Theatre Under the Stars

Friday, July 9, 2010 — Shakespeare can be fun. If you don't believe it, catch a show by Theatre Under the Stars, based in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. I usually see at least a couple of their shows every summer. All their performances are held outdoors, weather permitting. In case of rain, they always have a nearby indoor stage to move to. This season, all their main stage shows are free, although donations are accepted, in honor of Spc. Marc Paul Decoteau who lost his life in service to his country in Afghanistan. Marc was Theatre Under the Stars' first "kid camper" and appeared in several plays.

I drove up to Waterville Valley, expecting to find the theatre where it's been for the past four years, next to the Waterville Valley Elementary School, where they had spacious grounds for their stage and audience, and the use of the school auditorium in case of rain. But I discovered upon arrival they had moved to the nearby Town Square because remodeling at the school forced them to vacate.

I saw a production entitled "No Holds Bard, Sonnet Sonata," an expansion of George Bernard Shaw's "Dark Lady of the Sonnets," written by founding/producing artistic director Donna Devlin-Young. It was brilliant, thanks to superb acting and singing and Donna's wit and artistic vision.

The venue in the Town Square is not as comfortable as their former location at the school. They positioned the actors on three widely-spaced stages that made it a bit difficult to follow the action, and the sun is directly in the audience's eyes when looking stage-right until it finally sinks beneath the tree-tops, currently at about 7:30 p.m. They also take their plays to Plymouth and Manchester, neither of which I've been to so far.

Check Theatre Under the Stars' humorous and entertaining website for the season schedule and locations:

http://www.shakespeareinthevalley.com/