THE NATURE PLAYS Premiere At Mount Auburn Cemetery

Announcing the world premiere of the The Nature Plays , the first series of site-specific short plays by Mount Auburn Cemetery's Playwright Artist-in-Residence, Patrick Gabridge. The Nature Plays run from May 30-June 9, 2019 at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA. These five short plays highlight stories inspired by the rich natural environment of Mount Auburn with topics such as spotted salamanders in Consecration Dell, birders at Auburn Lake, and historic debates between naturalists who are buried at the Cemetery. Through comedy and drama The Nature Plays explore topics both current and whimsical from global warming to the secret world of mushroom hunting. Audiences will experience the performances at various spots across the grounds, surrounded by the sights and sounds of the natural world. Each performance will be followed by a discussion.

New dates added! The Nature Plays will run for 11 performances over two weekends; two shows on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00 and 5:00 pm and new Thursday shows added May 30th at 1:00 and 5:00 pm and June 6 at 5:00 pm. The entire performance will run for approximately 75 minutes and will include walking within the Cemetery on paved and unpaved surfaces; total walking distance approx. 1 mile. Shows will run rain or shine.

Tickets for The Nature Plays are $35 per person ($30 for members) at mountauburn.org/the-nature-plays or by calling 617-607-1980.

Cast members of The Nature Plays are all members of Actors Equity Association and include: Lisa Tucker, Jacob Athyal, Ed Hoopman, and Theresa Nguyen. Directed by Courtney O'Connor. Presented in partnership with Plays in Place.

The second series of plays, The America Plays will premiere September 14-22, 2019. Tickets for The America Plays will be available at a later date.

About Mount Auburn Cemetery

Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as the United States' first designed landscape open to the public. With over 175 acres of landscaped gardens, ponds, an outdoor museum of art and architecture, and a habitat for protected urban wildlife and migrating birds, Mount Auburn Cemetery welcomes over 250,000 visitors each year. Visitors are welcome to wander the picturesque setting and to linger among the 100,000 burial sites that include historical and contemporary figures such as artist Winslow Homer, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and chef Joyce Chen. Mount Auburn provides year-round educational and art programs promoting the site as an important cultural and natural resource.

Mount Auburn's Artist-in-Residence program was created in 2014 by the Friends of Mount Auburn with a grant/support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (MA-30-13-0533-13). Mount Auburn's resident artists have included Roberto Mighty, MFA, who created earth.sky : a site-specific, multi-screen digital multimedia installation, and singer/musician/composer Mary Bichner, whose residency included pop-up concerts and composing a dozen works inspired by the pastoral setting of Mount Auburn.

This program is funded in part by Mass Humanities and the Bob Jolly Charitable Trust.

Photo Credit: Corinne Elicone