Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

THE WILLIAMSBURG PLAY-HOUSE
March 26, 1935

One of the earliest records of the performance of a play in America is found in the county court records of Accomac County, Virginia, in 1665. In that year, complaint was made against several persons for acting a play called "Ye Bare and Ye Cubb". The performance was repeated before the court, they found it unobjectionable and dismissed the case, after charging the complainant with the costs.

Amateur performances and performances by small groups of strolling players were not infrequent in the seventeenth century, but only fragmentary records of them remain. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, an ambitious scheme for a theatre in the capital city, Williamsburg, was begun.

In September, 1715, one William Levingston, a merchant of New Kent, entered into an agreement with Charles Stagg, dancing master, and Mary, his wife. He released them from this indenture in order to enter a further agreement with them to engage in performing plays and directing actors for him in a playhouse in the new capital city. This agreement, which led to the immediate erection of a playhouse is given herewith for its significance in the history of the theatre in America.

Orders, Wills, etc - Book 15, York County, Virginia
Page 53

Levingston
from Stagg

Articles of Agreement Indented, concluded and made ye eleventh day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixteen Between William Levingston of ye County of New Kent Merchant of ye one part and Chas. Stagg of ye same County Dancing Master & Mary his wife by two several indentures bearing date ye 2 23 and 24 days of September, 1715, were bound to ye said William Levingston to serve him in ye Colony of Virginia in ye Arts, Professions and for ye time in ye sd Indentures mentioned and ye sd Chas. Stagg for his advancement and greater profit requested for himself and his wife to be free of ye service mentioned in ye sd Indentures. These Presents Witnesseth that ye sd Wm Levingston hath released and acquited and doth hereby release and acquit ye sd Chas Stagg and Mary his wife of all service claims or demands which he ye sd Wm Levingston was or is any ways instituted to by virtue of ye sd Indentures. And ye sd Wm Levingston doth further hereby assign and make over unto ye sd Charles Stagg all right, title or interest which he ye said Levingston might claim in any sums or money or other perquisites or profits already due for ye sd Charles Staggs services in teaching or instructing any person or persons whatsoever in ye science of Dancing from ye time of ye sd Staggs arrival in this countrey so as ye sd Charles Stagg shall & may have and enjoy to his own use and behoof as well the Entrance money as other ye profits arising from ye said scholars without ye Lett or interruption of ye sd Wm. Levingstone. In consideration whereof ye sd Charles Stagg doth hereby covenant & agree & with ye sd Wm Levingstone that he ye sd Charles Stagg his Exec or Admr shall and will well & truly satisfy & pay unto ye sd ft Levingstone or his assigns ye sum of Sixty pounds Currt money yearly during ye space of Three years next ensueing ye date hereof (if ye sd Charles Stagg shall so long live) in manner and form following, that is to say Sixty Pounds currt money being ye first payment at Lady day which shall be in ye year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventeen, Sixty Pounds like money at Lady Day one thousand seven hundred and eighteen, and ye other Sixty Pounds at Lady day one thousand seven hundred and nineteen. Provided always and it is ye true intent & meaning hereof that ye sd Wm Levingstone & his assigns shall be and are truly obliged to abate and deduct out of ye sd respective yearly payments after ye rate of five pounds currt money for each month which ye sd Charles Stagg shall be diverted from teaching to dance in consideration of his ye sd Charles Stagg being imployed in ye preparation and acting of Play for ye joint benefit of himself and ye sd Wm Levingstones. And ye sd Charles Stagg doth further covenant and agree to and with ye sd Wm Levingstone that he ye sd Charles Stagg his Exec & Admrs shall and will within ye apace of eighteen months next after ye ensealing of these presents well and truly content & pay unto ye sd Wm Levingstone or his assigns ye sum of thirty five pounds seventeen shillings which is in full, of all charge & Expenses which ye ad Wm Levingstone hath been at for horses, ferriages or otherways for ye greater convenience of ye sd Charles Stagg in attending at ye respective places where he teaches to dance at any time heretofore and also of all such sums of money as ye sd Wm Levingstone hath advanced to ye sd 3 Charles Stagg or his wife either in species or in goods and merchandise since ye sd Staggs arrival in Virginia. And