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Nineteen eleven was just the time when automobiles were replacing horses, and many larger stables were being turned into garages. The theatre was located in a former stable in Beacon Hill's stable district, between Beacon and Charles streets and the Charles river. The group would eventually premier some of the lesser known works of George Bernard Shaw in Boston. That included both works written by members of the group itself and playwrights from this country and Europe. The Toy Theatre was founded in 1911 by an amateur theatrical group to present plays that had not been presented professionally in Boston. The 'X' through many buildings in the neighborhood denotes a stable, where hay was kept, and represented a fire hazard. Lime street, between Mt Vernon and Chestnut streets, just before the Toy Theatre was founded.

The Toy Theatre, Lime street, lower Beacon Hill. The photo above shows the entrance on Dartmouth and Stuart streets - in a later incarnation, the entrance would be from Huntington avenue. And there I learned that the Toy was an old name for a cinema in the Back Bay that was part of the Shubert and then Sack chains, ending as the Sack Cheri.

My first stop was Cinema Treasures, the go-to online reference for old cinemas. I had never heard the name before, and had no idea where it was. The photograph above, with the interesting title Toy Theatre, set me off on one of my typical investigations. Toy/Copley Theatre, across from Stuart street, 1917. Toy Theatre, from the BPL Flickr photo group.