The Depot for New Play Readings

The Depot for New Play Readings

In 2015 the Depot for New Play Readings opened as a gathering place for theater lovers who wish to stay abreast of trends in theater today. The group meets to read and discuss new work in a former train station outbuilding in Hampton, a rural village in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner.

The Depot sits on land formerly inhabited by the Nipmuck Tribe.

Our mission is simple. Meet friends....
In 2015 the Depot for New Play Readings opened as a gathering place for theater lovers who wish to stay abreast of trends in theater today. The group meets to read and discuss new work in a former train station outbuilding in Hampton, a rural village in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner.

The Depot sits on land formerly inhabited by the Nipmuck Tribe.

Our mission is simple. Meet friends. Read new plays.

Recommended by The Depot for New Play Readings

  • MABEL TALKS
    30 Jan. 2024
    In Donna Hoke’s “Mabel Talks,” the silent film star Mabel Normand addresses the producers and directors who shaped and stymied her career. While this engrossing one-woman show introduces audiences to a brilliant comedian who has been forgotten, in Hoke’s deft treatment, the play delivers more than a biography. By letting Mabel speak for herself, Hoke depicts Normand as a strong-willed artist, at turns funny, flirtatious, and combative, and so richly imagined, she charms us with the charisma that made her one of the first film celebrities of the 20th century. A gem for actors. Highly recommended.

  • THE EQUIVALENT OF SENSATION, full-length play for 5 Women
    29 Jan. 2024
    In “The Equivalent of Sensation,” Arianna Rose uses simple props and witty repartee to take the audience on a furious journey from staid Baltimore to the avant-garde salons of Paris, evoking ocean liners, trolleys, WWI ambulances, bats and dogs and cannabis-laced brownies along the way. Reminiscent of Harpo Marx’s comedy, Rose’s imaginative staging focuses on Etta Cone, an early 20th-century art collector. Called back from death, Etta has one night to review her life and discover whether she ever truly lived. The play is both fun and poignant, and a great vehicle for older women actors. Strongly recommended.
  • Faith, Trust and...
    24 Sep. 2023
    In “Faith, Trust and …” Rachel Feeny-Williams creates a vivid Neverland with characters from J. M. Barrie’s "Peter Pan" transported to a metropolis overrun by underworld bosses and organized crime. Bodies pile up, and suspense tightens. Audience surprise at all the plot’s twists testifies to Feeny-Williams’ mastery in upending expectations, and yet the play observes the classic noir convention of addressing injustice. At first comic, then tragic, “Faith, Trust and…” is a blast for actors. Set designers will love it. Some roles can be double cast, and the play can be adapted for radio. Very highly recommended.
  • The Guys
    15 Aug. 2023
    In “The Guys,” Lori M. Myers imagines a speed dating event attended by conjoined twins. In less masterful hands, the situation could devolve into cheap laughs at the expense of the differently abled, but Myers creates characters, not types, and we get to know them. Larry and Barry bicker and feud, and their zingers are truly funny, but Honey, a compassionate woman, helps the brothers reconcile. She also gets a date. “The Guys” is a great choice for short play festivals, especially if romance and dating are themes. Highly recommended.
  • FOUR SPARROWS
    5 Jul. 2023
    Set in London, during the plague of 1609, Rich Rubin’s “Four Sparrows” immediately captivates, moving rapidly from one crisis to another: secret burial, imprisonment, near starvation, and breach birth. The events are drawn from history, a time when physicians operated within a sphere they believed was ruled by God and the movement of the stars. Yet the drama’s sober topic does not preclude moments of humor or poignancy. Without explicit references, the play also resonates with the AIDs era and the Covid pandemic, when the effects of plague beset reason and morality as well as bodies. Highly recommended.