Tom Frey, Associate Artistic Director, Peterborough Players
During the Month of October Arts Alive is collecting stories from performing arts organizations across the Monadnock Region to ask - how are you holding up? This is the second of three stories this month that will highlight the innovations, inspiration, hope, and connection these organizations are still fostering, even in difficult times. We started with Keene State College’s Redfern Arts Center. Today’s story is about the Peterborough Players as told by Tom Frey.
Tell me about your organization? What inspires your staff and artists to do what you do? How are you fulfilling your mission these days?
Peterborough Players is a New Hampshire cultural treasure; an 87-year-old, fully professional Equity theatre in an unexpected setting -- a historic barn, 3 miles outside of downtown Peterborough, NH. Our mission is to enrich the human experience by producing quality live professional theatre, developing and training theatre artists, and offering New Hampshire a wide variety of performing arts events.
The Players, like nearly every other professional theatre in the country, is going through a heart-wrenching “forced intermission”. While we’re very much open, we’re not currently producing live theatre. As painful as that is, we’re using the time to look at what we can do to come back stronger, both from an infrastructure and process standpoint. We’re also working hard to imagine what theatre will look and feel like when we emerge into the “New Normal.” In the meantime, we’re doing our best to fulfill the parts of our mission that we can by producing online content like our Bright Spots, readings from the book Our Playhouse (a history of the Players written by Van Allen Sherman) shared by various Players alumni , a virtual cabaret this past July, and more.
Currently, we’re in the middle of our upcoming Playgroups, a series of three, interactive online theatrical workshops totally free for all, and each hosted by an amazing theatrical professional. We started this past weekend - October 23 & 30 with The Mechanics of Comedy with Charles Morey. Next, on November 13 & 20 we have Shakespeare with our Artistic Director Gus Kaikkonen. December 4 & 11 is the final Playgroup of the series, and that will be Playwriting with Tracey Conyer Lee. Along with that, we’re celebrating our Virtual Gala on November 7th.
There is a lot of really great content on our website now under the umbrella of our new offering, Players Online. We foresee keeping Players Online alive even when we can get back to live theatre.
How has your day to day changed in the last 6 months? Is that impacting the creative work you do?
Of course, our day to day has changed utterly. We are still working remotely, for the most part. Theatre is a fundamentally collaborative endeavor and finding ways to keep that going virtually is a tall order.
What is the biggest realization you've had about The Players in the last 6 months?
My biggest realization in the last 6 months is how much the Players means to so many people in this community. The amount of support we’ve received, and the number of personal letters of encouragement and concern has been amazing. I’ve found that personally quite inspiring, and I think for all of us it has strengthened our resolve. We WILL get through this.
*Bright spots with Claire Kolheim, who performed with the company the summers of 2008 and 2009, singing some uplifting selections*
Best case scenario, how does your organization survive, thrive, and prosper in the next year? What does that look like?
We’ll be using this time to run as many scenarios as we can so that when the time comes, we can produce live theatre again of the kind that is up to the traditional standards of the Players, and that will help move us into the future. There are so many questions: When will people be comfortable sitting together inside again? How many people can we safely fit in the Barn? How do we keep the artists safe? Can the plays have more than one act? I could go on and on (and do in my head on a daily basis). There are so many factors, all of which have a direct impact on some other part of the problem. I have a new-found sympathy for weather forecasters.
What is it that you need right now? And what is a place where folks can go to learn more?
I think right now, we need people to know that we’re still here, and actively planning how we’re going to return to the stage and when we can safely do that, and that we are so appreciative of any financial support that our community can give during this time. When our 2020 Summer Season was cancelled, we lost a huge portion of our revenue. Nearly 60% of our income comes from ticket sales, and that doesn’t exist at the moment. We can’t wait to bring our audiences back to the theatre, but to do that, we need your help.
In the meantime, be sure to check out Players Online! There’s so much there for everyone to enjoy. Be sure you’re following our social channels as well as getting our eblasts. We share lots of information there!