Theater

North American theater underwent a dramatic transformation from 1761 to 1812. In the colonial period theaters had a difficult time sustaining themselves and performances were usually in barns or a building that had been adopted temporarily for stage production. By 1812 almost every self-respecting city had a theater of its own.

During the 1750s theatrical troupes traveled to New York, Philadelphia, Williamsburg, and other locations, but they could not find a permanent home. Part of the problem was that the cities and towns were too small to sustain permanent establishments, and part of the problem was the moral objections to the theater held by many among the public. During the Stamp Act (1765) crisis, for example, New York’s theater closed its doors. When the theater opened again in the spring of 1766, a crowd shouting “Liberty, Liberty” stormed into the building, attacked the patrons, and tore the place apart because the theater

Philadelphia's Chestnut Street Theater opened in 1794 but was destroyed by fire in 1820. A new theater with the same name opened in 1822. Engraving (Library of Congress)

Seemed an inappropriate extravagance at the time. During the Revolutionary War (1775-83), Whigs continued to oppose theaters as a violation of their republicanism. British officers, however, loved the theater and often organized their own performances. Major John Andre was known for this type of activity.

Although the debate over theater continued in the United States after the war was over, opposition was not so strong as to prevent performances. George Washington enjoyed the theater and believed that it could be a means to inculcate morality. It is in this spirit that Royall Tyler wrote his play The Contrast (1787). Opponents, however, viewed theaters as a symbol of corrupt aristocracy and a place of immorality. As theaters developed in the 1790s and early 1800s in several cities, the antitheater adherents had an argument. Prostitutes used the theater as a place to rendezvous with customers, and audiences became rowdy and disorderly.

Regardless of their morality or lack of morality, theaters spread throughout the United States in the early national period. Philadelphia’s Chestnut Street Theater opened in 1793, followed by New York’s Park Theater in 1795. Other cities and towns built theaters as well. Productions were varied. Sometimes the theater would include Shakespeare or a more contemporary play. Often, the theater production would contain greater variety, with different skits, short plays, and musical performances. Theater managers, such as William Dunlap, strove to hire popular talent from England to draw in an audience. But actors from the United States became increasing popular on their own.

Despite the popularity of theaters, they remained controversial. After the fire at the Richmond Theater on

December 26, 1811, which killed 72 theatergoers, many people wondered if the tragedy was an act of God punishing those attending the sinful production.

Further reading: Heather S. Nathans, Early American Theater from the Revolution to Thomas Jefferson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003); Jason Shaffer, Performing Patriotism: National Identity in the Colonial and Revolutionary American Theater (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007).