Westport Country Playhouse, Neighbor

Reimagining itself in recent years, Westport Country Playhouse is rapidly emerging as a nationally recognized professional theater.  Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, the Playhouse creates five live theater experiences, produced at the highest level, from April through November. Its vital mix of works---dramatic, comedic, occasionally exploratory and unusual---expands the audience’s sense of what theater can be.  The depth and scope of its productions display the foremost theatrical literature from the past---recent as well as distant---in addition to musicals and premieres of new plays.  During the summer, the Playhouse is home to the Woodward Internship Program, renowned for the training of aspiring theater professionals.  <i>Winter at the Playhouse</i>, from November through March, offers events outside of the main season---Family Festivities presentations, Script in Hand play readings and a Holiday Festival.  In addition, businesses and organizations are encouraged to rent the handsome facility for their meetings, receptions and fundraisers.

As an historic venue, Westport Country Playhouse has had many different lives leading up to the present. Originally built in 1835 as a tannery manufacturing hatters’ leathers, it became a steam-powered cider mill in 1880, later to be abandoned in the 1920s.  Splendidly transformed into a theater in 1931, it initially served as a try-out house for Broadway transfers, evolving into an established stop on the New England straw hat circuit of summer stock theaters through the end of the 20^th century. 

Today, the not-for-profit Westport Country Playhouse serves as a cultural nexus for patrons, artists and students and is a treasured resource for the State of Connecticut.  There are no boundaries to the creative thinking for future seasons or the kinds of audiences and excitement for theater that Westport Country Playhouse can build.  www.westportplayhouse.org