Southwark Theatre

Southwark Theatre (Philadelphia). Sometimes called the South Street Theatre, it was the first permanent playhouse erected in America. Because of prejudices against theatricals it was built just outside what was then the center of the city. The structure, largely of brick, was painted red and was lit by oil. Opened in 1766 by Douglass and his American Company and later managed by his successors, Lewis Hallam Jr. and John Henry, it housed the first performance of a professionally produced American play, The Prince of Parthia, in 1767. It remained in use as a playhouse until 1821. The building had served for many years as a distillery before it was demolished in 1912.