Center Sandwich, NH, – Off The Dock Players are at it again—this time, on the porch! After the success of such thought-provoking plays as The Humans, by Stephen Karam and A Doll’s House, Part 2, by Lucas Hnath, the troupe is producing a Covid-careful, slightly immersive, outdoor theater experience including two one-act plays written by the inimitable Tennessee Williams. Starring in At Liberty and Something Unspoken are Ashley Bullard, Rebecca Cole, Marena Harris and Lisa Thompson. The production will be directed by Nancy Blaine.

A mother waits for her daughter who is out too late on a chilly southern night. A secretary avoids her employer’s insistence to verbalize what she does not dare. Tennessee Williams is known for exploring the depths of the human condition with dialogue so sharp and telling that we might find ourselves a little embarrassed at the truths he reveals. All with a lyrical southern sarcasm that makes you laugh out loud at the audacity with which his characters speak to one another. Audacity and truth—two characteristics of any Tennessee Williams play.

In these socially-distant pandemic times, Off the Dock is carefully managing seating (limited tickets), offering a pre-packaged southern-type picnic snack on the lawn, with an elevated porch as the perfect stage for two funny, yet deeply moving, southern tales of discontent.

The first weekend performances on 9/25 and 9/26 are at the Cole home at 161 Holderness Road in Center Sandwich. The second weekend performances on 10/3 and 10/4 will be performed at the beautiful Highland House in Tamworth. Picnic and seating begin an hour before each performance and the running time of the 2 one act plays is one hour.

“We wanted to reach out to our two nearby communities because the actors’ residences are split between Sandwich and Tamworth,” said Nancy Blaine. “Additionally, we love to collaborate with local businesses and offer an experience as much as a play. This production, due to the pandemic, has forced us to rethink staging, and what works better than Tennessee Williams on a porch?! I have always been interested in working in less traditional theater environments and Rebecca’s porch along with Dale’s barn seemed like a perfect start.”

Tickets can be purchased at offthedockplayers.com and show times/venues are as follows:  Cole Residence, 161 Holderness Road, Center Sandwich, September 25th and 26th, 5:30 picnic/6:30 show. A Sunday, September 27th matinee has been added due to the demand for tickets.

The Highland House, 654 Cleveland Road, Tamworth NH, October 3rd at 5:30/6:30 and October 4th matinee at 3:00/4:00

NOTE: We are delighted at the response!  Sold out shows for Friday and Saturday and an added show for Sunday at 3:00 (tickets still available). We also have some seats available for our October 3rd and 4th performances in Tamworth. 

Advice To The Players, Sandwich’s Own Shakespeare company, is proud to present their Summer Mainstage Production of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, August 1 - 11, in Quimby Park and in The Sandwich Town Hall Theater.

Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure is a commentary on the trifecta of power, sex, and morality: centering around the fate of a pious sister forced into a difficult situation, a moralistic leader who does not walk the talk he preaches, and a Duke in disguise. Trickery abounds and hard issues are tackled in this lesser-known of Shakespeare’s ‘comedies.’

The production will star new and familiar ATTP actors, including company founder Caroline Nesbitt, Luke Haskell, Ellie Bartz, and introducing Jake Berger, Salvatore Constantino, Alicia Edgar, Pauline de Gourcuff, and Alexei du Perier. The production will be directed by ATTP’s former Artistic Director Andrew Codispoti. It is a very timely production for the ‘me too’ era that you don’t want to miss!

Tickets are available online at www.advicetotheplayers.org or by calling 603-284-7115. Adult, Senior and Student tickets are available. Preview performance in Quimby Park at 5:30 pm on August 1st is $10 for all tickets. There will also be a special free performance at Eagle Square in Concord, August 9th at 5:30 pm.

Additional Performances at Quimby Park are August 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10th & 11th at 5:30 pm: at the Sandwich Town Hall Theatre August 3rd at 7:30 pm and August 8th at 2 pm. ATTP’s 20th Anniversary Gala will follow the August 4th Performance— tickets can be purchased individually to both events or you can buy a package. August 10th you can treat yourself to a double feature and bring a picnic to Measure for Measure and then head inside Town Hall to see the Yeoman’s Fund production of Elderville. In the case of rain, all Quimby Park dates will move inside to the Sandwich Town Hall Theater. 

Advice To The Players is a unique company of theater professionals, enthusiastic community members and energetic teens that have been performing Shakespeare and offering workshops in New Hampshire’s Lakes and Mountains Region since 1999. Based in Sandwich, NH, ATTP has spent the last 20 years bringing award-winning productions of William Shakespeare’s richly passionate plays to life while introducing new generations to live theater.