it is further covenanted and agreed between ye sd parties in manner and form following, that is to say, that ye sd Wm Levingstone & Charles Stagg shall with all convenient speed after ye ensealing of these Presents use their best endeavor to obtain a Patent or a Lycense from ye Governour of Virginia for ye sole privilege of Acting Comedies, Drolls or other kind of Stage Plays within any part of ye sd Colony not only for ye three years next ensueing ye date hereof but for as much longer time as ye sd Governour shall be pleased to grant ye same for ye joint benefit of ye sd Wm Levingstone or Charles Stagg or their assigns & neither of ye sd parties shall accept of or use such lycense without assuming ye other as partner in manner aforesaid. And ye sd Charles Stagg & Mary his wife do hereby covenant and promise that they ye sd Charles Stagg & Mary shall not only act in ye stage plays (sickness and other reasonable -----excepted) but shall also use their best endeavors to teach and influence others in ye way and manner of Acting according to ye best of their skill as well for ye three years next ensueing ye date hereof for such further and longer time as they ye sd Charles Stagg & Mary his wife or either of them shall stay in Virginia. And moreover that neither ye sd Charles Stagg nor Mary his wife shell Act any Play within ye sd Colony of Virginia without ye consent of ye sd Wm Levingstone or his assigns during ye sd term of three years next ensueing ye date hereof, nor at any time thereafter in case no Patent or Lycense be obtained from ye Governour in manner aforesaid. And if ye sd Charles Stagg or Mary his wife shall at any time Act with ye consent of ye sd Wm Levingstone or his assigns, he ye sd Levingstone shall have and receive one half of all the profits arising by such Plays, he or they bearing one half of ye charges accrueing thereon in manner hereafter mentioned. And ye sd Wm. Levingstone dothe farther covenant and agree with all convenient speed to cause to be erected and built at his own proper cost and charges in ye City of Williamsburgh one good substantial house commodious for acting such plays as shall be thought fitt to be acted there. And it is further covenanted and agreed by and between ye sd parties that ye sd Wm Levingstone and Charles Stagg shall bear an equal share in all charges of cloathes, musick and other necessaries required for acting sd plays (ye rent of ye playhouse at Williamsburg only excepted which is declared as aforesaid to be ye proper charge of ye and Wm Levingstone) and shall also have receive and enjoy an equal share of ye profits arising thereby. And for as much as ye sd Wm Levingstone hath at his own proper cost and charge sent to England for actors and musicians for ye better performance of ye sd plays, it is hereby covenanted and agreed by and between ye sd parties to these presents that ye money arising by ye sd plays ye same allowance shall be made 4 both for ye musicians and actors as others equally qualified hired here in Virginia shall or ought to receive by ye day or other ways. And lastly ye sd parties do hereby mutually bind and oblige themselves, their heirs, exec and admrs respectively ye one to ye other for ye true performance of all and singular the Articles hereinbefore mentioned so far as they severally relate to themselves whilst married or if ye sd Mary becomes a widow in ye penal sum of five hundred pounds to be paid by ye party failing his heirs, Exec & Admrs to ye party performing or willing to perform his part of ye premesis and to ye Exec Admrs and Assigns of ye party so performing. In witness whereof ye parties to these Presents have hereunto interchangeably let their hands & seals ye day and year first above written.

Charles Stagg (Seal)
Mary Stagg (Seal)

Admitted to record
Nov. 19, 1716
Wit. Will Robertson

Levingston bought three lots on the Palace Green, and began erection of a playhouse, dwelling house, kitchen and bowling green. An March 16, 1716, the Visitors of the College of William and Mary gave him permission to use one of the rooms at the College "for teaching the Scholars and others to dance untill his own dancing school in Williamsburg be finished".

The lots Levingston acquired on November 5, 1716, were leased to him for five hundred years. He proceeded "with all convenient speed" to the erection of a "good substantial house suitable for acting such plays as shall be thought fitt to be acted there". There was no newspaper published in the colony at that time and the first performance of a play in the Levingston playhouse is not a matter of record. On June 24, 1718, Governor Alexander Spotswood referred to eight members of the House of Burgesses who slighted an invitation to his house and to a play, "These eight committeemen would neither come to my house nor go to the play which was acted on the occasion".

