The Edge Ensemble Theatre Company
Keene, New Hampshire's resident theatre company ... 'Take me to THE EDGE...'
The Edge Ensemble Theatre Company
Keene, New Hampshire's resident theatre company... 'Take me to THE EDGE...'
Our Current Season
THE EDGE ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS
INHERIT THE WIND BY JEROME LAWRENCE AND ROBERT E. LEE
In its second show of the 2024 season, The Edge Ensemble Theatre Company will present Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee at The Edge Theater, 310 Marlboro Street, Suite 112, Keene. Performances will be at 7:30 PM on April 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 and at 2 PM on April 21 and 28.
The Edge chooses to do this play at a time when our country is again at a crossroads, divided by passionate differences of opinion on religion, rights and intellectual freedom. The play is based on the famous “Monkey” trial of 1925, when a high school teacher in Dayton, Tennessee was convicted of teaching the theory of evolution in a science class, contrary to a Tennessee state law. The play premiered in Dallas in 1955 – a year when the country was roiled with McCarthyism and its devastating consequences for people simply exercising their rights of free speech. The play received rave reviews, which led to a Broadway production starring Paul Muni, Ed Begley and Tony Randall in the same year. A film was made in 1960 starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March and Gene Kelly. In an interview in 1996, when the play was being revived on Broadway, Jerome Lawrence stressed that the play is not about science versus religion, but about the right to think.
A talkback with the audience will be held after the Sunday matinee on April 21 and again on April 26 after the Friday evening performance. Audience members are encouraged to stay and discuss the timely issues raised by this play.
Kim Dupuis will direct a cast of 23, with Peter Eisenstadter and Damien Licata as the opposing lawyers, supported by Veda Crewe, Robert Wellington, Jim Duffy, Rob Gray, Emmadora Boutcher, Andrew Bosworth, Noah Carmel, Spencer Garretson and Jennifer Garretson, Asah Cramer, John McMahon, Catherine Behrens, Denis Fortier, Tim Haggerty, Tyler Strickland, Meg Kupiec, Cynthia Rodier, Melanie Plenda-Washer, Anastasia McClarnon, Artie Knowles, and Scott Aronowitz.
Tickets are $18 general admission, $15 for seniors and students. Tickets must be purchased at the door by cash or check. No credit cards at this time. For reservations, call 603-352-5657 or email theedgeensemble@aol.com, or visit The Edge’s website at www.edgeensemble.org.
Poster Design by David Teubner.
CRIMES OF THE HEART BY BETH HENLEY
JANUARY 26, 27, FEBRUARY 1-3 @ 7:30 PM
JANUARY 28 & FEBRUARY 4 @ 2:00 PM
In its first show of the 2024 season, The Edge Ensemble Theatre Company will present Beth Henley’s comedy-drama Crimes of the Heart at The Edge Theater, 310 Marlboro Street, Suite 112, Keene. Performances will be at 7:30 PM on January 26, 27, February 1-3, and at 2 PM on January 28 and February 4.
Set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century, the play focuses on three sisters who reunite as the youngest sister is about to stand trial for one of the title’s “crimes of the heart.” The sisters’ capacity for laughter and passion provides many hilarious and genuinely touching moments throughout the play.
Henley’s play opened on Broadway in 1981 and won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 1986, an Academy Award-nominated film adaptation starred Sissy Spacek, Jessica Lange, and Diane Keaton.
Kim Dupuis will direct a cast of 6, comprising Charlotte Traas, Kenzie Yelin, Roberta Barnes, Paige Johnson, Mark DiPietro, and Andrew Bosworth.
Tickets are $18 general admission, $15 for seniors and students. Tickets must be purchased at the door by cash or check. No credit cards at this time. For reservations, call 603-352-5657 or email theedgeensemble@aol.com, or visit The Edge’s website at www.edgeensemble.org.
STEEL MAGNOLIAS BY ROBERT HARLING
August 23-25 and August 29 - September 1 *
THE STORY: The action is set in Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town’s rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, ("I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in a bad mood for forty years"); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M’Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength—and love—which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
Concerned with a group of gossipy southern ladies in a small-town beauty parlor, the play is alternately hilarious and touching—and, in the end, deeply revealing of the strength and purposefulness which underlies the antic banter of its characters.
“Harling has given his women sharp, funny dialogue…The play builds to a conclusion that is deeply moving.” —New York Daily News.
“…a skillfully crafted, lovingly evoked picture of eccentricity in the small-town South…Robert Harling is a new voice in the theatre and the qualities of STEEL MAGNOLIAS suggest he may be an important one.” —Drama-Logue.
“…suffused with humor and tinged with tragedy.” —New York Post.
★★★★★"A great show to direct. This production is always a crowd pleaser. The script provides great growth and challenges for actors..” -John B., Director. Yorkshire Playhouse (NE).
CALENDAR GIRLS BY TIM FIRTH
NOVEMBER 15-17 AND 21-24 *
When Annie's husband John dies of leukemia, she and best friend Chris resolve to raise money for a new settee in the local hospital waiting room. They manage to persuade fellow Women's Institute members to pose nude with them for an "alternative" calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer Lawrence. The news of the women's charitable venture spreads like wildfire, and hordes of press soon descend on the small village of Knapeley in the Yorkshire Dales. The calendar is a success, but Chris and Annie's friendship is put to the test under the strain of their newfound fame.
Based on the true story of eleven WI members who posed nude for a calendar to raise money for the Leukaemia Research Fund, Calendar Girls opened at the Chichester Festival Theatre and has since become the fastest-selling play in British theatre history.
*PLAY TITLES AND DATES ARE TENTATIVE AND DEPENDENT UPON SECURING THE RIGHTS TO PRODUCE ON THOSE DATES.
