Winnipesaukee Playhouse season takes a page from 'Archie' creator's notebook

MEREDITH — Last year was a good one for the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, with ticket sales exceeding hopes for the season. Yet there’s still plenty of room for more patrons, so this year’s slate features something both historic and novel: “Mutiny on the Mount,” a play first performed in Meredith more than 50 years ago, and a first in that the performances will take place off the playhouse’s campus.

“Mutiny on the Mount,” a comedy set to music from “H.M.S. Pinafore,” was written by Meredith’s most famous resident, Bob Montana, best known for creating the “Archie” comics. It was performed by the Meredith Village Players, a now-defunct community theater organization that included Montana himself, in 1952.

“The Historical Society actually approached us about this script,” said Lesley Pankhust, patron and company services director for the nonprofit theater organization. “It is a musical comedy set on a boat.”

Though its setting is buoyant, the original run was produced on dry land. The revival, though, takes the concept further by staging the show on the same M/S Mount Washington that inspired the script. “Mutiny on the Mount,” being produced Oct. 1-3, is offered as part of a dinner and sunset cruise package, capped by a community theater performance.

It’s proving to be a compelling idea, with ticket sales well on their way to a sold-out run.

Pankhurst, one of the playhouse’s founders, said the strong advance sales for the show result from several factors, including the unique staging as well as the historical connection.

“It’s one of the coolest pieces we’ve done, and was written by someone very famous, but who lived here in town,” Pankhurst said.

She credited Cory Lawson, who manages the educational program of the playhouse, for forming the partnerships that made the production possible.

“One of the things that Cory has done and been really great at is taking things out of the building and bringing them out to people,” Pankhurst said. In addition to “Mutiny,” Lawson’s handiwork has resulted in staged readings at local libraries, retirement homes, at restaurants and community organizations. “He’s really good at creating community partnerships.”

It can be challenging to put on a show in a space not designed for dramatic production. But while it’s going to be harder to arrange stage lighting and other technical elements, it won’t be too difficult to make the scenery evocative of the setting. And, Lawson said, it will be another chance for the playhouse to connect with people who aren’t yet theater patrons.

“It’s a different way for people to experience the work, a way for people to experience what theater can be,” Lawson said.

For Timothy L’Ecuyer, producing artistic director, such examples of installation theater prove again why live performance continues to be relevant despite — or even because of — more modern communication media.

“More and more, we are in this algorithmically-curated experience,” L’Ecuyer said. Social media learns our preferences and tailors its feeds to an ever-focused range of expression. “The aperture narrows more and more the more that you consume media,” he said, while those who take a seat in a theater are making an active choice to watch something they don’t know if they’ll like, and will share that experience with a room full of other people who may or may not agree with them. “This is a way to know that people want an experience outside of that aperture.”

The 2025 season at Winnipesaukee Playhouse gives people 15 opportunities to break out of their algorithm’s ever-tightening constrictions.

The eight-show professional season kicks off Thursday, June 12, with “The Wedding Singer,” a story made famous by the 1998 film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Another comedy, but funny in a different kind of way, comes next with “POTUS,” a play focused on the people, often just out of sight, who prop up those in power, which runs June 27-July 5. The best-known title on the professional schedule is likely “Little Shop of Horrors,” which will star local favorite Ashley Meeken. Neil Pankhurst, Lesley’s husband and founder of the playhouse, is returning to direct “The Woman in Black,” a horror play Lesley said is “legitimately scary.” Neil will stick around to direct “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Dec. 19-Jan. 1, in the traditional English panto style.

Theater fans don’t have to wait until summer, though. The Winni Players, the playhouse’s community theater troupe, is currently in rehearsals for the March 27-30 run of “Treasure Island,” presented as a live radio drama. “August: Osage County,” a dramatic comedy, is being staged May 8-11, and “My Fair Lady” will be produced Nov. 19-23.

Actors in the education department will perform “Heathers: The Musical,” described by Lesley as “dark” and “edgy,” April 10-13; “The Boxcar Children” April 18-19; and “Peter & the Starcatcher” Nov 6-9.

“There’s a little something for everyone,” L’Ecuyer said of the titles, adding, “there are things built into the season that are meant to surprise you.” For full details and tickets, visit winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org.

Building a season is an balance of prudence and risk. The organization needs to offer some shows sure to sell, but also to provide new or obscure works to intrigue the seasoned theater fan.

No matter the level of experience a person has with live theater, there’s a seat for them at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse. 2024 was one of their best years on record as far as ticket sales, but even with that high-water year there was still room for more. With a total of about 25,000 tickets available at the start of the year, they finished the season with about 10,000 unsold seats.

“We did better than we projected, and we are hoping this year will be even bigger and better,” L’Ecuyer said. It can be hard to understand why one show sells well, and another doesn’t, he said. “The best that we can do is continue to do work that we feel is relevant and worthwhile and will be engaging.”

Lesley said she takes the greatest encouragement not from overall tickets sold, but how sales for a title trend once it has opened — and when word of mouth starts to spread.

“The proof is in the work,” Lesley said. “So much we see, especially in the summer when we have longer runs, the audiences build and build as we go longer.”