Little Theatre Movement

Little Theatre Movement (called "la petite scène" in Canada) had its origins in the USA around 1912, in reaction against the advent of film, which appeared to be replacing staged theatre as a medium for large-scale spectacle entertainment.

It also has its roots in the European movement to free dramatic forms and methods of production from the limitations of the large commercial theatres by establishing small experimental centres of drama. In this case the incentive came from young dramatists, stage designers, and actors who were influenced by the vital European theatre of the late 19th century (e.g. the ideas of Max Reinhardt, Adolphe Appia, Gordon Craig, the Théâtre-Libre of Paris, the Freie Bühne in Berlin, etc.)

However, it later would become a generic term for the amateur or nonprofessional "community" theatre, and the notion of community sponsored "little theatres". It was used in this sense in South Africa by the 1930s, when amateur theatre set about organizing itself nationally through FATTSA and similar organizations.