Calcutta Theatre
The Calcutta Theatre or The New Playhouse, was an historic theatre in Calcutta (now named Kolkata) in India, founded in 1775. It was the second theatre in the city of Calcutta.
The first theatre in Calcutta, The Playhouse, was a modest local at the Lal Bazar, founded in 1756. It was replaced by the Calcutta Theatre, which was founded in 1775. It was situated near the Northern section of Clive Street and to the north of Writers Buildings, and built funded by the subscriptions sharers of one hundred rupees each. David Garrick of London recommended a Bernard Massinck or Massing to travel to India to take charge of the theatre. It became the leading theatre of Calcutta until the foundation of the Chowringhee Theatre, after which the two theatres became main rivals to each other. The theatre staged English plays in the English language by English actors. Initially , the theatre had an all male cast, with male actors doing the female roles, but after the foundation of the rival Chowringhee Theatre, which employed women, actresses where employed also at the Calcutta Theatre. In 1908, the building and the ajoining site was acquired by Gopi Mohan Tagore, who turned it into the New China Bazar.