A NEW ENGLAND CHRISTMAS Comes to The Historic 1845 Plains Schoolhouse

A New England Christmas, staged and performed by Pontine Theatre Co-Artistic Directors, Greg Gathers and Marguerite Mathews, includes original adaptations of two seasonal tales: A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and A Winter Story based on the writings of South Berwick, Maine author, Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909).

The production plays November 29 through December 8 at the Historic 1845 Plains Schoolhouse, #1 Plains Avenue, in Portsmouth NH's West End. Performances are offered Fridays at 7pm, Saturdays at 3pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $27 and may be purchased in advance online at www.pontine.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the door a half-hour prior to each performance, based on availability. Seating is limited, however, and advance purchases are recomended. The space is fully accessible with free parking adjacent. Information: info@pontine.org / 603-436-6660.

A Child's Christmas is an evocative story poem in which author, Dylan Thomas, tells of his childhood memories growing up in Wales in the 1920s. It is set in a seaside town, before the motor car, before television, or even radio. It's a world full of uncles with cigars, and aunts sipping sherry, snow - masses of it - cats as feral as wolves, bears and even hippopotamuses. When Mrs Prothero's sitting-room catches fire, the roving pack of children attempt to douse it by throwing snowballs into it as they wait for the firemen. There are "Useful" presents: mufflers and mittens, scratchy woollen vests and a crocheted nose bag; and the much more exciting "Useless" presents: tin soldiers, toffee, a celluloid duck. There's Christmas dinner, afternoon walks through the snow and baying St Bernard dogs. There are ghost stories and Christmas carols. It's a child's imaginative glimpse into a now vanished world. Pontine's actors use a variety of props--balloons & a giant thumbtack for popping, noisemakers, bells, gongs and whistles along with evocative storytelling and rich mimetic movement to bring this tale alive onstage.

A Winter Story concerns the fate of a pair of ancient, enormous landmark pine trees.

Set in a rustic coastal village at the end of the 19th century, this is a tale of a taciturn Yankee farmer, John Packer, and his family, who fight to save the landmark pines from a greedy timber contractor. Their struggle brings the whole community together just in time for Christmas. Pontine Co-Director, Greg Gathers has created over-sized picture books and a cast of Toy Theatre characters to act out this moving and timely tale of community and the natural world they inhabit.

Following its Portsmouth run, Pontine will tour the program to nineteen communities in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. The tour is funded by grants from the NH State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Richard A. Morton Endowment of the NH Charitable Foundation and the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation. Touring sites include museums, historical societies, libraries, and retirement communities.

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