The Bucks County Playhouse is the State Theater of Pennsylvania, and is located on the Delaware River along the shore of New Hope, Pennsylvania.  When the Hope Mills burned in 1790, the grist mills were rebuilt as the New Hope Mills. The surrounding town was renamed for the mills.
Renovations converting the building into a theatre began in 1938. The first show opened there on 1 July 1939, Springtime for Henry featuring Edward Everett Horton. The Bucks County Playhouse is the starting point for many actors and became testing ground for plays slated for Broadway. Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park had its premiere at the theater in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. Other notable actors who performed at the theater over the years include Bela Lugosi, Dick Van Dyke, Tyne Daly, Grace Kelly, Angela Lansbury, and Walter Matthau.