Contact: Jon L. Egging, Marketing Director, (603) 924-9344

The second show of the Peterborough Players summer season, Lettice and Lovage, opens on July 1 and runs until July 10. Written by Peter Shaffer (who also wrote Equus and Amadeus), Lettice and Lovage is a hilarious comedy about Lettice Douffet (played by Lisa Bostnar), a very eccentric and theatrical tour guide at Fustian House, the least interesting stately home in England. After Lettice decides to liven up her tour lecture by creating an imaginative (and far more interesting) past for the exceedingly dull house, she is fired by Lotte Schoen, an inspector from the Preservation Trust (portrayed by Players favorite Dale Hodges) who is a conservative woman quite in tune with today’s modern world. While Lotte is dismayed by Lettice’s straying from the facts, she is fascinated by her unique perspective on past and current events. Even though the two seem to be complete opposites they do have one thing in common: their love for history. Both believe that the past was a thing of beauty, and Lotte is drawn in bit by bit to Lettice’s world of reenacted British history, fanciful costumes and Elizabethan cuisine. The two refuse to accept the mediocre and second rate, and forge an unlikely and hilarious alliance to awaken their fellow citizens.

Also featured in the cast are Kathy Manfre as Lotte’s harried assistant Miss Framer and Michael Page as Bardolph, a confused barrister assigned to a court case involving the two women. Rounding out the cast are members of the Players’ Second Company as tourists led through Fustian House in Lettice’s inimitable style.

Lettice and Lovage is directed by Players’ Artistic Director Gus Kaikkonen. Scenic design is by Lee Dunholter, costumes by Lisa Liebetrau, and lighting by Junko Yamada. The show will be stage manage by Rachel R. Bush and Allison Deutsch.

Performance times for Lettice and Lovage are 8:00 PM Tuesday -Saturday with matinees at 4 PM on Sundays.

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. The 2005 Media Sponsor is the Keene Sentinel.

Season subscriptions are now on sale at the Players Box Office. For reservations to Letitce and Lovage, any other show in the 2005 season or for further information, call (603) 924-7585, or visit the Peterborough Players web site at www.peterboroughplayers.org.

Lettice and Lovage is rated “PG,” and is sponsored by Belletetes and Rivermead.