This November Gaslight Theater proudly presents “The Stranger” by Agatha Christie at Hallowell City Hall Auditorium located at 1 Winthrop Street in Hallowell. Theater patrons can choose from six performance dates over two weekends, including Sunday matinees, November 11, 12 & 13 and 18, 19 & 20. Friday and Saturday shows start at 7:30 PM and Sunday matinee performances start at 2:00 PM. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and Seniors, cash, check and credit card accepted at the door.

Directed by Linda Duarte, “The Stranger”is an adaptation by Agatha Christie, of her short story Philomel Cottage. The play centers around Enid Bradshaw, who breaks her seven-year engagement to Dick Lane in favor of marrying the charming Gerald Strange, whom she had known for a mere afternoon. The two move to a cottage in the country in Act Two, and it is then that we get a sense of Gerald’s true character. Things are not always what they seem, of course, and a well-placed red herring plus Enid’s fascination with Scheherazade and “One Thousand and One Nights’ add key elements to the plot.

Gerald is played by Matthew McLaughlin of Portland, a new actor at Gaslight Theater, and Enid is portrayed by Gwenyth Fraser of Brunswick, who has been seen on our stage several times previously. Andrew Lamb of Augusta, also new to Gaslight Theater, provides some surprises as Dick, and Wendi Richards of Fairfield adds her charm as Enid’s friend Doris. The two housekeepers, offering up very different personalities, are played by Marcia Gallagher of Hallowell, a previous music director at Gaslight, and Jeanne Curtin of West Gardiner, also a first timer with Gaslight Theater.  “The Stranger” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

What: Gaslight Theater presents Agatha Christie’s “The Stranger”

Where: Hallowell City Hall, 1 Winthrop Street, Hallowell.
The Auditorium is located on the 2nd floor and is handicapped accessible by elevator.

When:  Friday & Saturday, November 11 and 12 at 7:30pm

            Sunday Matinee, November 13 at 2:00pm

            Friday & Saturday, November 18 and 19 at 7:30pm

            Sunday Matinee, November 20 at 2:00pm

Cost: Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and Seniors,
cash, check and credit card accepted at the door.

“The Whales of August” is wistful and autumnal in mood… and filled with the bittersweet recognition that life, despite the alterations of time, must continue as best it can. This show is perfect for the end of summer and a recollection that no matter how old you are it is never too late to live.

“The Whales of August” by Dave Berry is set at a beach house on an island off the coast of Maine where two widowed sisters have been summering for many years. The sisters, played by Margaret Matheson and Linda Duarte, are joined by an old friend, the island handyman, and an old rogue who may or may not be deposed royalty, played by Lisa Copenhaver, Gregor Smith, and William Haley.

This summer Gaslight Theater proudly presents six performances of “The Whales of August” directed by Rebecca Singer and Joseph Maranda.

The show will be presented over two weekends Friday and Saturday, August 26, 27 and September 2 and 3 at 7:30pm with Sunday matinee performances on August 28 and September 3 at 2:00pm.

If you go:

What: Gaslight Theater presents “The Whales of August”

Cost: $15.00 for adults and $13.00 for seniors and students

Call 207-626-3698 for reservations, or just walk in

Where and When:

Friday and Saturday August 26 and 27 at 7:30 PM, Sunday August 28 at 2:00pm
Friday and Saturday September 2 and 3 at 7:30 PM, Sunday September 4 at 2:00pm

Hallowell City Hall
1 Winthrop St, Hallowell

Founded in 1937 as the Augusta Players, and since doing business as Gaslight Theater, we are the oldest continuously operating community theater in Maine. Productions have taken place in Hallowell City Hall since the late 1970s (until COVID intervened). We hope to return to our regular schedule in 2023 which is normally four shows a year, usually in late winter, early summer, late summer, and the fall, featuring a balance among musicals, mysteries, comedies, classics and new or experimental plays. For each show, we have at least six performances over two weekends, including Sunday matinees.

We hate Shakespeare! At least that’s what the audience thinks until they get a rip-roaring rundown of Shakespeare’s classics. With zombies, talking cows, and an appearance by Jerry Springer, I Hate Shakespeare! is a hilarious and fast-paced introduction to Shakespeare — with a modern twist.

Plus, someone gets a pie in the face.

“I Hate Shakespeare” by Steph DeFerie is a comedy presenting Shakespearean vignettes from a modern (and sometimes silly) point of view. This summer Gaslight Theater proudly presents six performances of  “I Hate Shakespeare” directed by Margaret Matheson assisted by Richard Bostwick. 

The second weekend in July the Augusta Downtown Alliance will sponsor three performances of Gaslight Theater production of “I Hate Shakespeare” at Waterfront Park in Augusta, Friday and Saturday, July 8 and 9 at 6:00 PM and a matinee performance on Sunday, July 10 at 2:00 PM.

