What are the two joint-stock companies in America by 1621?

Answer 1

In the sense that they were more or less permanent companies of players, the first American troupes, such as those of David http://www.answers.com/topic/david-douglass and Lewis http://www.answers.com/topic/lewis-hallam, and possibly even the players associated with Thomas http://www.answers.com/topic/thomas-kean and Walter http://www.answers.com/topic/murray-henry-a, could loosely be called stock companies, as could the ensembles attached to the earliest established theatres. However, for a number of decades all these companies, because of the relative smallness of American cities and therefore the limited coterie of playgoers, had to perform in repertory fashion, giving a different play with each successive performance and only returning to a play once several others had been mounted. By later definition a stock company was an organized group of players that would perform a single play for a limited run before proceeding to the next work. Thus stock companies in this sense could develop only after the growth of larger cities and a notable increase in the number of playgoers. As such, traditional stock ensembles did not really begin to develop until the 1840s, with William Mitchell's band of burlesque artists an interesting early example. William http://www.answers.com/topic/william-evans-burton soon established noteworthy troupes in Philadelphia and New York. The heyday of American stock companies may be said to have begun when the Wallack family established its first ensemble and opened its first New York theatre in 1852. Augustin http://www.answers.com/topic/augustin-daly, A. M. http://www.answers.com/topic/albert-palmer, and, for a time, the old http://www.answers.com/topic/lyceum-theatre-1 under Daniel http://www.answers.com/topic/daniel-frohman followed over the next several decades. Whether Wallack's or Daly's marked the apogee is moot, but time has been kinder to the memory of Daly's great players such as John http://www.answers.com/topic/john-drew, Mrs. http://www.answers.com/topic/mrs-george-henry-gilbert, James http://www.answers.com/topic/james-lewis-1, and Ada http://www.answers.com/topic/ada-rehan. All these companies offered schedules of new plays interspersed with mountings of major revivals of older classics, but the emphasis was generally on comedy or romantic escapist drama, and very few of the more innovative, significant serious plays of the time first premiered at their houses, although there were notable exceptions. Away from New York, great companies flourished in larger cities such as Philadelphia, most notably at the http://www.answers.com/topic/arch-street-theatre under Mrs. http://www.answers.com/topic/mrs-sidney-drew, and in Boston at the great http://www.answers.com/topic/boston-american-theater Museum. With the growing practice of open casting for each new mounting, a practice pushed by the Frohman brothers and many of their contemporaries, and the increasing emphasis on stars relied on by many of these same producers, the great stock companies began to fade away in the 1890s. A few fine stock troupes continued to thrive briefly away from New York in the early years of the 20th century. These included the companies headed by George http://www.answers.com/topic/george-fawcett in Baltimore and by Henry http://www.answers.com/topic/henry-jewett in Boston. However, by the 1910s stock companies were no longer in the first rank of American theatrical organizations. Nevertheless, many continued to thrive in outlying parts of New York City and elsewhere in America. They usually offered troupes of second‐class actors and newcomers anxious to learn the trade. Their bills consisted largely of plays that had been popular a season or two before in "first‐class" houses, although some more venturesome groups regularly tried out new plays. An excellent example of this sort of stock company was run for many years by Jessie http://www.answers.com/topic/jessie-bonstelle in Buffalo and Detroit. The Depression and sound films dealt the final death blow to such ensembles, although in later years http://www.answers.com/topic/summer-stock troupes flourished seasonally.