Sound Cinema: The Capitol Theater

The Capitol Theater was built in 1924 as a movie palace that would cater to the growing hunger for silent films and vaudeville performance. It endured as a theater for decades and many owners with new ideas and hopes. One of those groups was a nonprofit dedicated to film and art in Olympia. 

In 1980 the Olympia Film Society formed and the Capitol Theater was never the same since. Since 1986 the Society has been the only tenant of the space, and in 1990 they took over the lease. With a lot of hard work and dedication, the Society finally bought the building in 2010. Since then, the Capitol Theater has become a mixed arts space offering films and hosting musical acts, performers, and community events.

Side view of Capitol Theater in Olympia

The Evergreen Echo

The building is nestled in an arts district near Downtown Olympia. Many of the buildings around it maintain the same early 20th century aesthetic. The Capitol still uses its outside box office like it would have in its early days and while the marquee has been replaced due to earlier decay, the replica adds to the old-school feel of the venue. When you enter, it's almost jarring to see the volunteers in modern dress and the selection of snacks at the concessions stand, as the space feels like it hasn't changed since it was built.

There’s a choice of balcony seats or floor seats and to avoid a tight staircase, I chose the floor. Going into the exhibition space, there are curtains separating the theater from the lobby and another curtain draped from the balcony down. This second curtain cuts off the last few rows of seats in the theater from the rest of the space, likely because the view of the screen would be obscured should anyone sit there. Sadly for the taller among us, old-school theater means old-school seats and it’s hard to get truly comfortable.

I was at the Capitol Theater for a recent screening of Secret Mall Apartment. The film is a documentary about a group of young artists who discover an unused space within the gargantuan Providence Place Mall of Providence, RI. The team proceeds to create a space that looks like and functions as a furnished apartment. Through a painstaking and risky process, they add couches, chairs, tables, a china hutch, and eventually a door with a key that only they have. It is a strange and beautiful film about impermanence in the face of capitalism and the way that art can impact you even if it's only there for a short while.

The Capitol hosts first run films Thursdays-Sundays and during the rest of the week has special engagements. Throughout the month of June, during Animation Tuesdays, there will be showings of Paprika, a trippy anime epic from the mind of master Satoshi Kon. For the Reel Oddities series on Wednesdays they will be showing the 4K restoration of Ran, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear set in feudal Japan and a late masterpiece of filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. For the OFS Kids Club on Sundays they will be showing Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, which is the latest film in the beloved British stop motion animation series.

For the far future, the Capitol Theater also plays host to the Olympia Film Festival. The 2025 iteration has come and gone, but for 2026 the festival will play April 22-26. It is five days of film and filmmakers that boasts around-the-clock screenings.

Front view of Capitol Theater

The Evergreen Echo

It is heartening to see an exhibition space like the Capitol Theater. With so many theaters at the mercy of their landlords or the ever present increase of at-home viewing, a space like this is so necessary and vital. Film is a medium that has evolved, but nothing can compare to the genuine thrill of seeing something in the way the inventors meant it to be seen. The Olympia Film Society has not only kept the dream of film exhibition alive, but have expanded their scope to embrace art and artists. They have built within a building that has stood the test of time a space where people can come together to have a sense of community through art.

Though you may appreciate the updated and modern conveniences built into the space by the Olympia Film Society, the bones and the spirit of the structure make the Capitol Theater a way to go back in time and see a film like those who experienced the new medium for the first time. It is a bit of magic in the heart of Olympia.