History and architecture
The Neighborhood Playhouse was constructed in 1913-15 by sisters Alice and Irene Lewisohn as part of the Henry Street Settlement. A theatrical group by the same name founded by Lewisohn sisters was located here from 1915 to 1927. One of the city’s early “little theaters,” it was an experimental theater that presented innovative drama, song and dance. The theater presented new works by George Bernard Shaw, James Joyce, Eugene O’Neill and other contemporary playwrights. The Neighborhood Playhouse, along with the Providence Playhouse and the Washington Square Players, were pioneers in staging experimental and innovative works. Throughout the playhouse’s history nonresidential organizations have presented a variety of theatrical, musical and dance performances, but the playhouse has also had some long-term associations with well-known performers and producers.
The playhouse was the home of a dance school and company founded by modern dance pioneer Alwin Nikolais from 1948 to 1970. More recently, the New Federal Theatre, which specializes in presenting plays by minorities and women, has performed here since 1971. The red-brick neo-Georgian style facade was designed by the architectural firm of Ingalls & Hoffman not long after they designed the similar neo-Georgian style Little Theatre, now the Helen Hayes Theatre, at 240 West 44 th Street .
When the Little Theatre was constructed its neo-Georgian style was a departure from the more formal Classical Revival or Beaux-Arts style design of Broadway theaters. The playhouse is remarkably intact and features paneled wood doors with a fanlight and sidelights above the western entrance, and splayed keystone lintels above the center and eastern entrances, multi-pane double-hung sash windows, keystone lintels and shutters at the second story windows, cornice with corbels and rooftop railing above the second story and a set-back third story.
The playhouse remains to this day one of the leading cultural institutions on the Lower East Side.
Sources and further reading
This history comes from the Landmarks app’s historical catalog. Names and building uses may reflect the period described.