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Douglass-Hallam Theater

Douglass-Hallam Theater: Excavation of an Eighteenth-Century Playhouse

by Lisa E. Fischer

Colonial Williamsburg’s ambition to reconstruct an eighteenth-century theater is now six decades old. Archaeologists from the foundation are currently excavating the remains of Williamsburg’s last colonial theater, which stood from 1760 until approximately 1780. Located on the eastern side of the Capitol, the Douglass/Hallam Theater, the name by which it is referred to today, was a large two or three story wood and brick structure. The ongoing archaeological work on the playhouse is seeking to provide ideas about what this complex structure looked like. In addition, the research will also shed light on how the theater functioned within Williamsburg’s colonial landscape.

Eighteenth-Century Theater

This artist’s reconstruction by Charles Bush shows how a typical eighteenth-century English theater would have appeared. The theater in Williamsburg may have had a similar layout.

Theater was an evolving enterprise in the British Colonies in the eighteenth century. In the first half of the eighteenth century, plays were for the most part amateur productions. Acting ensembles, including student groups, performed plays in the best location available. Anything from a barn to a large tavern room was used as a makeshift theater. The first building specifically designed for use as a theater was constructed in Williamsburg between 1716 and 1718.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, the first touring companies of professional actors and actresses from England and Ireland arrived and began traveling to different colonial towns in British North America putting on plays. Common stops included New York, Philadelphia, Annapolis, and Charleston as well Barbados and Jamaica. During the third quarter of the eighteenth century, Williamsburg was also a common destination for these companies because of its prominence as Virginia’s capital. The companies were familiar with Williamsburg’s characteristics and as a result, timed their stays in Williamsburg to coincide with "Publick" times, when the town’s population was at its greatest.

These itinerant companies developed a touring circuit and, whenever possible, presented their plays in actual theater buildings, sometimes even constructing their own prior to their first scheduled performances in a city. Typical Colonial theaters were relatively large structures, measuring at least 70′x30′, and resembled provincial theaters found in England at the time. The interior of the theater would have exhibited a large stage area on one end, possibly taking up as much as half of the building. An unusual characteristic of eighteenth-century stages was that they were commonly lined with a set of iron spikes designed to discourage audience members from getting onto the stage to disrupt the performance. The seating within the theater was divided into three sections. In front of the stage, sunk below the ground would have been the pit, crammed with benches. The most expensive seating was in the boxes around the sides and back of the theater. The cheapest seating was in the gallery located around the theater above the boxes.

An evening at the theater in the eighteenth century would have consisted of two plays, a longer opening play and a shorter and lighter concluding one, and possibly several entr’actes. Shakespeare’s plays were extremely popular, and many were acted out on the stages of Williamsburg, including The Merchant of Venice, Richard III and Othello, just to name a few. A few examples of non-Shakespearean plays presented in Williamsburg include The Beggar’s Opera, The Fashionable Lover, The Constant Couple, and The Anatomist, or Sham Doctor.

Theater in Williamsburg

1733 William Hogarth etching The Laughing Audience shows a typical eighteenth-century theater scene. The wealthier patrons are seated in the boxes, while those theatergoers with less money to spare sat in the pit. A spiked barricade separates the audience from the acting company.

The first recorded theater built in British North America was constructed in Williamsburg between 1716 and 1718. Built on the east side of the Palace Green by William Levingston, this playhouse was used for amateur theatrical performances. Members of Williamsburg’s community and men from the College of William and Mary presented plays in this theater periodically during the 1720s and 1730s. In 1745, the theater was sold to the city and became a court building.

Several years later in 1751, a new theater was constructed in Williamsburg, just outside the eastern city limits where Christiana Campbell’s Tavern stands today. Alexander Finnie, the proprietor of the Raleigh Tavern, arranged for the construction of the theater by subscription in preparation for the arrival of the Murray-Kean Company, a semi-professional acting group. The Company arrived in September to oversee the construction of the theater, which was completed by October 21st in time for the opening production of Richard III. The Murray-Kean Company continued to use the playhouse before departing for other locales in April 1752.

In June 1752, several months after the departure of the Murray-Kean Company, a new acting troupe arrived from London. The London Company of Comedians sailed into Yorktown on June 12th announcing their arrival in The Virginia Gazette. Although the company was not highly received at first, Lewis Hallam, the manager of the company, was able to persuade the Governor’s Council to grant his company permission to perform in Williamsburg. Hallam then purchased the theater from Finnie and set about "making it fit for the reception of Ladies and Gentlemen." Hallam’s refurbishment of the theater was completed by the beginning of September. On September 15, 1752, the London Company of Comedians presented their opening night performance of The Merchant of Venice followed by The Anatomist, or Sham Doctor.

After a successful opening night, the London Company of Comedians remained in Williamsburg presenting plays at the newly-remodeled playhouse. During this time, however, several of the actors enjoyed Williamsburg’s finer things a little too much and ended up in debt. In order to keep his company together, Hallam was forced to use the theater as collateral against these debts. The London Company departed Williamsburg in June to begin touring other Colonial cities, but no evidence exists to suggest that the actors ever made any attempt to repay their debts. As a result, Hallam lost possession of the theater, which was soon dismantled and converted into a dwelling house.

After several stops in other colonial cities, the London Company departed the American Colonies and headed for the Caribbean. During their stay in Jamaica, Lewis Hallam died. After the proper mourning period, his widow married David Douglass, a fellow actor, who assumed the position of manager for the company and brought the company back to the mainland.

History of the Douglass/Hallam Theater

In 1760, members of the London Company decided to return to Williamsburg. Because the theater that they had used previously was no longer standing, Douglass had to build a new theater in Williamsburg in order for the company to be able to perform. Not much is known about the construction of the theater but it was most likely built between July and October 1760 based on an examination of the Company’s itinerary. They were in Maryland until the end of June 1760 and headed for Williamsburg after their final performances there. The playhouse must have been completed before October 1760 when George Washington attended a performance.

The London Company used their new theater sporadically during the 1760s and early 1770s. In addition to providing entertainment, this new theater in town was a place for Williamsburg’s gentry class to socialize and conduct business, and both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson frequented the playhouse when it was open. After the theater was built, the London Company remained in Williamsburg through June 1761 before departing for other cities. They returned to Williamsburg again for another season from 1762 to 1763. Soon after their departure in 1763, the London Company changed their name to the American Company. For several years thereafter the playhouse was not used for any known theatrical performances. In 1768, a new acting troupe, the Virginia Company of Comedians, which was led by one of the American Company’s former actors, arrived in Williamsburg. They gave several performances in the "old THEATER, near the CAPITOL" but the Company did not last long and soon disbanded after their departure from Williamsburg. In 1769, the theater was used for some non-theatrical activities including being the site of a show of figures and as a schoolhouse. In 1770, the American Company returned to Williamsburg for another series of performances. Thomas Jefferson attended the theater nearly every day in October, even noting occasionally that he "Pd. For punch at play house 7 ý d." They used the playhouse on and off until 1772 when they departed for Annapolis.

After the American Company’s departure, there is no evidence that the theater was ever used for plays again. In 1774, the Continental Congress passed a resolution that strongly discouraged many activities that were deemed too frivolous (or perhaps, too British) on the eve of revolution, one of which was theater. For that reason, the American Company soon departed the mainland and returned to Jamaica. The theater stood until at least 1775 but had been torn down by 1780 when John Draper, a local blacksmith, purchased a piece of land described as "whereon the playhouse lately stood."

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