Contact: Jon L. Egging, Marketing Director
jlegging@peterboroughplayers.org
603-924-9344

Written by George Bernard Shaw and first produced in 1904 CANDIDA not only salutes the old, established institution of marriage, but skewers it as well. The most produced playwright in Players' history, has given us a warm and witty play that both challenges the conventional wisdom about relationships between the sexes and presents a delightful trio of characters- a young poet, a self-assured (and self-satisfied) vicar, and the vicar's wife Candida. It challenges and entertains.

CANDIDA is the story of what happens when Eugene Marchbanks, a young, utterly romantic, completely dreamy, totally inexperienced young man who does nothing but write poetry and agonize about the world, challenges a mature, experienced, wordly, powerful public speaker, the Reverend James Morell, for the love of Morell's wife, Candida. The other people in the Morell household--his secretary, Proserpine Garnett, his curate, Lexy Mills, and his father-in-law, Mr. Burgess, find themselves caught up in what happens without really understanding what's going on. The comic--and ironic--nature of the play comes from the fact that Marchbanks gives Morell the fight of his life for his wife--and Morell is forced to learn some things about himself that Candida and Marchbanks can see with perfect clarity--things that Morell cannot see at all. At times serious and touching, and peppered with highly comic scenes, Shaw's uncharacteristically romantic play tests the boundaries of individuals' expected roles within a marriage and, to a larger extent, within society.

Although now one of the most-produced of his plays, Shaw held onto the piece for a number of years after writing it in 1894, sharing it only with his close friends. Unlike many of Shaw's plays, CANDIDA does not have strong political overtones -- the politics of this play focus on those existing within the relationships.

The CANDIDA cast is led by Lisa Bostnar in the title role with Gus Kaikkonen as her husband Reverend James Morell, Kraig Swartz as the young poet Marchbanks, Michael Page as Burgess, Dan Hodge as Lexy, and Dale Hodges as Proserpine. The design team includes Charles Morgan (Scenic Design), Michael Kimmel and Lisa Weinshrott (Lighting Design) and Henry Shaffer (Costume Design). CANDIDA opens on Wednesday, July 16, and runs through Sunday, July 27. CANDIDA is rated G.

The Peterborough Players is sponsored in part by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Hampshire Humanities Council, the A. Erland and Hazel M. Goyette Memorial Fund, and the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation.

Season subscriptions are now on sale at the Players Box Office. For reservations and further information, call (603) 924-7585, tickets are also available online at the Peterborough Players web site: www.peterboroughplayers.org.