ArtsBoston is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the arts.
In 1792, a group of Bostonians flouted state law and traditional rhetoric by building a theater, the New Exhibition Room, Advertising Shakespeare and Sheriden as “Moral and Comic Lectures” the company played to packed houses for several months before the authorities shut down the theater. The public outcry that ensued eventually caused the repeal of the state’s theatrical bans. Some years later, a smaller group of Bostonians have come together to resurrect the New Exhibition Room by building new work, engaging local artists and re-imagining traditional theatricality.