Where was the first English playhouse outside London built?

Question

When reading about English Renaissance theatre, discussions centre on authors, theatre companies and theatre buildings in and around London. For example, the first English playhouses were the [Red Lion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Lion_(theatre)), which opened 1567 just outside London, [The Theatre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theatre), which opened in 1576, also just outside London, and the [Curtain Theatre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtain_Theatre), which opened in 1577, also just outside London. Several [other playhouses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Renaissance_theatre#Establishment_of_playhouses) were constructed in the 1580s and 1590s, all just outside the City of London. (The London authorities didn't like playhouses. One reason was the influence of the puritans, who didn't like theatre in general. Another reason was that places where many people gathered together could facilitate the spread of diseases such as the Plague. Plague epidemics always led to the temporary closing of theatres.)In all the books I have read about Shakespeare and his contemporaries, I have not found a single mention of permanent playhouses outside the London area. Theatre companies went on tour in England, especially when playhouses in London were closed because of the Plague, but it seems they performed in guildhalls and other buildings that normally did not serve as a playhouse. This leads me to the question **where the first permanent playhouse outside London was constructed**.The article [The Oldest Theatres in Britain](http://www.britevents.com/features/the-oldest-theatres-in-britain/) mentions that [Grand Theatre in Lancaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theatre,_Lancaster) is "the third oldest theatre in England". However, I think this means that it is the third oldest *surviving* theatre; it is perfectly possible that other playhouses outside London were built before 1782 (the year in which the Grand Theatre opened) but that they just haven't survived.Note: [Dublin's first theatre opened in 1637](https://www.buildinghistory.org/buildings/entertainment.shtml), but Dublin is outside [England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England). I am specifically looking for playhouses in *England*.

Answer 1

The first English playhouse built outside of London was known as "The Red Lion," and it was constructed in 1567 in the town of Norwich.

The Red Lion is considered the first permanent theater building in England specifically designed for theatrical performances.

Answer 2

Just outside of London in Shoreditch, "The Theatre" was an Elizabethan playhouse and the second permanent theatre ever built in England after the Red Lion. It was constructed in 1576 By James Burbage who avoided London after theaters were banned due to the plague.