On 7th May 1663 Thomas Killigrew opened Bridges Street theatre with The Humourous Lieutenant, by Beaumont and Fletcher, his first presentation with scenery. Pepys found the theatre so full at the end of May that he had to go on to the Duke's house and see Betterton in Hamlet again, and on 13th June Pepys saw The Faithful Shepherdess, by Fletcher, at Bridges Street, and remarks on the thronged house come for “the Scenes sake, which is very fine indeed.” Sir William D'Avenant urgently needed new material before Killigrew attracted all the custom away from his theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields, and the following August The Playhouse to be Let appeared.
Often regarded as a conglomeration cobbled together by D'Avenant to fill the summer doldrums there is only one record of its presentation. Yet the...
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Citation: Lewcock, Dawn. "The Playhouse to be Let". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 September 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23113, accessed 09 June 2026.]
