The Teen Stage ensemble of Seacoast Repertory Theatre has doubled in size since last year with the new youth department directors Miles Burns and Grady O'Neil. The Rep's Teen Stage Ensemble is a group comprised of 16 Seacoast teenagers who all share the same passion for theatre. Through workshops and exercises the Teen Stage Ensemble (or TSE) works to produce a completely original show each year. Last year the TSE produced a teen version of Man of La Mancha that ran in conjunction with the Rep's Mainstage show. This year to help bring something new and completely original to the table, The TSE is producing a show called "The Upside of Being Down" for The Teen Main Stage Show.
The Upside of Being Down follows the unique campers of a theatre day camp, as they learn from each other in very enigmatic ways. The campers come face-to-face with the problem of bullying, a child with Aspergers Syndrome, and one camper who is deaf. Through small vignettes and original songs the campers learn to love their differences and work together to fight adversity amongst themselves.
The Cast of The Upside of Being Down features Morgan Blanchard (Rye, NH) Travis Durand, Emma Bowers, Olivia Nossiff, Jared Lucier, Emily Costa (Portsmouth, NH), Zoe Sprankle, Sydney Porter (South Berwick, ME), Eimile Bowden (York, ME), Emma Letourneau (Exeter, NH), Abby Scharff (Greenland, NH), Bridget Keaveney (Newfields, NH), Michael Peele (Eliot, ME), and Alison Hiah (Newington, NH).
The Upside of Being Down is an original work written by Rep Youth Director Miles Burns, with the help of Alden Caple and Kimberly Burke. Original music and lyrics by Miles Burns. Directed by Alden Caple and Monique Peaslee Foot. Upside is meant to remind the audience of little the things that people forget about as they get older and wiser, things like sharing, pretending, accepting, apologizing and how great it can feel to try something new or to make a new friend. Perhaps the driving force of this story is that above all else always be yourself and embrace the part you play. "Listen with your eyes; listen with your hearts, the reason why we're different is we all play different parts."
The Upside of Being Down runs Friday March 9th at 7:30pm, Saturday March 10th at 8pm, and Sunday March 11th at 2pm. Tickets are $8-12. To purchase tickets please visit or call the box office at 603.433.4472 or visit seacoastrep.org to purchase online.
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