White Barn Theatre
The White Barn Theatre was a theater founded in 1947 by actress and producer Lucille Lortel on her property in Norwalk, Connecticut. The theater premiered numerous plays by established playwrights that often continued to successful Broadway and Off-Broadway runs. Lortel founded the theater on her estate at the corner of Cranbury Road and Newtown Avenue. The property is in both Norwalk and Westport, Connecticut, with about in Norwalk and in Westport. The location was sometimes referred to as Westport, which has more theater than Norwalk. Lortel later donated much of her memorabilia to the Westport Public Library. The theater was created from an old horse barn on the estate, and seated 148. Lortel's aim was to present unusual and experimental plays, promote new playwrights, composers, actors, directors and designers, and to help established artists develop new directions outside of commercial theater. Plays Plays produced at the White Barn include: George Wolf and Lawrence Bearson's Ivory Tower, featuring Eva Marie Saint (1947) Seán O'Casey's Red Roses for Me (1948) Hugo Weisgall's The Stronger (1952) Sean O'Casey's adapted by Arnold Perl I Knock at the Door (play) (1956) Eugène Ionesco's The Chairs (1957) Archibald MacLeish's This Music Crept by Me Upon the