Allen's Company of Comedians was a British-Canadian theatre company, active from 1785 until 1790. They played an important pioneer role in the history of the

Theatre of Canada Canada's contemporary theatre reflects a rich diversity of regional and cultural identities. Since the late 1960s, there has been a concerted effort to develop the voice of the 'Canadian playwright', which is reflected in the nationally focused ...

as the first professional theatre company to perform in Canada. The Company was founded by the British actor Edward Allen. Previously active at the

Theatre Royal, Edinburgh The history of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh involves two sites. The first building, on Princes Street, opened 1769 and was rebuilt in 1830 by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. The second site was on Broughton Street. History The first Theatre Royal wa ...

and within the American Company in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, he left the United states to settle in Montréal in Canada in 1778. In Canada, theatre had been banned during the French period: when Canada became British in 1763, a great interest in theatre resulted in a florourishing amateur theatre, but there was no professional theatre. After the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, Allen returned to Philadelphia in 1785 and recruited actors to form his own theatre company, with whom he returned to Canada. They became pioneers as the first professional theatre company to perform in Canada. They were followed by

Joseph Quesnel Joseph Quesnel (15 November 1746 – 2 or 3 July 1809) was a French Canadian composer, poet, playwright and slave-trader. Among his works were two operas, ''Colas et Colinette'' and ''Lucas et Cécile''; the former is considered to be the first ...

's French language Les Jeunes Messieurs Canadiens (1789). As there was no theatre play house in Montréal, the Allen's Company performed in a temporary locality in the assembly room of Simon Levy. Their first performance was on 16 March 1786 with a performance of ''She Stoops to Conquer''.Dorothy E. Ryder, “MOORE, WILLIAM,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 4, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed December 23, 2019, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/moore_william_4E.html. It was a small company, and consisted of Edward Allen and his wife, John Bentley and his spouse, William Moore and his spouse Agnes McKay, Simon Clarke and the children of the actors, notably Andrew Allen, Étienne (Stephen) Bellair and Guillaume (William) Moreau-Mechtler. They performed plays by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

as well as opera. Bellair also managed a dance school, Moreau-Mechtler a music school and Bentley a drama school. The company also toured to Quebec. They were active at least until 1790, and possibly longer.

References

{{authority control Former theatres in Canada 1786 in Canada 18th century in Montreal Theatre companies in Canada