Peterborough Players Announce 2017 Summer Season!

With the success of their Inaugural Winter Season, 2017 has already been a special year for the Peterborough Players. But not known to rest on their laurels, the Players have announced a Summer Season that is sure to delight the thousands that attend their theatre each summer. And at the heart of the season is their first big musical in years. Familiar subscription packages and passes are being offered (and are on sale now) as the best options for the most savings and flexibility for experiencing the upcoming season.

The season begins with the New Hampshire Premiere of the Matthew Lopez drama, The Whipping Man playing June 21-July 2. The Whipping Man tells the story of a confederate solider returning from war only to find his home abandoned but for two of his families former slaves, who were raised as Jews. This reunion uncovers deep-buried secrets... ties that bind them together and that, ultimately, could cost each man his freedom.

The Players continue the season with the New Hampshire Premiere of Nick Payne's romantic drama Constellations (July 5-16). An off-broadway hit which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson, Constellations is a spellbinding journey that begins with a simple encounter between a man and a woman: Marianne and Roland. Their relationship then unfolds across time and space, defying the boundaries of the world we think we know, delving into the infinite possibilities of their relationship and raising questions about the difference between choice and destiny. How does one word alter the course of your life?

The third show of the season sees the Players bringing back a production that they haven't performed since 1987, Joseph Kesselring's thrilling comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace (July 19-30). Spinster sisters Abby and Martha Brewster are devoted to charity and family. But they have taken on another project as well - befriending lonely older gentlemen and offering an unusual form of "hospitality" involving their special homemade elderberry wine. Their nephew Mortimer, paying them a visit on the eve of his engagement, finds himself in the midst of mayhem as he tries to keep his aunt's endeavors at bay.

The Players then bring Broadway to Peterborough with Mel Brooks' The Producers (August 2-13). Want to make it big on Broadway? Produce a stinker of a play! Or at least that is the scheme hatched by a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer, Max Bialystock, and a peculiar accountant, Leo Bloom. Sounds easy, right... but what if the play turns out to be a hit?! Winner of a record 12 Tony Awards, Broadway comes to Peterborough with this gloriously entertaining, insanely funny musical. The show will be Directed by Gus Kaikkonen with Musical Direction by Michael Sebastian and Choreography by Peggy Hickey (Broadway's Tony Award Winning Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Anastasia).

A timely, compassionate and witty classic will be the Players fifth show of the season: master playwright, George Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma (August 16-27). London's finest physician, at the peak of his career, is on the horns of a dilemma-having discovered a miracle cure for tuberculosis, should he treat a penniless fellow doctor or save a talented yet unscrupulous artist? A keen-eyed examination of medical morals and malpractice.

The Players then present another New Hampshire Premiere with the comedy Wittenberg (August 30-September 10). University of Wittenberg, October 1517. Hamlet, his mentor John Faustus, and Faustus' colleague and Hamlet's instructor and priest, Martin Luther, all collide in a brilliant theatrical construction by playwright David Davalos. A smart, sprightly, and audacious battle of wits, the play brings us the story behind the stories in a highly entertaining and accessible exploration of reason versus faith.

The season closes with a special event, Comedy Tonight! (September 13-17). Jane Condon returns to the Players with her unique brand of humor. And this time she's bringing two of her funniest friends with her! A night of laughter and fun, Comedy Tonight! is a perfectly hilarious finale to our 2017 Summer Season.

The season also brings with it 2 plays for children and families performed by the Players Second Company. First is a musical adaptation of the classic children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst which plays June 24-July 22. Next up is Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, dramatized by Richard R. George which plays August 19-26.

Subscriptions and passes are on sale now and single tickets for the Main Stage productions go on sale May 15. Single tickets for the Second Company plays are on sale now. For more information on the season and available ticket options, call the Players Box Office at 603-924-7585 or visit them online at www.peterboroughplayers.org.

The Peterborough Players, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, has been providing professional theatre to audiences since 1933 and are located at 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH.

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