circular - so it may have been due to this. 

The Irish Sugar Company had commissioned a borderline agrarian propaganda movie about sugar beet production in the early 60s, but I don't think they'd need to retain a private cinema just to show this!

When opened, the venue was dubbed the Erin Foods Theatre - Erin being the canning arm of Irish Sugar, and was used for various events over the years; but it was more commonly known as the International Cinema, which operated there, non-exclusively, from around 1967.

It then became - exclusively, this time - the Arts Council's Irish Film Theatre from 1977 to 1984, the venue then lay empty until 1999 when it reopened as the Sugar Club; initially a regular nightclub but now a venue for music and comedy performances, club nights and occasional use as a cinema. And it was one of those nights that I went to tick it off.

While there are occasional, but rare, club nights here; the interior is set up more for cinema or theatre performances, with tiered seating - that has tables. There isn't really a dance floor, as such - although that didn't stop a number of people dancing during the concert movie I was watching. They also do food, specifically pizza, delivered to your seat, not a very common feature of a club style space! 

I am worried for the future of this venue, as the building was up for sale in 2022 and, as a ~60 year old office building, is likely to be a redevelopment target. Planning consent for redevelopment of cultural spaces sometimes includes requirements for replacements; but these replacements are rarely as useful and even more rarely successful. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.