The Playhouse is happy to announce our new leadership team as we transform into a year-round performing arts center while continuing to produce theater-
Westport Country Playhouse’s board of trustees has appointed director, playwright, and actor Mark Shanahan as artistic director, and long-time Playhouse administrator Beth Huisking as managing director. Since last summer, Shanahan and Huisking have served as incoming artistic director and acting managing director, respectively, and now officially assume the positions.
“We are thrilled to have Mark and Beth at the helm,” said Athena T. Adamson, chair, Playhouse board of trustees. “They both have a deep knowledge of and respect for this treasured theater, while still keeping an enthusiasm for the future and all that the Playhouse can become. The board is grateful to have such strong leadership as the Playhouse moves forward with its plan to become a year-round center for the performing arts while continuing with its proud tradition of producing world-class plays.”
Shanahan will continue as curator of the Playhouse’s Script in Hand playreading series. He is also the creator and curator of Westport Country Playhouse Radio Theater, in partnership with WSHU Public Radio, and served as writer/director of the Playhouse radio adaptation of “A Merry Little Christmas Carol,” and as director of scripts commissioned for the series. He is the writer/director of “A Sherlock Carol,” which was produced for the Playhouse’s 2023 holiday season, and has played annually at London’s Marylebone Theatre and three seasons in New York, where it received an Off-Broadway Alliance nomination for Best New Play 2021 and was named a “Critics’ Pick” by The New York Times.
Beth Huisking joined the Playhouse in 2005 as marketing associate and in 2010 was named associate director of marketing. After eight seasons in the marketing department, she moved to the position of general manager in 2013, and in December 2023 was named managing director.
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