THE PETERBOROUGH PLAYERS ANNOUNCES THE 2007 SUMMER SEASON
February 21, 2007

For Further Information, Contact:
Keith Stevens, Managing Director
(603)924-9344
kstevens@peterboroughplayers.org

At the 2007 Annual Meeting on February 10, the Peterborough Players announced the summer season of plays at its historic theatre on Hadley Road. Season highlights include the return of James Whitmore Senior and Junior, a contemporary musical, three plays produced in celebration of the MacDowell Colony’s centennial and, for the first time, a seventh show in the mainstage season.

Thanks to a grant from the New Hampshire Charitable Fund, the Players will produce Shakespeare’s comedy THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, its seventh collaborative project with area schools. In the tradition of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, PEG O’ MY HEART, LIGHT UP THE SKY, LA DISPUTE, LOVE’S LABOURS LOST, and MUSEUM, this year’s production will feature the best in local high school talent working alongside professional actors, directors, designers, and technicians. THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA features young love, double crosses, a band of outlaws, cunning disguises, mistaken identities, narrow escapes, and a dog named Crab. This production is tentatively scheduled for May 31 through June 3, although the dates may change depending upon schools end-of-year schedules.

The season opens with VISITING MR. GREEN, a comedy by Jeff Baron running June 20 through July 1. Mr. Green is a cantankerous retired dry cleaner. Ross is a hard-charging 29-year-old corporate executive. Through a twist of fate (and an unusual ruling by a judge) the young man is given community service of helping the recent widower once a week for six months. What begins as an “odd couple” comedy becomes a gripping and moving drama as they get to know each other, care for each other, and reveal secrets they’ve been hiding for years. Translated into 22 languages, VISITING MR. GREEN has won numerous awards around the world. In Theatre said “a modern classic like this comes along once in a blue moon. A crowd pleaser pure and simple,” while the Chicago Daily Herald called the play “one of the best shows around.” VISITING MR. GREEN is rated PG.

THE LAST FIVE YEARS, a contemporary musical written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, runs from July 4 through July 15. A 2002 Drama Desk Award Winner for outstanding music and lyrics, THE LAST FIVE YEARS is an ingenious and intensely personal look at the relationship between a writer and an actress told from both points of view. Written by Tony-winner Jason Robert Brown (PARADE, SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD) the show features beautiful music and lyrics both humorous and heartfelt. THE LAST FIVE YEARS is one of the most inventive musicals written in the last twenty-five years. Linda Winer of Newsday said "unpredictably heartfelt insights, energized by a seductive, rhythmic drive,“ while the Chicago Tribune said the show is “exciting, innovative and altogether inspiring.” THE LAST FIVE YEARS is rated PG-13, and contains some adult situations.

THE HEIRESS, a drama by Ruth and Augustus Goetz and suggested by the novel Washington Square by Henry James, runs from July 18 through July 29. A plain young girl falls desperately in love with a dashing and debonair young man. Are his intentions honorable, or is he simply a fortune hunter? After he is sent packing once, the young man returns. Will Catherine be able to ascertain his game in time? This classic play has been an enormous success both times it has been produced on Broadway. According to the New York Daily News, “THE HEIRESS has a wealth of treasures to bestow; it would be foolish to abstain from one‘s share in them.” THE HEIRESS is rated PG.

James Whitmore returns to star in the hilarious comedy THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, playing August 1 through August 19 in a special three-week run. What do young love, ex-convicts, penguins, an octopus, 10,000 cockroaches, strange visitors remarkably like Noel Coward and Harpo Marx, and a mummy case have in common: Sheridan Whiteside! Based on Alexander Woolcott, the most irascible critic and celebrity of his day, Whiteside is the one of a kind title character. This classic comedy by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman (who also wrote YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU) stars the incomparable Whitmore as Whiteside, and features his son, James Whitmore Jr., and a cast of thousands (ok, over 20) in an uproarious and unforgettable evening of theatre. The New York Times said "THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER revels in the wonderful, horrible and glamorously impossible ways of the wild and celebrated.” THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER is rated G.

