History Of Roundabout Theatre

The idea of the Roundabout Theatre was first conceived by Gene Feist and his wife, actress Elizabeth Owens. They opened in New York where they believed their theatre would flourish. They wanted to do classic plays at an affordable price, and thought this would benefit New Yorkers greatly. Their first production was Strindberg's The Father which opened in a 150-seat theatre under a supermarket in Chelsea where subscribers paid $5:00 for three plays.

In 1974 with respected reputation, they branched out and afforded a new 299-seat theatre on 23rd St and called it Roundabout Stage One, and renamed the old theatre Roundabout Stage Two. Throughout the next ten years the two stages sufficed the needs of the theatre company, bringing more and more