Every year Pontine Theatre stages a production comprised of intimately scaled holiday stories featuring the flavor and essence of Christmas here in New England.  These stories were often written by wonderful regional authors long gone and largely forgotten by contemporary audiences.  Pontine’s Co-Artistic Directors and performers, Marguerite Mathews and Greg Gathers, have developed a special fondness for searching out these rich historical gems and bringing them to life for audiences throughout the region.  This season, Pontine will perform two treasured seasonal tales,  A Speakin' Ghost and Christmas Back Home.  Pontine’s stagings are intended for adult audiences, older children will also enjoy the show.  Pontine’s Co-Director, Greg Gathers, creates all the props and sets used in the productions.  Pontine’s shows often feature antique stage techniques including rolling panoramas, puppetry, and toy theatre figures to bring stories alive onstage.  

A Speakin’ Ghost written by Annie Trumbull Slosson (b.1838 - d.1926) features a woman born and raised in Rye, New Hampshire.  Many years after leaving her childhood home near the ocean to work as a household servant, she finds herself living an isolated life providing care to an elderly man.  She spends most of her time alone in her room reviving memories of years long gone.  From these musings arises a ghost-like figure, a  young boy who begins making regular visits to this lonely soul.

Also on the program is Christmas Back Home a story by Eugene Wood (1860-1923), featuring a delightful cast of characters who inhabit a small rural town.  This piece evokes the childhood magic and suspense of Christmas as the special day approaches. All the enchantment of preparing gifts to both give and to receive enliven this simple, heartfelt musing about the most magical day of the year.

Pontine Theatre’s touring program is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation, and by Market Basket.