Peterborough Players Presents Their 86th Year Of Professional Theatre

A graceful examination of a collision of cultures. A comedy about the hilarious eccentricities of Midwestern family life. A big Broadway musical where lonely hearts fall in love. A play about an artist's responsibility for his art with some of the most beautiful music in the world. After 86 years, the 2019 season at the Peterborough Players promises to continue their tradition of producing delightful, surprising, thought-provoking professional theatre at the highest level. In addition, this year boasts an entire season of American Playwrights.

The season opens with Mahida's Extra Key to Heaven, by New Hampshire playwright Russell Davis, on stage June 19-30. A young American painter encounters a wary Iranian college student waiting for a ferry that will not come until the next day. What follows is a graceful plumbing of a collision of cultures, that speaks in a language painfully current and eloquent, unique and haunting. Aliah Whitmore, granddaughter of Tony Award winner and beloved Players company member James Whitmore, plays Mahida. Rated PG-13.

The witty and unconventional love story Gertrude Stein and a Companion, by Win Wells, runs from July 3-14. The play explores the 40-year relationship between Stein, an avant-garde novelist, poet, playwright and art collector, and her partner, editor and muse, Alice B. Toklas - whose recipe for hashish brownies in her 1952 cookbook, Thornton Wilder called "the publicity stunt of the year." In the early 1900s these women left behind their privileged American lives and found refuge, and each other, in bohemian Paris. Broadway veterans and Players' favorites Becky London and Dale Hodges star. Rated PG-13.

The third show of the season is a hysterical semi-autobiographical comedy that captures Midwestern eccentricity to hilarious effect. Morning's at Seven by Paul Obsorn follows the four highly strung Gibbs sisters, who have lived next door to each other most of their lives. What will they do when the only child produced between them (40-year-old Homer) finally brings home the woman he's been courting for 11 years? With idiosyncrasies on full display, the family navigates the visit and each other. Audiences will recognize company members Tom Frey, Ken Sheldon, Kathy Manfre, Lisa Bostnar, Kraig Swartz and more. On stage July 17-28th.

One of the most charming musicals ever written, She Loves Me is the big Broadway musical of the season; a heart-stopping comedy about finding love in A VERY OLD-fashioned way. Georg and Amalia, sparring co-workers in a 1930s Budapest perfume shop, simply can't see eye to eye. But using the "lonely hearts advertisements" in the newspaper, each of them has found and fallen for the perfect secret admirer. Inspired by the same source material as The Shop Around the Corner starring James Stewart and In the Good Old Summertime starring Judy Garland and written by the team behind Fiddler on the Roof (Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock) and the book writer for Cabaret (Joe Masteroff), She Loves Me is certain to make anyone fall in love. The show runs July 31-August 11. Rated PG.

From August 14-25, the Players present Dumas' Camille, written by Charles Morey (the playwright behind Laughing Stock). Both a deeply romantic love story and a thought-provoking exploration of the relationship between truth, memory, and art, the play is filled with some of the most beautiful music ever written. In 1895 Paris, the aging Alexandre Dumas observes a rehearsal of Verdi's La Traviata, the opera adapted from his novel and play, The Lady of the Camellias which in turn were inspired by his youthful real-life love affair with the most beautiful courtesan in Paris. Prompted by selections from the opera's soaring arias and duets, Dumas is forced to confront his guilt, regrets, and memory of lost love. Artistic Director Gus Kaikkonen appears as Dumas.

The sixth show of the Players' season asks, what happened after Ibsen's Nora slammed the door? From August 28th through September 8th, the brilliant comedy A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath (the most produced play in America during the 2018-19 season) picks up the story of Ibsen's classic A Doll's House, in a witty, sharp, and modern play about conflict, commitment, and consequences. Players' favorites Lisa Bostnar and Carolyn Michel take on the roles played on Broadway by Tony winners Laurie Metcalf and Players alum Jayne Houdyshell. Rated PG-13

The Main Stage season closes with Rose, by Martin Sherman, on stage from September 11-15. Rose is a survivor. Her remarkable life began in a tiny Russian village, took her to Warsaw's ghettos and a ship called The Exodus, and finally to the boardwalks of Atlantic City, the Arizona canyons and salsa-flavored nights in Miami Beach. The play is both a sharply drawn portrait of a feisty Jewish woman and a moving reminder of some of the events that shaped the 20th century.

Not to be missed, the Players Second Company presents two shows, perfect for the whole family. How I Became a Pirate, based on the popular book, is a dancing, singing, swashbuckling adventure with a band of comical pirates, running from June 22-July 20th. Cindy Reilly, a modern musical retelling of the Cinderella story, is on stage from August 17-24.

All ticket options are on sale now. For more information on the season, call the Players Box Office at 603-924-7585 or visit them online at www.peterboroughplayers.org.

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