In Michelle Magorian’s Just Henry (2008), The Plaza is a regular haunt of Henry and his friends Grace, Pip, Jeffries, and Mrs Beaumont. At various points in the novel they see Kind Hearts and Coronets, a Hopalong Cassidy movie, The Blue Lamp, Boys in Brown, and Morning Departure. In Pt. 3, Ch. 10, Henry, Pip, and Jefferies organise a showing of The Solitary Cyclist, (a 1921 movie based on a Sherlock Homes short story by Portsmouth author Arthur Conan Doyle ) and The 39 Steps as part of their school project.

In writing the various cinema visits that occur throughout a novel set in 1949–50, Magorian meticulously ensured that screenings taking place on the actual dates and in the actual venues in which they could have occurred. The Plaza is Henry’s closest movie palace, but he samples many of the city’s other cinematic delights in a novel that richly evokes the post-war heyday of British cinema.

The Plaza, one of nineteen cinemas listed as existing in Portsmouth in 1951, opened as the Plaza Super Cinema in 1928. Local architects Henry J. Dyer and Son created a grand and elegant building, seating 1750 patrons and including ‘an entrance hall in Tudor style, cloud effects on the ceiling, and an open colonnade depicting on one side the Grand Canal in Venice and on the other side the view of an Italian garden’. The Plaza was the first cinema outside London to show Al Jolson’s The Singing Fool, the earliest talkie. After a period as The Gaumont, the cinema ceased trading in the 1960s, becoming a bingo hall and, subsequently, Portsmouth’s Jami Mosque. It was Grade II listed in 1995 (Garth Groombridge, Portsmouth in 50 Buildings, 2017). See also Ron Brown, Cinemas and Theatres of Portsmouth From Old Photographs (2009).

Michelle Magorian (b. 6 Nov. 1947, Southsea) is a children’s novelist, and the author of Goodnight Mister Tom (1981), Back Home (1984), A Cuckoo in the Nest (1994), A Spoonful of Jam (1998), Just Henry (2008), Impossible (2014) and other works. Many of her novels have been adapted for film and television. She has been the recipient of awards, including The Costa Book Award for Children's Fiction, and The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

Magorian was born in Portsmouth and spent much of her childhood in the city, but her father’s career in the navy saw the family spend five years in Singapore and Australia. From the age of nine, Magorian lived at 61, Victoria Road North. Her early enthusiasm for Portsmouth’s many cinemas is reflected in the novel Just Henry, in which the city becomes Sternsea. Her father later worked as a school teacher and a barrister before teaching law at Portsmouth Polytechnic (later the University of Portsmouth). Inspired by spending much time at Portsmouth's King's Theatre Magorian trained at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama and launched into a successful stage career. During her thirties she became increasingly interested in children's fiction and decided to write a debut novel. The result, Goodnight Mr Tom, was very quickly an international success. Magorian's ability to understand childhood experience and the complex web of relations between adults and children combines with her interest in historical settings and the arts.

Now resident in Petersfield, Hampshire, Magorian received an honorary doctorate from the University of Portsmouth in 2007 and her glittering writing career continues. Her musical Tinsel was performed in The Studio, Petersfield in November 2019, with Magorian appearing in the cast. Magorian has written the libretto for a further musical, Sea Change (with music by Stephen Keeling), which is set on the Solent in 1998. This was originally due to be performed in Spring 2021 but whic of next year but this may be delayed by a year due to Covid-19. 15 of the songs from the musical can be found on SoundCloud here

If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions in relation to the map please contact Dr Mark Frost, English Department, University of Portsmouth: mark.frost@port.ac.uk