New Hampshire Theatre Project Launches New Stages Campaign

New Hampshire Theatre Project has announced a $10,000 grant award from the Eppes-Jefferson Foundation.  This generous donation successfully kicks off NHTP's New Stages Campaign, with a goal to raise $100,000 in 2025. 

New Stages offers champions of NHTP the opportunity to support this beloved 37-year-old nonprofit during its exciting transition from a small, founder-driven organization to a statewide leader in applied theatre programming. As NHTP moves into the future post-Covid, the new leadership team will focus strategically on three distinct projects that serve NHTP's mission of using theatre arts to spark conversation, connect individuals and build community. 

This includes a refocused emphasis on marketing and touring the award-winning Elephant-in-the-Room Series, including two new programs on Youth Mental Health and Navigating Eldercare. NHTP will also be rebranding its popular life-skills professional development training programs, and producing a scaled-back MainStage season that focuses on contemporary productions with themes that provoke conversation and touch on issues highlighted in the Elephant-in-the-Room Series.

NHTP's first MainStage production of the season will be Faithless by Jon Klein, premiering February 21 and running until March 9, with performances on Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 4:00pm, and Sundays at 2:30pm. Faithless is a sharp and authentic comedy-drama about an aging atheist named Gus, recovering from cancer, who is forced to deal with two grown stepchildren: a Presbyterian minister who is suffering from a crisis of faith, and a young woman who seems to have had a glimpse of the afterlife after a head injury. He is also dismayed by his adopted child, a teenager who suddenly decides she'd like to be a nun.  The play humorously explores deep questions of faith, doubt, death and dying, and a family coping with grief.

Executive Director Sean Robinson says, “New Hampshire Theatre Project has a 37 year history of not only producing quality theatre that matters, but of incredible outreach in this community through innovative programs that have made a difference in people's lives. NHTP is about applying theatre to start conversations, shed light on issues, help people develop professional and personal skills, and to strengthen connection between individuals and communities. Now, it's time to grow that vision.” 

“Our founder Genevieve Aichele worked tirelessly over the years, with endless unpaid hours, to bring NHTP where it is today,” says Robinson. “This New Stages campaign will allow us to develop and grow the programs we offer and be of greater service to communities throughout New Hampshire.  We're streamlining our focus and moving toward a more sustainable infrastructure that will carry this organization into the future.” 

Board President CJ Lewis says, “This is a very exciting time for New Hampshire Theatre Project. There's a lot of enthusiasm for this organizational pivot, both internally and with our longstanding supporters and collaborators. We've got a refined vision that focuses on our strengths and bolsters the type of innovative programming that NHTP has become known for: utilizing the creative and theatrical arts as a thoughtful tool for personal, professional, and community transformation. We're in the process of bringing fresh energy to our company, expanding our networks, and adding passionate individuals to our team as we work to expand our reach throughout the entirety of the state. It's invigorating!”

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