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I heard this song played on the radio.
I heard this song (finite clause)
So 'I heard this song' feels like it requires more information alone, but you could say it in speech or:
I heard this song. It was played on the radio.
I heard this theatre now shows films.
You can't hear the theatre in this sense, but as written, do we still class it as finite clause?
Could you have:
I heard this theatre. It played such loud music.
I heard this theatre now shows films.
is actually:
I heard that this theatre now shows films.
Therefore, you are right: you cannot hear the theatre.
Also, in this context, "I heard this theatre" is definitely NOT a clause (finite or otherwise).
But:
I heard this song...
is OK, because songs can be heard.
I also agree with the comment from @JasonBassford:
Note that the first sentence can also be interpreted as I heard that this song played on the radio. Meaning that you didn't hear the song itself, but that you heard about it having been played on the radio from somebody else.
Could you have: I heard this theatre. It played such loud music.
No, you cannot have that. A theatre is a building and you cannot hear the building. But you can hear the sound / noise coming out of the building.
I heard this song [played on the radio].
This is fine both grammatically and semantically. The bracketed past-participial clause is a modifier in NP structure. The meaning is that you heard this song; this song was played on the radio."
I heard [(that) this theatre now shows films].
This is fine too. "This theatre" is not object of "heard", but subject of the bracketed declarative content clause. The meaning is that you heard about the fact that this theatre now shows films.