In 1736, the first year the Virginia Gazette was published, the following announcement appeared:

Virginia Gazette
William Parks, ed.

September 10, 1736

"This evening will be performed at the Theatre by the young gentlemen of the College, 'The Tragedy of Cato', and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday next week will be acted the following comedies, by the Gentlemen and Ladies of this Country, viz: 'The Busy Body', 'The Recruiting Officer', 'The Beaux Stratagem'."

The playhouse was involved frequently in financial difficulties. William Levingston mortgaged it to Archibald Blair on May 29, 1721, who leased it to one Robert Faldo for a term of five years. Levingston attempted to eject Faldo and "other enormitys to him did offer", according to Faldo's suit for damages. The jury awarded Faldo one shilling damages, but permitted him to keep the property. Levingston removed to Spotsylvania County, where he died in 1729.

Charles and Mary Stagg continued in Williamsburg, teaching dancing, holding dancing assemblies and acting and directing for such plays as were given in the playhouse: Charles Stagg died in 1735 and Mary Stagg continued along with "The Company".

In 1745, the playhouse had been standing unused for several years, and the Mayor, Recorder and Common Council of the City of Williamsburg addressed a petition to the "Gentlemen Subscribers for the Play House in the City of Williamsburg", stating:

That they have no public building within the city wherein to hold their common halls and courts of Hustings, but have hitherto used the Court House of James City County on Curtesie. That the Play House stands in a convenient place for such uses; and has not been put to any use for several years; and is 6 now going to decay; That the money which has been gathering since the Corporation vas first made proves deficient to erect a prison for the City, nor have they any way to raise public money to build a Town House; "Therefore they shall esteem and always acknowledge it as singular mark of your good will and favour, if you will be pleased to bestow your present useless house on this corporation for the use aforesaid, They intending to repair and alter it by their own subscription if this request shall be granted.

We the subscribers being willing to encourage the City of Williamsburg do hereby freely give to the Corporation of that city, the shares and interest we have in the Play House standing there according to the ----

Subscribers Names.

John Blair	Will. Gooch
Bn. Harrison, Junior	Phillip Ludwell
Ralph Wormley	Benja. Harrison
Natha'll Harrison	Lewis Burwell, Jr.
W. Beverley	John Grymes
Francis Willis	Henry Armistead
Robert Tucker	John Robinson
Ge. Braxton or Ge. Braxton Jr.	Phi: Lightfoot
Beverley Randolph	R'd. Corbin
Thos. Bray	Thos. Lee
David Meade	Lewis Burwell
Edw'd Digges	Jas. Littlepage
Wilson Cary	Carter Burwell
Jos. Temple	William Nelson, Jr.
Peter Randolph	J. Mercer
Ch. Carter

Recorded December 16, 1745.

The gentlemen subscribers, some of the most eminent men in the colony, granted the request, and the playhouse became a Court of Hustings. It served this purpose until 1770 when, with the County of James City, the City of Williamsburg moved into a new brick Court House on the Market Square. The playhouse was sold to private owners and became part of the property of Col. St. George Tucker, who built a large dwelling nearby in 1788. It is believed that materials from the old playhouse were used in the construction of the new dwelling, as the building disappeared at an early date.

Williamsburg was not long without a theatre, one being erected just east of the Capitol in 1751, where Murray & Keene of New York performed and where in 1752 the celebrated Hallam Company, just arrived from England in the Charming Sally, opened its American season. It was this theatre which Washington attended so frequently when he came to Williamsburg to attend the House of Burgesses, or on other public or private business.

Foundations of the old Levingston playhouse, dwelling and kitchen have been excavated and studied by archaeologists, architects, and historians of the Williamsburg Restoration, the organization established by Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Junior, to restore the city of Williamsburg to its colonial appearance. The dwelling house, kitchen and bowling green have been reconstructed, and plans have been made for a possible reconstruction of the playhouse, and these plans are on file in the Restoration architect's office. The foundations were in such good condition that the location of the stage, the auditorium and dressing rooms was deducible from the evidence found in a complete brick paved cellar. Records of Virginia buildings of the period and of contemporary playhouses in England were employed in developing the details of the building.