February 18, 2009

Contact:
Lisa Murray
Development & PR Director
lmurray@peterboroughplayers.org
www.peterboroughplayers.org
 (603) 924-9344

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Peterborough Players Announces 2009 Season
Professional theatre offers a wide variety of plays for all ages

Peterborough, NH (February 18, 2009) – The Peterborough Players has just announced an exciting 2009 season. With two musicals, serious drama, classic and offbeat comedies, and two children’s shows, there’s something for everyone in this smorgasbord of offerings. The whole season will kick off with local high school students working alongside professionals in producing and performing a play, to-be-announced.

Mark your calendars:

•Bad Dates – A Comedy by Theresa Rebeck, Rated PG-13 – June 17-28
•The Breath of Life – A Drama by David Hare, Rated PG-13 – July 1-12
•I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change – A Musical Comedy with book 
and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, music by Jimmy Roberts, Rated PG-13 – July 15-26
•Little Shop of Horrors – A Musical Comedy with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken, Rated PG-13 – July 29-August 16
•Heartbreak House – A Comedy by George Bernard Shaw, Rated PG – August 19-30
•Copenhagen – A Drama by Michael Frayn, Rated PG-13 – September 2-13
•The Santaland Diaries – A Comedy by David Sedaris, adapted by Joe Montello, Rated PG-13 – September 16-27 (not suitable for children)

Second Company shows for children and their families:
• The Just So Stories – by Rudyard Kipling, adapted and directed by Sevanne Martin – 10:30 AM June 26 and 27, July 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 22, 24, 25
•Anne of Green Gables – dramatized by Joseph Robinette from the book by L. M. Montgomery –2PM August 22, 26, 28, and 29, 7PM August 24

To order subscriptions, go online to www.peterboroughplayers.org, or call the Box Office, Monday-Friday, 10AM-3PM at (603) 924-7585. 

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For a complete description of each play, please see addendum.

The Peterborough Players, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, has been providing world-class professional  theatre to local audiences since 1933. PO Box 118, 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH, 03458, (603) 924-9344. www.peterboroughplayers.org

The Peterborough Players is sponsored in part by the NH State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the NH Charitable Fund, the A. Erland and Hazel N. Goyette Memorial Fund, and the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation.
 

Peterborough Players 2009 Season

BAD DATES – A Comedy by Theresa Rebeck – June 17-28
Start the summer season with a laugh! A single mother’s hilarious journey of self-discovery involves a Romanian mob, shoes, a Buddhist rainstorm, a teenage daughter, shoes, and a few very bad dates . . . and did we mention shoes? This show had an extended run Off Broadway and has been a hit at theatres across the country. Bring your high heels. Rated PG-13

THE BREATH OF LIFE – A Drama by David Hare – July 1-12
Gauguin’s epigram, “Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge,” serves as the motto for this moral tale of two women in their sixties whose lives are interwoven in ways neither of them yet understands. When one shows up at the other’s rural English flat, the result is a surprising meditation on what can emerge when a man’s wife and mistress finally confront each other. The events of this single night come to echo the hidden course of their lives. David Hare has been described by the New York Post as “one of the few major playwrights in our language.” Rated PG-13

I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE – A Musical Comedy with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro, music by Jimmy Roberts – July 15-26
This celebration of the mating game takes on the truths and myths behind that contemporary conundrum we’ve all been part of known as "the relationship." Act I explores the romance and drama of dating and waiting to love and marriage. Fast forward to the realities of in-laws and newborns, trips in the family car, and pick-up techniques of the geriatric set in Act II. “Hilarious! The most entertaining show on or off Broadway!" – Gannett Newspapers Rated PG-13

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS – A Musical Comedy with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken – July 29-August 16
An atypical musical that showcases a down-and-out skid row floral assistant who becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers an exotic plant with a mysterious craving for fresh blood. Soon “Audrey II” grows into an ill-tempered, foul-mouthed, R&B-singing carnivore who offers him fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite. One of the longest-running Off-Broadway shows of all time, this affectionate spoof of 1950s sci-fi movies has become a household name, thanks to a highly successful film version and a brilliant musical score. Charming, tuneful, and hysterical, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Little Shop of Horrors never fails to entertain. Rated PG-13

HEARTBREAK HOUSE – A Comedy by George Bernard Shaw – August 19-30
This classic play is a haunting, bittersweet look at an affluent, ineffectual society on the brink of profound social change – a timeless theme. Humorous, biting, and remarkably topical, Heartbreak House is considered one of Shaw’s greatest plays. “Shaw’s bracing analysis of a civilization in decline seems more valuable than ever.  Almost a century after it was written, Heartbreak House provides a keen comic rebuke to cynicism, self-indulgence, and detachment.” – New York Times Rated PG

COPENHAGEN – A Drama by Michael Frayn – September 2-13
In 1941, two of the world's leading scientists – German physicist Werner Heisenberg and his Danish mentor and counterpart Niels Bohr – met in Copenhagen. Together they had revolutionized atomic science, but now they were on opposite sides of a world war. The mysterious visit on that night strained their relationship for the rest of their lives. In this incisive play, Frayn offers intriguing speculation about what may have taken place and shows two extraordinary men wrestling with complex issues in a situation fraught with danger. Winner of three Tony Awards, including Best Play in 2000. "The most invigorating and ingenious play of ideas in many a year. An electrifying work of art." – New York Times Rated PG-13

THE SANTALAND DIARIES – A Comedy by David Sedaris, adapted by Joe Montello – September 16-27
Best enjoyed when holiday stress is a distant glimmer, The Santaland Diairies is a witty evocation of life as a Macy's elf during the holiday crunch. At first the job is simply humiliating, but once thousands of visitors start pouring through Santa's workshop and an endless stream of Santas take turns ordering him around, Crumpet the Elf (played by Kraig Swartz) becomes battle-weary and bitter. But on Christmas Eve, something happens that startles our hero into an uncharacteristic moment of goodwill just before his employment runs out. "Priceless observations, both outrageous and subtle. Destined to hold a place in the annals of American humor writing." – New York Times Rated PG-13, (not suitable for children).