Hedgerow Theatre

Hedgerow Theatre is a theatre company founded in 1923. It is based in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, United States near Philadelphia. It was "for many years the only true U. S. professional repertory theater." The building is a contributing structure in the Rose Valley Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Hedgerow was founded in 1923 by New York-based director and actor Jasper Deeter in Rose Valley, less than 3 miles from Media and Swarthmore. The theatre building, originally a gristmill built in 1840, seats 108 spectators after an early twentieth-century reconstruction designed by architect William Lightfoot Price. Other sources note, however, that the Theatre building was "erected in 1807 as a snuff mill and later rebuilt as a hand-weaving mill." It is a contributing structure in the Rose Valley Historic District. Hedgerow's green room once showcased a staircase and table designed by Wharton Esherick, an acclaimed American craftsman. Located a half mile from the theatre is Hedgerow House, once used as housing for the residential company members as well as a rehearsal space, school, and office, accompanied by the costume and prop shops.

The Pennsylvania Guide, compiled by the Writers' Program of the Works Progress Administration in 1940, described the founding of the Theatre by Deeter and its early operations:When at Swarthmore with a company of actors from the Provincetown Playhouse in the spring of 1923, Jasper Deeter, former Harrisburg newspaperman, took a stroll along Possum Hollow Road and came upon an old mill ... Brushing past the cobwebs, Deeter walked inside to rest; some years earlier the mill had been used for amateur theatricals, and Deeter saw its possibilities.