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Photo and Body HereThe ‘old Theatre near the Capital’…was so far old, that the walls were well browned by time, and the shutters to the windows of a pleasant neutral tint between rust and dust colored… Within, the play-house presented a somewhat more attractive appearance. There was ‘box,’ ‘pit,’ and ‘gallery,’ as in our day; and the relative prices were arranged in much the same manner.
— John Esten Cooke, 1854
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
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| 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. |
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
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| 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. |
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."
Archaeology
Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists began looking for the remains of the Douglass/Hallam Theater on the rear of the Moir and Draper lots. The former location of the theater had been narrowed down using historical references to the playhouse that mentioned landmarks, such as lot lines, buildings and streets. For instance, several references in the Virginia Gazette described the Blue Bell Tavern as being opposite the playhouse. Another clue to the playhouse’s location was that, James Moir, a later owner of one of the lots across from the Blue Bell, was credited with selling the bricks from the theater. In addition, a deed of sale for a parcel of land described as "whereon the playhouse lately stood" suggested a location also in the vicinity of these two lots.Initial archaeological work from 1996-1998 focused on testing the rear portions of the Moir and Draper Lots looking for any evidence that would suggest the former location of the theater. In 1940, James Knight had identified the presence of several sections of brick foundation on the two lots. The archaeological testing began by re-exposing these sections of brick foundation to see whether there might be additional evidence previously missed in 1940 to suggest whether these bricks were theater-related. Additional testing involved digging a series of small holes around the site looking for other evidence of the theater. During the course of these small excavations, a line of large postholes which appeared structural in nature were uncovered. In addition to excavating small test units, archaeologists opened up several larger units to see if there were any obvious patterns in the features that might suggest the theater’s location. Although no conclusive evidence of the theater was found during the initial testing, the intriguing finds suggested that the remains of the theater may have survived despite a significant amount of post-theater disturbance to the lots and that further excavations were warranted.
In 1999, archaeologists returned to the site opening up an area measuring approximately 190 feet by 72 feet and encompassing much of the back of the Draper and Moir lots. The initial testing had revealed that the lots were highly disturbed having been plowed into the twentieth century and having had significant amounts of parking lot fill added to the area. Thus, the decision was made to remove the disturbed soils using machinery so that the surviving intact features could be examined. The entire site was mapped to document the many features present in the subsoil with the help of students and volunteers in addition to Colonial Williamsburg archaeologists. Once the mapping was complete, an analysis of the number and types of features present on the Moir lot, suggested that this area most likely held the key to finding the theater. This section appeared to contain over 150 postholes. In the fall, we then began excavating these features and studying the posthole patterns looking for evidence of the theater. Some of the features turned out to be postholes from an outbuilding and a series of planting beds, all of which dated to the period after the theater was torn down.
In April 2000, we returned to the theater site to continue the work begun in 1999. Excavations focused on two lines of postholes, one running north-south and one east-west. The north-south line turned out to be a complex line of oft-replaced fence posts. The long east-west line, which had been identified first during excavations in 1996, had been discounted as being related to the theater because of it extended across both eighteenth-century lots making it too long to have been part of the theater. In 1999, several of the postholes on the eastern end of the line had been excavated and appeared to be normal fence postholes. In 2000, the first posthole along this line in the western portion of the site was excavated. It turned out to contrast greatly with the ones dug in 1999 as it was considerably deeper and did not resemble a fence posthole at all. We continued digging these postholes, working toward the east, hoping to find a point where the postholes changed from deep, structural-looking posts to shallow, fence-like posts. This change was found between the third and fourth posts excavated. Turning north off of the last deep posthole, a single large posthole was visible just inside the boundaries of the excavation area. When this posthole was excavated, it turned out to be deep as well. A corner of the theater had been found!
We then turned to the western end of the line in order to find a second corner of the theater and to identify the length of the building. There was no comparable posthole to the north of the last posthole within the excavation area as there had been for the southeast corner. For that reason, we began digging a trench to the west out of the excavation area in order to locate the end of the line. Another posthole was found eight feet to the west of the last one within the excavation area. The trenching continued to where the next posthole should have been, but none was found. In order to confirm that the last posthole in the line was indeed the southwest corner of the theater, archaeologists trenched north of it and found another posthole.
Although only about 40% of the theater is within the area that was stripped to subsoil, the analysis of this part of the site provided important details about the theater’s structure. The south wall of the playhouse, the first wall uncovered, was demarcated by a line of deep postholes containing sizeable post molds. Measuring 72 feet in length, this line consists of ten postholes approximately 8 feet apart.
In December 2000, the remaining portion of the theater was exposed by stripping away the parking lot material and plowzone down to the intact subsoil. This revealed the postholes that had once supported the east and west walls and indicated that the building had been 44 feet wide. Unfortunately, all traces of the north wall had been obliterated by the many fence lines that have marked the edge of the lot since the theater was torn down. However, the west end of the theater, near the Capitol, exhibited a robbed-out brick foundation that could be remains of a brick entranceway.
On the interior of the building, we uncovered the remnants of a large pit that would have served as the theater’s central seating area, or what was simply called the "Pit" in the eighteeenth century. Within the pit, a robbed-out brick wall ran from one side to the other. This wall appears to have supported the front of the stage and indicates that the stage occupied almost half of the building.
Although the field excavation has been completed, research and analysis of the findings are stil ongoing. The artifacts from the site are being processed, which includes cleaning and inventorying everything that has been found. In addition, the findings are still being interpreted as much evidence was collected during the two years of excavation. This information will be synthesized into a final technical report.
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