Inside the World's Most Isolated Theater

Getting to Powell River, a small town in British Columbia along its Sunshine Coast, includes a complicated combination of cars and ferries. For the 13,000 people who do live there, entertainment options are limited. This makes its last remaining theater all the more important.

The Patricia first opened its doors in 1913. Named after the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, it was the mill town's first theater, showing not only silent films but also vaudeville acts, concerts and boxing matches. The original wood structure was replaced by a brick and stucco structure in 1928 so that spectators would no longer have to worry about high winds or flying bats.