James Noel Hoban News

This holiday season, Theater at Monmouth starts a new comic tradition at Cumston Hall. Every Christmas Story Ever Told…(and then some!) is a fast, furious, and slightly irreverent look at holiday classics and traditions. The play begins as yet another version of A Christmas Carol and takes "a wrong turn in Albuquerque" on the way to a B.H.C. (Beloved Holiday Classic) Smackdown between A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life. Santy Claus, Rudolph (or in this case Gustav), the Grinch, and just about every other seasonal character makes an appearance in this racy comedy that, according to Kelly Monaghan of TheOtherOrlando, "will have you laughing harder than spiked eggnog."

In this 2015 season of 'Magic, Murder, and Mayhem' Maine's Theater at Monmouth serves up a gripping adaptation of Henry James' familiar tale of psychological Gothic horror, The Turn of the Screw. The novella tells the story of a governess' battle to wrench her two young charges from the grasp of spirits who haunt their estate and to probe the dark secrets which exert a debilitating psychological hold on everyone at Bly. Adapted here by Jeffrey Hatcher as a two person drama in which one actor plays all the characters other than the governess, TAM's seventy-five minute production has a lean look and taut pace that rivet even an audience familiar with the work.

Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of the Henry James gothic novella The Turn of the Screw opens at Theater at Monmouth tonight, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of the Henry James gothic novella The Turn of the Screw opens at Theater at Monmouth on Friday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.

For 2015 Theater at Monmouth has planned a season of Magic, Murder, and Mayhem! Season 46 peeks into nature of reality and illusion, pokes fun at the foibles and fables of romances young and old, and will prick-up the hairs on the back of your neck. From Shakespeare to Stoppard and Coward to James, the 2015 Season is sure to be a perception-altering ride.

Portland's Good Theater's fourth play of the season is the Maine premiere of Sharr White's The Other Place, a compelling and compassionate exploration of trauma, illusion, and dementia. Directed with quiet, yet hair-raising intensity by Brian P. Allen and starring the remarkable Denise Poirier, the production keeps the audience invested and involved from start to finish.

Good Theater has announced the Maine premiere of Sharr White's acclaimed play, THE OTHER PLACE opening tonight, March 4 and running through March 29. Good Theater is the professional theater in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland.

Good Theater has announced the Maine premiere of Sharr White's acclaimed play, THE OTHER PLACE opening March 4 and running through March 29. Good Theater is the professional theater in residence at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland. For tickets and information call 207-885-5883 or go to the Good Theater website www.goodtheater.com .

In 2015, Theater at Monmouth celebrates not only 46 years of producing classic theatre, but also 46 years of providing access to engaging arts education experiences for our community.

Joe Orton's frenetic farce, What the Butler Saw, opens at Theater at Monmouth tonight, August 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Joe Orton's frenetic farce, What the Butler Saw, opens at Theater at Monmouth on Friday, August 1 at 7:30 p.m. The perfect blend of Oscar Wilde's wit, Monty Python's physical comedy, and Benny Hill's lewdness, What the Butler Saw bursts with mistaken identities, catastrophic complications, and rapid-fire dialogue. Orton's ribald examination of societal attitudes toward sexuality is a rampaging celebration of licentiousness and free-will.

Season 45 continues at Theater at Monmouth with Oscar Wilde's deliciously witty satire, A Woman of No Importance, opening tonight, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. Fraught with epigrams and pithy sentiments, A Woman of No Importance probes the societal hypocrisy of punishing women for the sin of passion while lauding men for their conquest. Surely the basis for Downton Abbey, Wilde's dark comedy lays bare the moral contradictions of Victorian England.

Season 45 continues at Theater at Monmouth with Oscar Wilde's deliciously witty satire, A Woman of No Importance, opening Friday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. Fraught with epigrams and pithy sentiments, A Woman of No Importance probes the societal hypocrisy of punishing women for the sin of passion while lauding men for their conquest. Surely the basis for Downton Abbey, Wilde's dark comedy lays bare the moral contradictions of Victorian England.

William Shakespeare's pastoral comedy, As You Like It, opens at Theater at Monmouth on Friday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. Set in the 1940s, As You Like It explores the ups and downs of love and courtship. Filled with mistaken identities and misplaced devotion, As You Like It lampoons the often puzzling, yet utterly gratifying, labor of love.

William Shakespeare's pastoral comedy, As You Like It, opens at Theater at Monmouth on Friday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. Set in the 1940s, As You Like It explores the ups and downs of love and courtship. Filled with mistaken identities and misplaced devotion, As You Like It lampoons the often puzzling, yet utterly gratifying, labor of love.

Maine's Shakespeare Theater at Monmouth staged a vigorous, youthful adaptation of Shakespeare's 'joyous comedy,' Twelfth Night, this weekend at the historic Cumston Hall. The production will tour communities and schools in Maine as a apart of an NEA grant.

William Shakespeare's comic romp of disguise and devotion comes to Theater at Monmouth! Filled with mistaken identities, silly pranks, and romantic entanglements, Twelfth Night will run for one weekend only in Cumston Hall October 10-13 before heading out on the road as part of the theatre's Shakespeare in Maine Communities education tour. Twelfth Night will tour for three weeks to schools and community centers across the state. This production is part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. TAM is one of 40 theatre companies selected from across the country to participate in this initiative.

When Thornton Wilder premiered his new play OUR TOWN in 1938, I would wager that more than one person left the theatre asking why anyone would want to watch the lives of "ordinary" people on stage. Fast forward to present day where millions of people the world over tune in to reality tv shows, following the lives of "ordinary" people. The difference is, that there is nothing "brilliant" about the lives of the so-called stars of reality TV. However, Wilder's OUR TOWN is light years ahead of it's time, and the talented cast of his well-known play bring out it's brilliance at the Theater At Monmouth.

Season 44 continues at Theater at Monmouth with Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Our Town, starting tonight, July 18. Our Town presents a timeless tale of everyday life in the fictional Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. Teenagers George and Emily meet, fall in love, and marry; enduring both the joys and sorrows of everyday life. Wilder transforms their ordinary story into a poignant and captivating exploration of mortality and the wonder of living.

Disguises, mistaken identity, lies that beget other lies; these are the calling cards of modern television sitcoms, and farce on stage. But these conventions have been around long before the likes of Ken Ludwig's brand of farce or the inception of the moving picture. Shakespeare's comedies have long been a source of inspiration for burgeoning playwrights and screenwriters. Though written centuries ago his comedy still rings true in theatres the world over, and The Theater at Monmouth's cast of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW presents a veritable masterclass of comedic acting.