Peterborough Players Announces 2019-2020 Winter Season

The Peterborough Players celebrates the return of their on-stage Winter Season with three selections sure to delight audiences during this cold time of year. A boisterous comedy, a return of a country music legend, and an encounter with one of America's most revered poets come to life in A Tuna Christmas, Always...Patsy Cline, and This Verse Business December 2019 - February 2020.

The season begins with A Tuna Christmas, a comedy by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard, running from December 5th-15th. In this hilarious romp, Players' favorites and masters of comedy Tom Frey (2 Pianos, 4 Hands) and Kraig Swartz (Fully Committed) portray over 20 different characters - everyone in this tiny, tight-knit, irreverent town of Tuna, Texas. As usual, in Tuna, the annual tree decorating contest is underway, with Vera Carp vying for top prize. Jim Bob is trying to salvage the local theatre production of A Christmas Carol from both the town censors and the wrath of the electric company. Didi is arming the good people in town with protection against the Christmas Phantom, who's wreaking holiday havoc and may or (may not!) be Bertha's fresh-from-probation son, Stanley. Welcome to Christmas in the Greater Tuna area - a great way to add a laugh to your holidays. A Tuna Christmas will be directed by Artistic Director Gus Kaikkonen.

The Players kicks off the New Year with the return of a country music legend in Always... Patsy Cline, from January 16th-26th. Full of down-home laughs and 27 of Patsy's hit songs (including Crazy, Walking After Midnight, I Fall to Pieces, Sweet Dreams, and more) Always...Patsy Cline was created and originally directed by Ted Swindley. In 1961, Patsy Cline was one of the biggest stars in country music. A chance encounter before a concert began the long-time friendship between Patsy and her great fan, Louise Seger. Over beers and bacon-and-eggs, fan and idol became confidants, supporting each other through letters until Patsy's untimely death at age 30. Patsy and Louise bring the audience on a honky-tonk journey through one of country music's greatest real-life friendships. Popular company members Bridget Beirne and Lisa Bostnar return as Patsy Cline and her dear friend, Louise. Tom Frey directs.

Rounding out the season is the return of a play that premiered in 2010 at the Players, This Verse Business by A.M. Dolan, from February 6th-16th. The perfect marriage between a treasured American poet and a beloved actor, Emmy-winner (NYPD Blue) and Tony-nominee Gordon Clapp returns for an encore performance as Robert Frost. Following quickly after his performance at Lincoln Center in The Great Society, Clapp will once again breathe life into Frost, poised and waiting for the birth of a new poem. Frost's endless quest to express life through metaphor - and encourage the reader to find their own meaning of life - is beautifully captured through this intimate moment between actor and audience, featuring timeless Frost classics such as Mending Wall, The Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.

The Players invites you to come warm your winter months with exceptional professional theatre! Winter Season tickets are on sale now. Subscriptions and Barn Door Flex Passes are also available and are a great way to see more for less! Visit peterboroughplayers.org or call the box office at (603) 924-7585 for tickets.

Peterborough Players is New Hampshire's premiere professional regional theater. Known for an annual Summer Season consisting of 7 main stage productions and 2 children's shows, the Players also now produces a 3-play Winter Season and continues to offer the Arts on Screen series that includes screenings of renowned performances from the Metropolitan Opera and London's National Theatre. The Players enriches 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. Peterborough Players is sponsored in part by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information please visit Peterborough Players, 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH 03458 or www.peterboroughplayers.org