THEATRE IN

CHARLESTON
SOUTH CAROLINA
BY: OLIVIA THARPE
THEATRE BASED IN TRAVEL

• There were three extremely important managers involved in the Charleston theatre scene
during this time
Thomas Wade West, Alexander Placide, and Charles Gilfert
• Theatre during this time was mainly small groups of performers who travelled from town to
town and performed in barns and other locations like this
• As towns started growing, companies became bigger if these companies became really
successful, they could afford to stay in the same town for months and would not have to tour
anymore
PRE-REVOLUTIONARY CHARLESTON

• Charleston was occupied by English traveling companies and actors, Lewis Hallam and manager
David Douglass of the American Company
• The American Company was previously named the ‘Company of Comedians from London’ but
the name was changed to the American Company when an English story wrote the play On the
Subject of the Country and this play was hugely popular
• As early as 1735 an official theatrical season began in Charleston the play that was presented
first was The Orphan by Thomas Otway
• Fun Fact! This play was actually presented in the city courtroom
• In 1736, the first theatre opened at Dock Street
Inside of the Dock Street Theater

Exterior
IMPORTANT THEATRE MANAGERS

• The three most important theatre managers in Charleston in the late 1700’s were Thomas
Wade West, Alexander Placide, and Charles Gilfert
• Wade West was the first impresario of theatre he was actually from England but came to
Virginia to work with his brother in law
• They established a small company that toured the southern united states and moved to a
theatre in Charleston in 1793
• West raised money to build the Charleston theatre
• During Race Week in February, the theatre was open for 6 nights and this was the height of
the social season in Charleston
THE CITY THEATRE

• In 1794, another theatre company called the City Theatre opened which gave West some
competition
• The Charleston company lost the orchestra and actors because of this new company
• West lowered prices at his theatre and many of the performers from the The City Theatre
went to perform at West’s theatre
• Charleston could not support two different theatres and, unfortunately, the Charleston theatre
went under and West moved away
PLACIDE

• Placide was another manager who produced pantomimes in Charleston and also acted in them
• He would also do acrobatics and took great pride in theatrical staging and spectacle
• He liked to put on pro-republican dramas that were very patriotic
• However, the war forced Placide to close the theatre
QUEEN STREET THEATRE

• Around 1833, the Charleston Theatre was sold to the Medical College of South Carolina
• Theatre performances were now performed at the Queen Street Theatre
• This theatre was built in the Greek revival style
• William C. Forbes was a manager at this theatre he was a supporter of local playwrights. These
plays include De Montalt by James Simmons, Siege of Charleston and The Spanish Exile
• Along with these more “local” plays he also produced Shakespeare and had celebrities of the
day perform
• As the Civil War came around, theatre was forgotten about
POLITICAL PLAYS

• From 1797-1825 plays reflected the Federalist-Republican conflict—the Republican view was
more prominent in the South after the War of 1812 until the slavery controversy, plays
emphasized non-partisan ideas
• From 1826-Civil war there were not many good plays that were produced during this time
• Thomas Wade West, one of the theatre managers, built a permanent theatrical structure in
Charleston and merged with the City Theatre
• Alexander Placide added pantomime to his comedy
• Charles Gilfert took plays on tour outside the city
• The plays produced here showed everyone what Charleston’s political and artistic views were
WORKS CITED

Indulkar, Sayali. “Charleston Theatre 1790-1860.” 2014. PDF file.