The History of Western Theatre
Beginnings of American theatre.
The strongly Puritan sentiments of settlers in
North America prohibited
the development of theatre until the early 18th century when
a number of English actors arrived in the South and began staging
plays in temporary venues. The first theatres were built in
Williamsburg, Va. (c. 1716), and Charleston, S.C. (1730).
By the mid-1730s a number of theatres had opened in
New York, and the first
visiting company from London performed in Williamsburg in 1752.
In the absence of any local dramatists, the repertoire in America
consisted mainly of successes from the London stage. After independence
(1782), several of the new states tried to prohibit theatrical
performances on moral grounds. To combat this, one touring company
announced its presentation of Shakespeare's Othello as
"a moral dialogue in five acts." By the end of the century,
however, professional theatre was well established and such
groups as the American Company were giving regular seasons.
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