2 Best Performing Arts Venues in East Side, Providence

This independent movie theater on Thayer Street, near Brown University, screens primarily art-house, independent, and foreign films. The College Hill theater's art deco styling dates back to its opening in 1938.

Historic Benefit Street is an appropriate location for the oldest continuously running little theater in the United States. The Players have been taking the stage every year since 1909 and at the Barker Playhouse since 1932---a pretty good run for an amateur theater group. The actors may not get paid, but performances are nothing short of professional: talent fairly leaps off the stage at the former church built in 1839. Past shows have included everything from Shakespeare to Christmas plays, original works by Providence playwrights to Stephen Sondheim musicals.