The following week, during Old Hallowell Day weekend, Vaughan Historic Homestead will be hosting shows on Friday and Saturday, July 15 and 16 at 6:00 PM and a matinee performance on Sunday, July 17 at 2:00 PM. Parking at Vaughan Homestead is strictly limited to showtimes only. 

Choose your date and venue and bring a chair, blanket or maybe even a snack and make it an event!  For more information call 207-626-3698. Donations will be accepted at the show or anytime online to support the nonprofit Gaslight Theater. 

If you go:

What: Gaslight Theater presents “I Hate Shakespeare”

Cost: Free with donations accepted.

When and where in Augusta:

Friday and Saturday July 8 and 9 at 6:00 PM, Sunday July 10 at 2:00pm

Waterfront Park in Downtown Augusta
Front St, Augusta, ME 04330

When and where in Hallowell:

Friday and Saturday July 15 and 16* at 6:00 PM, Sunday July 17 at 2:00 PM

Vaughan Historic Homestead Outdoor Pavilion
2 Litchfield Rd, Hallowell

_{* The Saturday show is on Old Hallowell Day. Parking at Vaughan Homestead is strictly limited to the duration of the show only.}

This is an outdoor event. However, to ensure the health and safety of our audience and performers, we are asking everyone in attendance to wear a mask if they are not current on their vaccinations. The actors will not be masked when onstage during performances. These are difficult times, and we ask that everyone remain considerate and respectful of others.

Founded in 1937 as the Augusta Players, and since doing business as Gaslight Theater, we are the oldest continuously operating community theater in Maine. Productions have taken place in Hallowell City Hall since the late 1970s (until COVID intervened). We hope to return to our regular schedule in 2023 which is normally four shows a year, usually in late winter, early summer, late summer, and the fall, featuring a balance among musicals, mysteries, comedies, classics and new or experimental plays. For each show, we have at least six performances over two weekends, including Sunday matinees.

Prose, Roses, and Woes

After much deliberation and soul searching, we have elected to postpone these performances from our original Valentines weekend date. We will reschedule when more vaccines has been administered and we are confident new cases are moving in the right direction. 

POSTPONED

Hallowell’s Gaslight Theater is planning an outdoor themed poetry event in downtown Hallowell for a TO BE DETERMINED weekend.

This outdoor walking tour featuring live poetry readings, will take place on a future date TO BE DETERMINED at up to 6 locations in downtown Hallowell.

Small audience groups will be revolved among all the venues, while adhering to social distancing and masking protocols to keep everyone safe.

We have three ways you can participate, as a poet, as a reader or as part of the audience.

Poets

Submit a poem for us to consider, dealing with any aspect of  the theme of “love”: true love, new love, old love, or even lost love. It should be your own original work. We are not looking for an epic work but an original poem you would agree to have read by an actor or you can audition to read it yourself.  Our esteemed selection committee will choose favorites for the event.

We will accept new submissions once we have a date specified.

Readers

You can audition to read poems at the event. Readers and audience at each outdoor venue will be socially distanced and we will not be using microphones so a good strong voice and the ability to project is required.

We will accept new submissions once we have a date specified.

Audience

Reservations will be opened when we have a new date.

Stay tuned for More Info

Our home venue, Hallowell City Hall, is still not available at this time. It is not yet known when it may be. Social distancing for the safety of our cast, crew, and patrons is a priority and will reduce the size of audiences and will guide us as we look forward to presenting and acting again.

207-626-3698
Gaslighttheater@Gaslighttheater.org

SYNOPSIS
“Last Gas” is the land of last chances. It takes place in very Northern Maine at “Paradis’ Last Convenience Store. Last Gas, Last Food, Last Phone for Forty One Miles”. GAS is a gently unpredictable love story, with a quiet tension under the surface.

Cariani says “This play is not about the Red Sox. It’s about the quiet things that kill people, the internal what-ifs that we all experience, and the everyday choices that we make without thinking about the consequences that reach far beyond our imaginations or expectations.”

Nat Paradis is a Red Sox-loving part-time dad who manages Paradis’ Last Convenient Store, the last convenient place to get gas—or anything—before the Canadian border to the north and the North Maine Woods to the west.

When an old flame returns to town, Nat gets a chance to rekindle a romance he gave up on years ago. But sparks fly as he’s forced to choose between new love and old. LAST GAS takes a hilarious and heartbreakingly hard look at love lost and found, and at what it means to “get back to happy.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Cariani is an American playwright, best known for his first play, Almost, Maine, which premiered at the Portland Stage Company in 2004. It has become one of the most frequently produced plays in the world.