A year after actress Nancy Hallam captivated an anonymous Annapolis gentleman (most likely Rev. Jonathan Boucher—see “In Praise of Artistic Genius”) with her dramatic skills and attractive appearance, she and her fellow thespians of the American Company were back in Maryland’s capital. This time, however, they weren’t putting on a show inside a ramshackle building with a failing roof. Now they could wow their audiences in a newly constructed playhouse on West Street financed by local subscribers. The theater opened on September 9, 1771 with a performance of William Whitehead’s 1750 tragedy “The Roman Father.” As announced in the Maryland Gazette a few days before, the event would be marked by the recitation of an opening prologue and closing epilogue suitable for the special occasion.
Despite the anticipated joys of seeing Miss Hallam in the role of Horatia at the brand new theater, Rev. Boucher seized the opportunity to voice his displeasure over the sorry state of the public building—St. Anne’s Church—where he plied his trade.
Boucher framed his clever poem published in the September 5, 1771 Maryland Gazette as “the humble Petition of their OLD CHURCH” to the “very worthy and respectable Inhabitants of Annapolis.” Though St. Anne’s was considered a “goodly Edifice” when first built, alas!...
How chang’d the Times! for now, all round,
Unnumber’d stately Piles abound,
All better built, and looking down
On Me quite antiquated grown.
Left unrepair’d, to Time a Prey,
I feel my Vitals fast decay:
And often have I heard it said,
That some good People are afraid,
Lest I should tumble on their Head.
Of which, indeed, this seems a Proof—
They seldom come beneath my Roof.
The Stadt-House, that, for publick Good,
With me co-eval long had stood;
With me full many a Storm had dar’d,
Is now at length to be repair’d:
Or, rather, to be built anew,
An Honour to the Land and you.
Whilst I, alone, not worth your Care,
Am left your sad Neglect to bear.
Not every Annapolis building besides St. Anne’s was a “stately Pile” or, like the State House, on tap to be “repair’d” or “built anew.” The old church had a “Sister-ruin” in the unfinished governor’s mansion (now McDowell Hall on the campus of St. John’s College) started and abandoned decades earlier:
Old Bladen’s Palace, once so fam’d,
And now too well, The Folly nam’d.
Her Roof all tott’ring to Decay,
Her Walls a mould’ring all away;
She says, or seems to say, to me,
“Such too, ere long, thy Fate shall be.”
Compared to Bladen’s Folly, the new West Street theater was like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day:
O’erwhelmed with Woe; methinks, I see
A Ray of Hope thus dart on me.
Close at my Door, on my own Land,
Plac’d there, it seems, by your Command,
I’ve seen, I own, with some Surprise,
A novel Structure sudden rise.
There let the Stranger stay, for me,
If Virtue’s Friend, indeed, she be.
I would not, if I could, restrain,
A moral Stage: yet, would I fain
Of your Indulgence and Esteem,
As least, an equal Portion claim.
And, Decency, without my Prayers,
Will surely whisper in your Ears,
“To Pleasure, if such Care you shew,
“A Mite to Duty, pray bestow.”
Rev. Boucher asked if the theater could provide comfort or healing like the church. Did it ever spread the message “Of Peace on Earth, Good will to Men?” In times long past, devoted people raised “a mighty Temple,” and even the poorest folk took pride “to make God’s House genteel.” So for Boucher, there was no excuse for the fact that
Here, in Annapolis alone, God has the meanest House in Town.
The poem went on for another stanza, but this was its mic-drop moment.
The following week’s newspaper recounted the opening of the “elegant and commodious” theater to a “numerous and brilliant Audience” three nights earlier, and it printed the text of the prologue delivered at the event. The rhyming piece made note of the new State House and other “private Buildings” under construction around the city, but its author wisely decided not to respond directly to Rev. Boucher’s poem.
The dramatic arts had their start in ancient Greece and Rome, recited Mr. Douglass, but now they had spread to America:
Thus has true Taste, like the revolving Sun,
From East to West in even Tenor run:
Now on these Shores the Goddess stands confest,
And reigns supreme in ev’ry gen’rous Breast.
Nobly excited by the Thirst of Fame,
To emulate the Greek, and Roman Name.
View yonder Stadthouse rising from the Ground.
Whilst private Buildings multiply around:
Sacred to Shakespeare! this your Structure see,
For which each Actor thanks you thus—by Me.
Here in Annapolis, the prologue continued, was a fitting new home for both “solemn Tragedy” and “Gay Comedy.” The American Company actors acknowledged their debt of gratitude to the audience members whose subscriptions had paid for construction of the theater, and they vowed to learn “the pleasing Task” of earning their patrons’ applause and praise.
Read the September 5 and 12, 1771 issues of the Maryland Gazette starting here: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc4800/sc4872/001281/html/m1281-1349.html
Glenn E. Campbell
HA Senior Historian
