Winni Playhouse begins 18th season of live theatre

MEREDITH — After a quiet eight months, the Winnipesaukee Playhouse’s campus sprung back to action at the beginning of June as the theatre company welcomed the technical team and actors back to kick off the 2021 season. While the original 2020 season was condensed into a small, three-show run last fall, the 2021 season has been expanded to encompass three plays and four musicals from June through October. The theme, “Small and Beautiful,” represents that each show will be on a smaller scale, but the expanded season will allow for shows that take place both indoors and on the theatre’s new outdoor stage, through summer and early fall.

Producing Artistic Director Neil Pankhurst said, “we knew that reduced patron capacity meant shows would need to be leaner. In doing that, it allowed us to choose some really unique, exciting titles that we may not have attempted in earlier seasons where the costs involved relied on filling the entire house.” One play that Pankhurst wanted to produce for years, "Harold Pinter’s Betrayal," fit that bill and started the season. Pankhurst and the three actors in this drama, Krystal Pope, AJ Ditty, and Will Wilder, already had their first read-through. For some, it was their first production since the beginning of the pandemic.

"Betrayal" will be performed on the outdoor amphitheatre, which got an expansion and facelift for the 2020 season and will be further expanded to accommodate more patrons for 2021 and beyond. Pankhurst said, “the challenges we faced in 2020 really helped us become more inventive, especially in regard to the outdoor amphitheatre. It had never been used as a primary performance space prior to 2020 and, in realizing the necessity of transitioning to outdoor theatre, we found this gem of a performance space which audiences really enjoyed and we now plan to use going forward.”

"Betrayal," open through July 3, will be followed by the Tony Award-winning mystery "Sleuth," performed indoors June 30-July 17. The next show, a musical "Dani Girl," will be on the outdoor stage. Simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, it’s the story of a nine-year-old girl with cancer and the wonderful adventures she takes in her imagination. It will be performed July 14-31.

New Hampshire Theatre Award-winning actress Ashley Meeken, last seen on the Playhouse stage in 2019 as Velma Kelly in "Chicago," will next perform a relatively unknown Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "Tell Me on a Sunday," on the indoor stage, July 28-Aug. 14. This will be followed by the premiere of a show the Playhouse commissioned for the 2020 season to celebrate the ratification of the 19th amendment. Then called "Votes for Women," it has been retitled "Hooligans and Convicts!" and will have its world premiere Aug. 18-Sept. 4.

The final outdoor show of the season will also be a premiere, written by Pankhurst to accompany favorite songs from the Great American Songbook by composers such as George Gershwin and Irving Berlin. "It Had to be You" will contain lots of singing and dancing, and will perform Sept. 1-18.

The professional season will wrap up Sept. 22-Oct. 9, with the comedy "Glorious, The True Story of Florence Foster Jenkins: The Worst Singer in the World," featuring Broadway veteran and New Hampshire Theatre Award-winning actress Carolyn Kirsch.

The Playhouse is focused on safety and has COVID-19 protocols on their website, which may change throughout the season. For tickets, call 603-279-0333.