Born from an 1835 tannery and later known as a cider mill, the Westport Country Playhouse opened on June 29, 1931. That’s when theater producers Lawrence Langner and Armina Marshall converted the old barn into a Broadway-quality tryout house. It soon became a marquee stop on New England’s straw-hat summer-stock circuit, drawing big-name artists and apprentices, from Henry Fonda and Jane Curtin to a young Stephen Sondheim. This embedded professional theater and its works into Westport’s cultural life.
After a major renovation, the Playhouse reopened in 2005 as a modern, year-round nonprofit producing theater, continuing to evolve with seasons of plays, special events, and artist development programs, From its red-barn silhouette to its contemporary stages, it remains a regional landmark honoring its 1931 heritage while commissioning, reviving, and presenting new work for today’s audiences.
