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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him)

@kyleathomas.bsky.social
258 followers 145 following 219 posts

Theatre & Performance Historian Ensemble Member at Stage Left Theatre (Chicago) • Featured Expert on Mysteries of the Abandoned: Hidden America (Discovery Channel) • Editor of ROMARD Journal • Reviewer for ChicagoOnStage.com

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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
And finally, the country’s oldest running theatre, the Walnut Street Theatre, first opened as the New Circus in 1808. The interior was in a hippodrome style and initially housed circus & animal acts. In 1811, a proper proscenium stage and house was built for more standard theatrical fare.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
With a design that took from the Theatre Royal, Bath in England, the New Theatre—later renamed the Chestnut Street Theatre—was Philadelphia’s top playhouse when it opened its doors in 1793. It stood across from Constitution Hall and the Liberty Bell now occupies the site near where it was located.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
The Hallam Company remained themselves the American Company in the early 1760s and, in 1766, performed again in Philly at the Southwark Theater just up the road on South St. Contemporary accounts of the time praised the buildings acceptable accommodations for theatrical entertainments.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
The Hallam Co. returned to Philly in 1759 for a single season to perform at the newly-built, but ramshackle theatre called The Society Hill Playhouse. It was situated on South St. at the corner of Hancock St. The lovely historic building that now occupies the site was constructed sometime later.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
A warehouse owned by William Plumstead (later the mayor of Philly) once sat near this spot (between Pine & Lombard streets along Water St.) in the early part of the 18th century. His make-shift theatre hosted theatrical entertainments & touring companies from England—inc. the Hallam Company in 1754.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Finally, the Walnut Street Theatre opened in 1808 as The New Circus. Initially its hippodrome style leant itself more to animal and circus acts. Eventually, a proper proscenium house was built and the venue was re-christened, the Walnut Street Theatre. It’s the oldest operating theatre in the US!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
After the American Revolution, the New Theatre—later renamed to The Chestnut Street Theatre—was built in 1793. It was the first entrepreneurial theatre in the United States and was located across from Constitution Hall. Nowadays the Liberty Bell museum occupies the site where the theatre once stood.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
The Hallem Company renamed itself as The American Company in 1766 (someone needs to write THAT musical) and built the Southwark Theatre just up the road on South St. at the corner of Leithgow.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
The Hallem’s returned to Philadelphia in 1759 to perform at the Society Hill Playhouse. The site of this short-lived theatre was at the corner of South and Hancock streets.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
The site of William Plumstead’s warehouse (between Pine and Lombard streets), where theatrical performances were offered. The Hallem Company first performed at his warehouse in 1754 before…
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
My conversation with Dr. E. Maggie Solberg about representations of Mary in medieval drama is out now on The Pageant Wagon Podcast!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Tune in for the inaugural episode of the Pageant Wagon Podcast!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Introducing…The Pageant Wagon Podcast! I talk to scholars, historians, and practitioners of #medieval and #earlymodern theatre. We discuss new perspectives, staging techniques, and pedagogical strategies. Launching April 1st!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
A recently uncovered 3rd-century CE papyrus fragment from Egypt containing excerpts from two lost plays by Euripides also reveals how scripts in the ancient world were constructed for performance!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Love this company and how we’re re-imagining Store Front Theatre in Chicago! Essay: howlround.com/how-stage-le... @howlround.bsky.social
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
I so hope there’s a huge cache of Greek and Roman plays that are amongst these scrolls 🤞🏻 www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
My review of Redtwist Theatre’s world-premiere play, THE TOTALITY OF ALL THINGS by Erik Gernand is out now. The gist: go see this excellent production!! www.chicagoonstage.com/a-total-phil...
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
I so loved directing this show. Hard to believe it’s been 8 years now! The 12th-century PLAY OF ADAM (trans. Carol Symes) performed at The Cloisters Museum, NYC #medievalsky #theatresky
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Tis the season for kartoffelspieße at the #christkindlmarkt!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
She’s only excited about the snow because she doesn’t have to shovel it
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 22/12/2023
Seeing this make the rounds. Please know that the event described did not happen and the image is AI-generated. From a cursory search, it seems like a viral marketing campaign for a media company called Manka Bros. Now theatre history is becoming a site of misinformation.
An AI-generated black and white image of actors in early modern costumes performing a play with an actress violently vomiting onto the stage.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 29/11/2023
You certainly don’t disappoint!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 29/11/2023
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 24/11/2023
A little post Thanksgiving meal walk with an uncooperative pup. Thankful for all of it
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 22/11/2023
I found what your dad’s been eating for Thanksgiving
A bag of dog treats called Toot Loops
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
I’m happy to know the hateful and ignorant decision to threaten this production due to the casting of a trans actor has been reversed. People were rightfully dragging the Sherman, TX principal for their complete blindness to theatre’s own history of xdressing/xgendering, but this was never about art
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 15/11/2023
You look like you could use some leisure... So why not order the latest set in the A Cultural History series on leisure & read my chapter in Vol. II: The Medieval Age on the Performing Arts & Their Audiences! I'm sure it'll be a relaxing & enjoyable experience 😉 www.bloomsbury.com/us/cultural-...
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 13/11/2023
Gonna tell my kids this is Elon Catturd Shapiro Musk
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 12/11/2023
Honored and humbled that my video on the history of the African Grove and the African Company was a part of this year’s Garifuna International Indigenous Film Festival. The histories of Black and Indigenous storytellers are valuable!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 12/11/2023
A refreshing, reinvigorating ASTR conference this year in beautiful Providence, RI (another state checked off the visit list). Best part was hanging out with friends & colleagues from our Illinois days!
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 08/11/2023
What did the flyman say to the loader? "Do you even lift?"
A pair of weights for a theatre ounterweight fly system.
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 08/11/2023
Yeah well I insist on the Classical Greek spelling, θέᾱτρον
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Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him) @kyleathomas.bsky.social · 06/11/2023
Torii Kiyomasu I was famous for his depictions of kabuki theatre. This 18th-cent. Japanese woodblock print expresses the clever (and much older) practice of using Japanese characters to make the outline of a figure--in this case the one on the right--spelling out that this is a player in disguise.
A 17th century Japanese woodblock print depicting two figures. The figure on the left is of a woman in a robe holding a fan. The figure on the right has a face that is obscured by a fan and hat, but the figure's robe is made of Japanese characters which indicate this figure is an actor playing a character.
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