“We don’t want people to think of us as just a movie theater,” Eric Kohn, the artistic director of the Southampton Playhouse, said during a tour of the facility with Maria Angellines Ruiz Botsacos, the executive director.
The Playhouse, which opened in February, has the only IMAX theater within 50 miles, as well as three other state-of-the-art theaters, including one with two 35-millimetor projectors, and Dolby Atmos sound systems in all four.
“We want it to feel like no matter what the movie is, it’s got to be a jumping-off point for something else related to the world, because movies have always let you see the world in a new kind of way. We think the institution should reflect that.”
While the diversity of its programming is in itself unique, ranging from the just-released “Avatar: Fire and Ash” in IMAX 3D to the holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” to “The Shining” to the silent horror classic “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” (1922), it is that “something else” that makes it more than just a movie theater.
For instance, in part because it was the birthday week of Gary Cooper, who summered in Southampton, the Playhouse hosted its first Gary Cooper Film Festival in May, with screenings of “The Pride of the Yankees” (1942), “Ball of Fire” (1941), and “High Noon” (1952). In addition to the films, Maria Cooper Janis, the actor’s daughter, came to the theater to sign copies of her book and talk with Richard Sandomir, the author of “The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic.”
Last month the theater hosted a free screening of “Zootopia 2” in partnership with the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation. “That’s the sort of connection that makes this feel like a level playing field for the community,” Ms. Botsacos said.
She pointed out that when “F1” in IMAX was shown, “We worked with Rally Point East, a local car club, which brought about 40 prized vehicles to the theater’s parking lot.”
And because the theater has a strong connection to IMAX, it learned that “Back to the Future” was coming out in that format in the fall. “When we found out that Michael J. Fox was hanging out here for the summer, we asked for an early look at that,” Mr. Kohn said. Not only did Mr. Fox attend the showing and hold forth at length beforehand, through a friend of a friend the theater managed to park out front a DeLorean, the iconic auto that served as the time machine in the film.
“The screening sold out in minutes,” said Mr. Kohn, who added that the line wound around the corner onto Windmill Lane.
“We’ve had a lot of children’s programs here, including Playhouse Junior,” which had nine programs on Sunday mornings during the summer, Ms. Botsacos said. “Before the films, Craft Studios came in so kids could do arts and crafts in the theater’s lounge.”
Noting the strong year-round community in Southampton, Ms. Botsacos spoke about the theater’s outreach. “We’ve worked most recently with the Fresh Air Fund, hosting a screening in theater four for 20 individuals who are wheelchair-bound.”
While that theater seats 150, the bleacher seating can be collapsed so that it protrudes only four feet from the rear wall, and the other seats are on wheels so they can be removed. It also can be accessed directly from the parking area. As a result it could not only comfortably accommodate 20 people in wheelchairs, it enabled a sensory-friendly screening with Luv Michael, which has homes for young adults on the autism spectrum.
“A lot of times individuals who have sensory issues need to get up, take a break, walk around a bit, so collapsing the bleacher seating made that possible for the group in a space they felt they could trust,” Ms. Botsacos said.
Another unusual feature of the theater is the Playhouse Post, a blog written by Mr. Kohn whose subjects range from “How ‘Psycho’ Reshaped the Moviegoing Experience” to “The 15 Best Movie Scenes of 2025” to “Behind the Scenes of the Year’s Most Courageous Oscar Contender.”
“I always say when I introduce screenings that if you sign up for the Playhouse Post, which is my newsletter, you get my email address and can suggest something you want to see here, give feedback; all kind of things come out of that.”
Because the newsletter launched before the theater opened, in January Mr. Kohn heard from a man who worked at the theater in 1954, when he was 14 years old. “That intimate back and forth is something that helps us cultivate an identity that goes beyond being a traditional movie theater. It should be a two-way street.”
Repertory is an important aspect of the theater’s programming, and its 35-millimeter projectors can accommodate older films. Mr. Kohn noted the fresh interest in analog media during an oversaturated digital era. “Vinyl is cool, so 35-millimeter is a draw. Everything used to be on 35-millimeter, but now it’s special.”
Holidays on Hill Street, the current repertory series, included “A Christmas Story” (1983), “The Shop Around the Corner” (1940), “The Third Man” (1949), “Elf” (2003), and will wrap up on Monday and Tuesday with “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946).
Among the recent or current first-run features, however, are “Rolling Stones at the Max” in IMAX, “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” “Hamnet,” and “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.”
But even the first-run features are often an occasion for related events. When “Jurassic World Rebirth” opened during the summer, paleontologists from Stony Brook University brought dinosaur bones to the theater and displayed them in the lounge area. “Jaws: 50th Anniversary” had representatives of the South Fork Natural History Museum at the theater with shark-tracking materials.
Ms. Botsacos said that while being good neighbors is vital, connecting with friends in the industry is important as well. “The Hamptons International Film Festival was eager to come back and we made that happen” with the screening of “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror,” which was accompanied by the Invisible Czars, who played their new score for the film at the theater.
This year’s Hamptons Doc Fest closed at the Playhouse with “Lost Wolves of Yellowstone.” It was the first time that festival could show a film in IMAX. “It’s nice in a festival context to have IMAX available, so we’re hoping to grow that,” said Mr. Kohn.
“One of the things that struck me when we opened is that Eric programmed ‘Trouble in Paradise’ as part of the Spirit of 32,” Ms. Botsacos said. “This building has been standing since 1932, and when that happened the film experience was conceived as being communal. We wouldn’t even have imagined that we would be watching film on our personal computers. That feeling, that emotion that comes from having that communal experience of laughing or crying with a stranger, we’ve done that this year really successfully. We’ve seen that people do crave that.”
