We are so blessed to have the New London Barn Playhouse right here in downtown New London for our guests to enjoy!  This year, with the launch of our Oak & Grain restaurant, we have designed new services that support the Theater’s schedule and allow guests to experience New London’s finest dining along with a show.

Did you know that the 2016 Season was honored with 19 nominations from the New Hampshire Theatre Awards, the state’s preeminent theatrical alliance?  The 2017 season is sure to build upon this growing track record of accomplishments with a wonderful lineup.  The 2017 Acting Intern Company brings incredible talent to the Barn that is sure to entertain us throughout the season.

The New London Barn Playhouse is the oldest, continuously operating Summer Stock theater in New Hampshire, a distinction which has gained it inclusion in the state’s Register of Historic Places.  Tom DeMille provided a brief history of the New London Barn, which began in the summer of 1933 when Mrs. Josephine Etter Holmes, Chair of the Department of Speech at Mount Holyoke College, came to New London with four female students and, with the assistance of colleagues at Colby Junior College and male actors drawn from the community, established the New London Players of New Hampshire. Mrs. Holmes aimed “to establish…a theater group presenting dramas of stimulating artistic & literary merit”. The mission of the Playhouse evolved over time stressing the education of young artists interested in pursuing a career in theater. Today, a typical Playhouse Company consists of a small cadre of theater professionals together with more than a score of participants in the Intern Program. Each year Interns, primarily college students majoring in theater, are selected after a careful casting process to take part in what is nothing less than Broadway Boot Camp. Many “Barnies” have gone on to great acclaim in the entertainment business, including Tony Awards, Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, and more. There are hundreds of other Barnies active in theater today that owe part of their success to the training received at the Playhouse.

We have always been proud to support the New London Barn by providing convenient accommodations for travelers coming to a show.  This season, with the addition of our new Après Theater dinner service on Sunday nights, theatergoers may enhance their experience with New London’s finest dining as well.  Check out our Theater and Dinner Package for a convenient combination of a show with dinner and accommodations.

On a personal note, we feel like the Inn has a very special connection with the Barn.  Our daughter Abigail, recently received her undergraduate degree in theater and spent the summer of the 2015 season with the Barn.  Naturally, we love the theater and we are blessed to have the New London Barn in our community and friends of the Inn. An evening of theater at the Barn and fine dining at Oak & Grain at the Inn at Pleasant Lake will be well worth your travels to New London!