Rediscovering a love for the stage through community theater

LACONIA — Community theater might be seen as a hobby, but for many of its practitioners, it’s much more than that. For Kelly Bennett, the benefits she’s gained from performing with local amateur troops have been so great that she has donated a piece of artwork to show her appreciation.

The item: An end table she covered with portraits of characters from the upcoming production of “Seussical: The Musical,” which will be produced at the Colonial Theatre Aug. 12-14, by Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative.

Proceeds from tickets, which cost $5 each, will support future Powerhouse productions. For raffle tickets, visit belknapmill.org/powerhouse-theatre-collaborative.

Life isn’t without its challenges for Bennett. Today, she is able to approach her day-to-day with joy, but that wasn’t the case until very recently. A few years ago, she was in an unhappy marriage, had a stressful job, and felt she had lost the person she used to be.

That started to turn around for her when she signed up for one of the radio dramas being produced by the community theater group at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse. Bennett had on-air radio experience, so she figured she could read scripts on stage in front of a live audience.

“It reignited that passion for it that I forgot I had,” Bennett said.

It wasn’t her first time on stage. In fact, Bennett, who lives in Meredith, first performed as a kindergartener, fulfilling the titular role in an elementary production of “Little Red Riding Hood.”

Drama continued to figure largely in her life for years. She was part of a drama club that took “The Lottery” to state finals, then went to Plymouth State University and majored in fine arts — but took every theater course she could fit in her schedule.

After college, adult life and career pursuits took center stage. “I didn’t really do anything in that field for a long time. I lost myself being an adult.” Theater, she continued, “just kind of faded away after a while.”

Her marriage ended, and Bennett found that theater was there still, waiting for her. And then it was taken away again.

Bennett works in emergency veterinary care, and her practice remained open through the pandemic. There was an outbreak of COVID-19 among the staff, and among the many devastating effects were a case of “long-haul” symptoms that plagued Bennett for years after. Her joints would swell and stiffen, and the inflammation came with excruciating pain. It was so bad that the fine arts major couldn’t even hold a pencil long enough to make a drawing.

As pandemic-related restrictions receded, and Bennett’s small army of medical professionals scratched their collective heads in trying to treat her, she saw a newspaper notice for auditions for a production of “Puffs” — a parody of Harry Potter — and her friends dared her to see if she could get a part. In fact, she was cast in several roles, and found what has become like a second family.

“It has been the most amazing experience,” she said. Bennett has found a positive way to spend her off-work hours, and has made a new circle of supportive friends, but the benefits have been far beyond.

She said performing in community theater has given her a new state of being, which persists even after the curtain closes and the set is taken down.

“I couldn’t let go of that high of doing it, the people you’re working with, and the costumes and the sets, and the magic you’re creating,” Bennett said.

To the amazement of her doctors, Bennett noticed that the swelling in her hands began to go down halfway through “Puffs.” By the end of the run, she was able to illustrate a mat around a framed play poster to gift to her director, Bryan Halperin. She was also able to discontinue two antidepressant medications she had been taking.

Bennett was part of the stage crew for Powerhouse’s “Something Rotten,” and got the part of “Yertle the Turtle” in the upcoming “Seussical” — a role well outside of her comfort zone.

She is bewildered by the thought that she will have to sing and dance on stage for this show, but is willing to take the chance, considering how much theater has given her so far.

“The energy that you get is pure, unfiltered positive rewarding energy that courses through your whole body and erases anything negative,” she said. “It spills over into everything you do and you want other people to feel it. You bring it everywhere you go and try to give some of it to everyone.”

That’s the spirit that inspired her to find a piece of furniture to paint. She covered it with “Seussical” characters, drawn in the Dr. Seuss style, and presented it to Halperin. She hopes that it will someday bring joy to wherever it is placed.

“Every dollar that we make allows us to do more productions and bring more happiness into this world,” Bennett said. That happiness is potent medicine, she’s found. “It’s a pill that I think the medical community would love to bottle, because I think it would cure the world.”