little theater

noun

generally noncommercial drama, usually of an experimental nature and directed at a limited audience.
a small theater, producing plays whose effectiveness would be lost in larger houses.

Origin of little theater

First recorded in 1765–75

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Sometimes you do a one-nighter, and they would always have a coffeehouse after hours in the cafeteria, or they’d have a little theater or something like that.
Making Things Crystal Clear: Billy Crystal on All Things Comic | Eugene Robinson | March 29, 2021 | Ozy
Julie was working in little theater groups, writing and acting.
The Stacks: Mr. Bad Taste and Trouble Himself: Robert Mitchum | Robert Ward | July 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
There may be more than a little theater involved in all this, especially with a European Union summit coming up on Thursday.
The Return of Christine Lagarde, the Trillion-Dollar Woman | Christopher Dickey | October 16, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
He had just set up his little theater, and the people were sitting round to see the play.
Rudy and Babette | Hans Christian Andersen
Then the little theater was lighted, the improvised orchestra renewed its efforts.
Penny of Top Hill Trail | Belle Kanaris Maniates

The cramped little theater itself struck one as mere scenery, which was precisely the intention.
The Book of Susan | Lee Wilson Dodd
He seemed to her more distinguished than that other man whom she had seen indistinctly in the orchestra of her little theater.
Woman Triumphant | Vicente Blasco Ibaez
He took her back to Paris, where he had a little theater, a hall of the dance—but he grew worse again, and came back here.
The Holladay Case | Burton E. Stevenson

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