THE UNDERPANTS, a comedy adapted by Steve Martin from a play by Carl Sternheim, runs from August 22 through September 2. Theo is a dour and conservative government clerk. His wife Louise is pretty and spirited (if rather dim). Their quiet existence is turned upside-down when Louise’s bloomers drop in public. Suddenly Theo’s position seems less secure and Louise draws the attentions of men throughout the town. When two suitors follow her home, mix-ups pile on top of each other at breakneck speed. THE UNDERPANTS is a zany farce from Martin, the renowned comic actor and author of PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE. The New York Daily News called the play “a hilarious, over-the-top farce,” while the New York Times said “thankfully we have practitioners like Steve Martin, who is pursuing the intelligent laugh across the narrative arts with ardor and seriousness and a good deal of skill.” THE UNDERPANTS is rated PG-13 and contains some adult language and situations.

Closing the subscription season is Henrik Ibsen’s A DOLL HOUSE, in a new translation by Gus Kaikkonen, running September 5 through September 16. Ibsen‘s ground-breaking domestic drama, which ushered in the era of stage realism and caused an uproar when premiered in 1879, is still relevant today. Nora Helmer is a lively young housewife who has been kept as a doll by her husband. Beneath her vivacious exterior, however, lurks a secret that, when exposed, sets the stage for one of the most famous and scandalous climaxes in all of drama. Time Magazine said of a recent revival “a thunderclap of an evening that takes your breath away.” A DOLL HOUSE is rated PG.

Following the six play subscription season, the Players will present Todd Almond reprising his award-winning role in the one-man tour de force I AM MY OWN WIFE from September 16 through September 30. This production marks the first time a seventh mainstage show has been produced, and is not included as part of any subscription package. Almond, well-known to Peterborough audiences for his roles in YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN, A NUMBER, LAUGHING STOCK, and PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES as well as his frequent appearances in post-show cabarets, has performed I AM MY OWN WIFE at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (the first regional theatre production of the show), Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Florida Studio Theatre. One of the most honored plays in recent memory, I AM MY OWN WIFE won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize and the 2004 Tony Award for best play, and tells the fascinating and true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a real-life German transvestite. Portraying more than 30 characters, Almond tells the story o Charlotte’s survival of both the Nazi and East German Communist regimes. The New York Times said “I AM MY OWN WIFE is the most stirring new work to appear on Broadway this fall…both moving and intellectually absorbing,” while nytheatre.com said “a truly remarkable experience in the theatre, I AM MY OWN WIFE is a must-see.” I AM MY OWN WIFE is rated PG-13 and contains adult language and situations.

In addition to the six plays in the subscription season and I AM MY OWN WIFE, the Second Company will present two plays for children and families. Second Company productions feature members of the Players Intern and Apprentice company, and are designed to be enjoyed by children age 4 and up. Plan to make a day of it by packing a lunch to enjoy on the grounds. Be sure to stick around after the show so the kids can meet the cast on the patio! Second Company productions are not included as part of any subscription package. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Deborah Lynn Frockt from the story by Lewis Carroll will be performed at 10:30 am June 29 and 30 and July 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 20, 21, 25, 27, and 28. Join Alice, the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter and all the familiar characters in a wonderful adventure through the looking glass, told with the Second Company‘s trademark inventiveness and wit. The whole family will enjoy this rollicking adaptation of Carroll’s classic. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND is suitable for children age 4 and up.

The Second Company will also present Thornton Wilder’s THE LONG CHRISMAS DINNER, with performances at 2 PM August 11, 7 PM August 13, and 2 PM August 15, 17, and 18. Through ninety years and four generations, the Bayard family celebrates Christmas with a traditional holiday dinner. THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER is astonishing in its stagecraft, using the same simple, focused, and spare use of stage, scenery, and costume which Wilder developed brilliantly in other plays such as OUR TOWN. Reminiscent of the Second Company‘s production of LITTLE WOMEN and directed by Gus Kaikkonen, THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER will teach young audiences of the importance of family, and enchant older audiences with its heartwarming story of familial tradition. THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER is suitable for children age 8 and up.

To celebrate the MacDowell Colony’s Centennial, the Players will produce three plays written or adapted by Colony Fellows: THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER by Thornton Wilder, I AM MY OWN WIFE by Doug Wright, and A DOLL’S HOUSE adapted by Gus Kaikkonen.

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

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

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