Weston Playhouse Theatre Company

Weston, Vermont

Located on the beautiful village green in historic Weston, Vermont, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company (WPTC) is Vermont's oldest professional theater company. The centerpiece of the company's activities is a 13-week theater season running from mid-June to mid-October that includes four mainstage productions, two other stage productions, after-hours cabarets, special events, and stage readings. Over the past 20 years, the WPTC has redefined its role as a professional regional theater, expanding its offerings beyond the traditional summer months and creating outreach programs that serve southern Vermont audiences on a year-round basis. Current education and outreach programs include school programs, adult learning, touring, and access services, all which are central to the WPTC's work to help build a broad, younger, and more adventurous audience. In 2007, the WPTC launched an ambitious five-year plan to develop new work in Vermont, securing a five-acre farm and mounting a campaign to convert it into a year-round center for play development. Annual new work programs already in place include a week-long artists' retreat and a new-musical award, which provides a nationally nominated composing team with a top-quality demo of their latest work. The WPTC was honored with the New England Theatre Conference's 1998 Regional Achievement Award for its year-round contributions to arts and education and the 2001 Moss Hart Award for the Best Production in New England. With an eye to the future, the company continues to build on the tradition of quality work and community involvement which has characterized it since its inception in 1937.

In 2008, the Weston Playhouse Theatre Company will produce Shakespeare's As You Like It as a mainstage, school matinee, and regional touring production. As You Like It was chosen, in part, because it celebrates the transformative power of a pastoral life, which, particularly in a post-9/11 world, is deeply resonant to a Northern New England audience. The WPTC's educational activities expect to reach approximately 4,500 rural middle- and high-school students in Vermont and northern New England. Education activities will include the Page to Stage residency program, which will enable students from two schools and an area youth theater to explore and perform scenes from the production at their home organization and on the Weston stage complete with the actual set and lighting. Three additional schools will participate in the first-ever Playing with Shakespeare one-day residencies, where students will spend a full day with actors from As You Like It, exploring Shakespeare through readings, mini-workshops, and other activities. Student matinee performances in Weston are expected to reach students from 40-plus schools throughout central and southern Vermont. Each teacher receives an extensive study guide and copy of the script and each performance is followed by a talkback with the actors and WPTC education director. Following the Weston engagement, the production will tour throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, and northwestern Massachusetts, reaching approximately 2,000 students. Each performance will be preceded by a lecture by Producing Director Steve Stettler or followed by a moderated talkback with the actors. All participating teachers receive a study guide in advance of the performance.

Visit them at: www.westonplayhouse.org