The theatre has mounted several hundred productions as well as having taught tens of thousands of students in their 50-year-old educational programs history, making it Pennsylvania's oldest African-American theatrical institution.
[1] The New Freedom Theatre was founded in 1966 by John E. Allen Jr while working as a supervisor at the Sun Oil Company (now known as Sunoco).
At first, the theatre used the facilities of the nearby Temple University and ran out of a storefront in North Philadelphia but was able to move in 1968 to the Edwin Forrest House on North Broad Street with help from Robert E. Leslie Sr.[3] The building was initially owned by a brewer called William Gaul.
[4] The facility now houses small meeting & rehearsal rooms, a black box theatre, a private reception lobby, and 299-seat proscenium John E. Allen, Jr.
Educational program participants study traditional and contemporary performance skills and theory, theatre techniques, writing and aspects of technical production.
[5] Alumni of the theatre include: Leslie Odom, Erika Alexander, Samm-Art Williams, and Wanya Morris.