The history of theatrical performances in Jersey can be traced back to the 18th century. The Opera House, opened by Lillie Langtry in 1900, and the Jersey Arts Centre are the main performance spaces, although performances also take place in parish halls and other venues.
History
On 14 November 1778 the States of Jersey adopted an Act forbidding the staging of stage plays or farces without the prior permission of the Bailiff and Royal Court. This legislation remains the basis of the current licensing of public entertainment in Jersey: public entertainment, including stage works, is licensed by the Bailiff (advised by the Bailiff's Panel for the Control of Public Entertainment).
The fact that the States deemed it necessary to pass such an Act suggests that theatrical performances were at that time frequent enough and of sufficient concern to the authorities to require the setting up of a regulatory system. However, there is little direct evidence of which plays were being performed as there were at that time no established theatre and no newspapers.
During the 16th and 17th centuries as drama developed in France and England, culture in Jersey was controlled by a strict Calvinist régime, and even the imposition of Anglicanism after 1660 did not alter the basic attitudes to entertainment in Jersey. Sitting between the cultural poles of France and England, Jersey was further isolated by the language situation. Visiting theatre troupes from England would not have been understood by the Jèrriais speaking population, and French troupes were deterred by the frequent states of war or suspicion that existed between France and England during this period.
The language question continued to impede the development of theatre even once theatres had become established, as commented upon by Henry David Inglis in 1834.
The first location known to have been used as a theatre in Jersey is the Long Room above the Corn Market in the Royal Square, Saint Helier. This was described as "La salle de la comédie" in La Gazette de l'Île de Jersey of 23 March 1788. This assembly room had been used for public presentations before, including meetings addressed to crowds of between 500 and 600 people by John Wesley on 28 and 29 August 1787.
Before 1788 it appears that acting was an amateur pastime, and that the States were concerned that young men were spending too much time in idle distractions. The first specific record of a particular troupe of actors is of an amateur club of 12 gentleman in 1786 proposing to present a season of plays by famous playwrights. The first record of a professional theatre company in Jersey is the visit of a French troupe under a man named Desroches which performed in Jersey between March and May 1788 – the last visit by a French theatrical company until after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Desroches' company performed L'Amant bourru (by Monvel) and Le Médecin malgré lui (by Molière) in one programme on 25 March 1788 – the first plays known by name to have been performed in Jersey.
English theatre companies visited in the summers of 1792 and 1793. The first English-language play known to have been performed in Jersey was The West Indian by Richard Cumberland on 5 May 1792, followed, amongst others, by The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan on 12 May 1792 and Douglas by John Home on 26 May 1792. The first plays recorded by name to have been performed by amateurs were Alzire and Mérope by Voltaire, in French, in 1795 and 1796.
Between 1792 and 1796 there were plays advertised as being performed at the "Théâtre Royal". It is not known whether this refers to the Long Room, but the description of a gallery suggests that this might be a different building unless the Long Room had been altered during this period. Plays were also performed in the 1790s outside Saint Helier. The annual midsummer fair in Saint John attracted huge crowds and the English companies of Fisher and Henry Lee are known to have performed in tents there in 1793 and 1795. The Saint John's fair and its entertainments became such an annoyance to the authorities that it was suppressed by Act of the States in 1797.