In an effort to prevent “the many and great mischiefs which arise from public stage-plays” that  “tend to increase immorality, impiety, and a contempt of religion,” the Massachusetts General Court passed this ban on theatrical productions in 1750. The law affirmed a sentiment that had been held by Puritan Boston since 1687, when Increase Mather called tavern owner John Wing’s attempt to establish an amateur theater a “danger to the souls of men.” The emergence of the Murray-Kean company in Philadelphia in 1748 and a 1750 play in a State Street coffeehouse prompted the Massachusetts General Court to pass this legal ban on theater, imposing heavy fines on anyone who sponsored or participated in a performance.

Courtesy of the Massachusetts Archives