Elderville, an “almost entirely new” operetta by Ellen Farnum, offers a rollicking, humorous take on aging. The setting is a Brigadoon-like place where, if you wander in and don’t leave, you quickly age to 82. After that, you stay 82 forever and life is idyllic: the soup is never too hot, there’s always a bathroom nearby, and there’s time for a nap every day. While finding humor in aging, Elderville also celebrates the delights of being free from the pressures of youth and work and the joy of having time to relax and follow one’s passions.

When two young professionals mistakenly walk in and lose their cell phone connection, they’re invited to join this community of contented senior citizens. This celebration of age is expressed by the actors, singers, and dancers, all of whom qualify for the senior discount with the exception of the two youthful leads, Ashley Bullard and Michael Kaye. They face a difficult decision: will they stay or will they leave?

The music is adapted from the scores of Gilbert & Sullivan’s tuneful operettas, but with timely new words by Ellen Farnum: the famous “We’ve got them on a list” chorus from The Mikado, for example, lists “the telemarketer who likes to call your house at ten” and “the folks who start the Christmas season way before its time” as among those who will “not be missed.”

Elderville also celebrates Sandwich history and tradition by offering a lively summer musical on the stage of the Sandwich Town Hall. From 1953 until 2000, these summer musicals — often Gilbert & Sullivan operettas —featured local citizens. Elderville also honors the memory of Bob Bates, who directed Sandwich musicals for decades and whose inspiration changed forever the experience of music for the citizens of Sandwich and nearby towns. Since Bob shuffled off this mortal coil in 2000 (his words!), Sandwich Players and Advice to the Players have continued to mount productions on the Sandwich stage, but this is the first musical in years, and certainly the first of its kind.

At least half of the 2019 cast and crew have connections to those historic Sandwich musicals. As a child, Heather Hamilton played under the grand piano while her mother Ellen Farnum was rehearsing; now, as Professor of Theater and Dance at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Dr. Hamilton returns as the new operetta’s Director.

Cast member Jean Knox remembers watching her mother on stage and thinking “This must be what Broadway is like!” Later she understood that the exuberant Sandwich productions had an enthusiasm and energy she missed in more professional productions. Many other cast members bring warm memories of past performances to this new endeavor. Some chorus members have been recruited from the Sandwich Singers and the Silver Lake Singers.

The Music Director is Peggy Johnson, whose children shared space with Heather under the grand piano; Assistant Directors are Mary Edes and Ellen Farnum.

The world premier of Elderville is sponsored by the Yeoman’s Fund for the Arts, which “promotes and funds programs and events that strengthen the bonds of community by reaching a broad range of area residents across the generations, exposing them to artistic excellence, involving them in the creative process, and leading them to lives of greater creativity, self-expression and joy.” Elderville promises to do all that and more!

Elderville, in one act and about an hour long, will be presented at the Sandwich Town Hall during Old Home Week for three evenings only: August 8, 9, and 10 at 7:30 p.m. Seating is limited, and admission is by donation. To reserve tickets E-MAIL eldervilleshow@gmail.com with your request. Tickets must be picked up by 7:15, after which they will be released to those on the waiting list and to walk-ins.

For more information, e-mail eldervilleshow@gmail.com or contact Ann or
David Wilkins at 603-367-8222

Advice To The Players, Sandwich’s own Shakespeare Company, is starting their 20th Anniversary season with one of the Bard’s famous comedies, The Taming of the Shrew, directed by ATTP founder Caroline Nesbitt, and presented by an all-star ATTP cast, including Carsey Walker, Jr., Kimberly Miller, Rebecca Mansfield, Dennis Sullivan, Frederick Bickford, Luke Haskell, Corey Trask, Ellie Bartz, Andrew Burke, and Vicky Dworkin, along with Amelia Nudd-Homeyer, Kat Sugar, CJ Dall, Andrew Sugar, and Ginger Priestman. This production is sponsored by Meredith Village Savings Bank.

A play within a play, The Taming of the Shrew tells the story of a Lord’s trick on a local drunkard, in which he convinces the drunk that he is, in fact, a lord and has his servants put on a play to entertain him. The play they perform is the main story of The Taming of the Shrew – where an Italian noble, out of their wits with their eldest daughter Kate, a mean-spirited and independent woman, decrees that Kate must marry before her sweet, gentle, and beautiful younger sister Bianca can. Bianca’s suitors, of which there are many, despair; but it is her suitor Hortensio who comes up with the scheme to marry Kate off to his strong-willed and determined friend Petruchio.

Petruchio is enticed by Kate’s dowry, and decides to accept the challenge of ‘taming her’. Meanwhile, a young student named Lucentio has also fallen in love with Bianca and secretly woos her while the others are distracted with Kate and Petruchio’s tumultuous courtship – making The Taming of the Shrew a hilarious comedy from start to finish.

Performances will be at the Sandwich Town Hall Theater, March 15th, 16th, and 23rd
at 7:30 pm and March 17th & 24th at 2 pm. Tickets are available online at advicetotheplayers.org or by calling 603-284-7115.