Westport Country Playhouse (1954): Postcard of the Playhouse in color and shows the Southeast side. (Connecticut Digital Archive)
Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, Conn - of the Westport Country Playhouse (25 Powers Court). Postmarked 1935 (Connecticut Digital Archives)
Westport Country Playhouse, (1930) - Westport Country Playhouse in the beginning as a barn (Westport Playhouse)
Early Westport Country Playhouse - Photo by Wells Studio (Westport Playhouse)
Westport Country Playhouse, (2004) - of the Westport Country Playhouse 2004 renovation. (Westport Playhouse)
In the winter of 1930, renowned Broadway producers (and Weston, Connecticut, residents) Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall purchased a barn and apple orchard in town. Their intention was to turn it into a venue where both aspiring and established writers, actors, and directors might produce new plays or reinterpret old ones. They transformed the old cow barn (erected in 1835) into a theater with a stage built to match the dimensions of those regularly found on Broadway. The Playhouse is a non-profit that produces theater from playwrights, actors, directors, and designers of all backgrounds, while entertaining audiences and exploring human and societal issues along the way.
A theatre is not just an ornament; it can also be one of the most dynamic and important institutions within a community. so the Westport Country Playhouse is no longer just a summer theatre, though the summer season will always be the most important thing it does. "Performing arts center" might be a better description now, with the theatre always as its first priority, but with lots of other things as possibilities- Chamber opera, small- scale concerts, recitals, lecture series, folk festivals, film shows and even, perhaps, some dance. Continue reading from Somerset-Ward, An American Theatre, 8
$5 Million Grant Helps Playhouse So Show(s) Can Go On (2002, Sep 27). Westport News (Westport News via NewsBank)
TO GIVE SUMMER PLAYS.: Langner Will Direct Theatre Going Up at Westport, Conn. (1931, May 25). The NewYork Times (Proquest)
MELODRAMA IN WESTPORT.: Langner Plans Repertory Group for His Connecticut Playhouse. (1931, Jun 06). New York Times (1923-Current file) (Proquest)
J. Randolph Brays Give Tea for 200 At Westport Place: Country Playhouse to Open Tonight With Special Dedication Program (1931, Jun 28). New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962) (Proquest)
