Highway 264 Playhouse Theatre
5427 US-13 S,
Greenville,
NC
27834
5427 US-13 S,
Greenville,
NC
27834
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The Highway 264 Playhouse Theatre in Greenville, North Carolina is mentioned in William C. Cline’s Book "Stroke of Fortune" about the theatre business in the Carolinas. Cline writes." The Highway 264 Playhouse Theatre was run by a fellow named Earl Faulkner and he played triple X sex films." Cline explains, when it came to booking they did not have a lot of films to choose from. The only variance between the different X rated movies was the degree of activity that each film contained.
By 2014 the Highway 264 Playhouse Theatre was operating as a gentlemen’s club known as the South 13 Gentlemen’s Club. It had closed by summer 2023 and the building stands vacant.
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MikeRogers
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
I met Mr.Cline several times at Film Conventions and believe me he really loved the old one screen downtown Theatres.
The map shows the wrong address for the 264 Playhouse theatre. This theatre was actually on the west side of Greenville, on OLD Highway 264 West (now US 13 South) between Greenville and Farmville, about 2 miles west of Frog Level. This was the only theatre in Pitt County to show X-rated films. It closed in 1986 when the Reagan Administration began cracking down on pornography. I turned 18 right after this theatre closed, thus denying me the chance to see adult films in a theatre.
After this theatre closed it became a gentlemen’s club known as Silver Bullet, later Silver Bullet Dolls. About three years ago it became a music venue (I forgot the name of this incarnation) after Pitt County essentially banned strip clubs.
I have corrected the Google picture to show the correct location of the former 264 Playhouse Theatre. The theatre building is in the center of the picture (the building which is furthest from the highway). The address listed by Google is 5427 US 264 Alternate West (also known as US 13 South), which is between Bell Arthur Road and Nash-Joyner Road.
The Google street view picture has been updated and the name of the music venue (South 13 Saloon and Roadhouse) is visible on the roadside marquee. At one time the South 13 Saloon hosted drag queen shows (which turned off its core customer base); those ended after a few months. I do not know if this nightclub is still in business.
The 264 Playhouse Theatre is actually closer to the Paramount Theatre in Farmville than it was to the downtown Greenville theaters; the nearest theaters were the Carmike Carolina East 4 (named Plitt Quad when the 264 Playhouse operated), South 11 Drive-In (demolished before the 264 Playhouse was built), Greenville Grande 14 (built long after the 264 closed), Tice Drive-In in Winterville, and the Farmville Paramount.
The closing of the 264 Playhouse Theatre marked the beginning of the decline of movie theater competition in the Greenville, NC area. Both the 264 Playhouse and the Tice Drive-In theaters closed in 1986, eliminating independently owned cinemas from Greenville and Pitt County to this day. Shortly afterward Carmike Cinemas acquired Stewart & Everett Theatres (Plaza Cinema 1-2-3 and Park Theatre); by 1990 Carmike owned every operating movie theater in Pitt County and would close every one of them by 2001 after opening their 12-screen in 1998. The Carmike 12 was the only operating movie theater in Pitt County from 2001 until 2007 (excluding East Carolina University’s Hendrix Theater; that was open to the public only for live shows, films there were/are for students only). Closing the local pornhouse began a domino effect on the local cinema business ultimately ending in total monopoly (until Consolidated’s – now Regal’s – Greenville Grande 14 opened in 2007).
The former Highway 264 Playhouse/Silver Bullet/South 13 Saloon has reverted to operating as a gentlemen’s club, the South 13 Gentlemen’s Club.
This theater should be listed as Closed, as its current function is that of a topless bar, not a concert theater.
The address should be changed to 5427 US-13 because Google maps pins it right in front of where the theater is or was. This also needs to be changed to closed since it’s no longer a theater.