Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
THE'ATRE, a place of public amusement, where popular assemblies, courts, elections, etc., were often held. Acts 19:29, 1 Chr 24:31. "The taste for theatrical amusements was never strongly developed among the Jews, though some of their later rulers, especially the Herods, favored them and established theatres in Palestine. " - Hackett.