Originally built as a cinema in 1970, the Stuart Street Playhouse was converted into a live performance space called the 57 Theater in the summer of 1996. Early productions included The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Eddie Izzard. Throughout 1999 and 2000, the theater was redesigned by noted Boston theater architect Thomas Bakalars complete with a new outer lobby designed by Prellwitz/Chilinsky Architects.