Provincetown Players, American theatrical company that first introduced the plays of Eugene O'Neill. The company opened with his Bound East for Cardiff at the Wharf Theatre, Provincetown, on Cape Cod in 1916 and later worked in New York City in conjunction with the Greenwich Village Theatre under the auspices of Robert Edmond Jones, Kenneth Macgowan, and O'Neill. By producing plays that were generally considered noncommercial, the company gave unrecognized dramatists the opportunity to experiment with new ideas. The group disbanded in 1929 but through its efforts, together with those of the Washington Square Players, a truly American theater was realized. Among the well-known writers associated with the Provincetown Players were Edna St. Vincent Millay and Djuna Barnes.

Provincetown, resort town (1990 pop. 3,374), Barnstable co., SE Mass., on the tip of Cape Cod, with a harbor on Cape Cod Bay; inc. 1727. The principal industries are tourism and fishing. The Pilgrims landed there in 1620 and stayed about a month. Permanent settlement was not made until c.1700. Fishing was the staple industry, but whaling, salt making, rum-running, and smuggling were practiced. In the 20th cent. it gained fame as a resort favored by artists and later became a popular gay vacation spot. Points of interest include the Pilgrim Monument and Museum (1910); the Cape Cod National Seashore's visitor center; the Provincetown Playhouse; and the Expedition Whydah, a museum preserving the remains of a pirate ship.

U.S. theatrical company. It was founded in 1915 by a group of writers and artists in Provincetown, Mass., to encourage new and experimental works. Among their first productions, which were often staged in members' homes, was the first play by Eugene O'Neill, a founding member whose career was launched by the Players. In 1916 the players moved to New York's Greenwich Village. There they introduced several more of O'Neill's plays as well as works by Edna St. Vincent Millay, Susan Glaspell, Paul Green, and dozens of other playwrights. The company disbanded after the stock-market crash of 1929, though the Provincetown Playhouse has continued to serve intermittently as a theatre into the 21st century.

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Town (pop., 2000: 3,431), eastern Massachusetts, U.S. At the northern tip of Cape Cod, Provincetown was the first landing place of the Pilgrims in 1620, and the Mayflower Compact was drawn up in its harbour. Incorporated as a town in 1727, it was a whaling and fishing port in the 19th century. Bounded by the Cape Cod National Seashore, it is a popular summer resort and noted artists' colony. The Provincetown Players theatre group originated there.

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