Although Kingston had had some sort of theatre buildings on Harbour Street in the earlier 18th century,
no pictures of these apparently exist; they were probably large halls used for putting on plays, rather
than real theatres. The first theatre on North Parade was probably built in the late 1770s, and enlarged
and renovated in the early decades of the 19th century. The picture above is from a lithograph by
Adolphe Duperly in 1831 of this theatre as it looked then. By 1838 it was in such a bad state of repair
it was decided that it should be demolished and that a brand new theatre should be constructed.
for a detailed account of Kingston's early theatres the best source is
The Jamaican Stage, 1655-1900, by Professor Errol Hill (1921-2003).
Copies of this excellent book are available, at very reasonable prices, from online bookstores.
