Author: Geneva Corwin
Patricia Neal Stage

The Eleventh Hour

Monday, August 28, 2017
A young woman seeks the truth about her brother's death on the final day of combat in World War I -- and discovers that heroism is more complicated than she imagined.Based on a highly partisan investigation into the army's treatment of American soldiers.

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Patricia Neal Stage

The Diary of Anne Frank

Sunday, August 27, 2017
Please join us for a special dramatic reading of the play, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.

2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the Broadway production of this powerful adaptation, which was directed by James Lapine, who will introduce the evening. We will honor Ms. Kesselman at this event.

Net proceeds benefit Martha's Vineyard Hebrew Center and Martha's Vineyard Playhouse.

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Patricia Neal Stage

She Exits, Laughing

Monday, August 21, 2017
Fortysomething Julie flees her marriage and moves in with her widowed mother-a comedy about how it's never too late for anything.

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‘Who You See Here’ is a funny, smart, and witty production

August 21, 2017
Before a single word of dialogue is spoken in the new comedy currently playing at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, audience members will know that they’re about to witness something fun and fast-paced. As the lights go down, the four actors are all seen silently engaging in various activities, the colorful set — full of moving pieces and graphic elements — provides great visuals and the upbeat retro-style music that bridges each scene change is very catchy. And this first impression does not disappoint. “Who You See Here” by Emmy-winning writer Matt Hoverman is a smart, witty, and very funny play that draws its humor from human foibles, modern life, and celebrity gossip culture. A series of coincidences along the way and a blow out of a finale give the play some elements of a farce, but it’s really in the one-liners, delivered with perfect timing by a terrific cast of four, that make this two-act play shine.

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Playwright Larry Mollin creates a play from the song ‘Please Come to Boston’

August 18, 2017
And so it was on a recent Monday evening. Larry Mollin, former television writer and producer — most famously known for his years as executive producer on “Beverly Hills 90210” — and longtime summer resident, in his seasoned, sager years has written a trio of plays, all produced here at the playhouse, and in New York, London, and Los Angeles. Mr. Mollin is back on-Island (he and wife Dee have a house in Vineyard Haven), and he arrives with a fourth stroke of invention: “Please Come to Boston.”

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Patricia Neal Stage

The Garbologists

Monday, August 14, 2017
When a veteran sanitation worker and the new woman on the job find something on their route too valuable to throw out, they're forced to reappraise in each other what they mistook for trash.

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A Love Triangle Plus One, New Play Is Four Wheeling Farce

August 10, 2017
f you already happen to belong to a love triangle encompassing an earnest psychotherapist, an alcoholic ex-standup comic 12-stepping his way to recovery and a sexy but unstable action-movie superstar, then you don’t need to see Who You See Here, the latest production at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse. But that would be denial.

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‘Julius Caesar’ is still slaying audiences at the amphitheater

August 10, 2017
Every summer on our Island, the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse stages an Elizabethan classic in this idyllic spot, under the trees and with sounds of chirping birds and squawking geese high overhead. And this summer, for “Julius,” a tale of raging testosterone, the cast is composed 100 percent of women. Playing men. And it works!

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Patricia Neal Stage

Please Come to Boston

Monday, August 7, 2017
A songwriter trying to make it in LA in 1975 faces challenges with his marriage, a new baby, and a provocative and talented nineteen year-old neighbor. A musical play about the healing power of the creative process.

Based on the song by Dave Loggins.

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For Jenny Allen, She and Her House ‘Were Sort of in This Together

July 29, 2017
MARTHA’S VINEYARD, Mass. — Not long after Jenny Allen left New York City to live full-time here, her once-sturdy farmhouse had a nervous breakdown. The pump to the well gave out, the water heater flooded the furnace, the pipes froze and an ancient tree crashed through the roof. It was 2013 and Ms. Allen, the journalist, humor writer and performer, had just separated from Jules Feiffer, the cartoonist and author to whom she had been married for 30 years, when the house began behaving like a kindergartner who had toughed it out all day at school only to have a meltdown at dismissal. You could see its collapse as a proxy for Ms. Allen’s own experience. “It was like the house knew that someone was there to take care of it so it just went …” Ms. Allen paused. “It just went ‘boing’ like a house in a cartoon.”

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Patricia Neal Stage

The Room Where I Was Held

Monday, July 24, 2017
Josh Salazar, a young war correspondent, has just survived a kidnapping abroad, and is recovering at home with his parents. But when Josh's girlfriend pays a visit from Kabul, we learn the truth about why he took on his most dangerous assignment, and at what cost.

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Dusty and the Big Bad World Adds Levity to the Culture Wars

July 20, 2017
At the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse through July 29, Cusi Cram’s political comedy Dusty and the Big Bad World is a fast-paced and funny take on the culture wars of the last Republican administration, sparing neither the right nor the left as both sides struggle over Dusty’s survival.

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Patricia Neal Stage

Light Up The Sky

Monday, July 17, 2017
Join Christopher Hart for an extra special evening that includes a reading of the first act of LIGHT UP THE SKY, a timeless comedy about "life imitating art", followed by a discussion about Mr. Hart's own magical life with his parents, theatrical legends Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle Hart.

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Lend them your ears

July 12, 2017
“Julius Caesar” is possibly Shakespeare’s most male-dominated work. There are only two female characters, wives who appear in brief supporting roles. All other characters are warriors or politicians, in a society where women could be neither. In this production, the entire cast is made up of women.

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Patricia Neal Stage

Kirk at the San Francisco Airport Hyatt

Monday, July 10, 2017
Kristina’s handicapped father Kirk has lived in the San Francisco Airport Hyatt for five years with his Ethiopian nurse/girlfriend - but now he's running out of money.

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‘Dusty and the Big Bad World’ opens the Vineyard Playhouse season with a bang!

June 29, 2017
Inspired by the conservative outcry after a popular children’s television show spotlighted a family with two mothers, playwright Cusi Cram’s biting comedy Dusty and the Big Bad World lost its topical hook on the eve of its first production in January 2009. “It opened four days after Obama was inaugurated and it seemed like old news, pulling funding from public television and censoring children’s shows,” said MJ Bruder Munafo, artistic and executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, who is directing Dusty and the Big Bad World in its second-ever public run.

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Tisbury Amphitheater

Julius Caesar

July 12 - August 12, 2017
A cast of all women performs one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies exploring and illuminating this timely story of honor, patriotism and friendship in a fresh and exciting outdoor production. With Amy Sabin Barrow, Chelsea McCarthy, Shelagh Hackett, Ellie Brelis, Alley Ellis, Liz Michael Hartford, Emily Hewson, Anna Yukevich.

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Patricia Neal Stage

Who You See Here

August 4 - September 2, 2017
WHO YOU SEE HERE, a farcical comedy by Emmy Award winner Matt Hoverman about an uptight therapist and her recovering alcoholic husband who find their lives upturned and their love tested when charismatic but disturbed movie star Tom Speck staggers into their small town’s AA meeting. Add a beautiful psychiatric patient with a stalking problem and you’ve got a smart, funny play about anonymity, celebrity, and making the perfect salad.

Director Jeanie Hackett (LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT at the Geffen starring Alfred Molina and Jane Kaczmarek) helms a terrific ensemble cast of comedy pros - Angela Goethals (HOME ALONE, JERRY MAGUIRE), Mather Zickel (I LOVE YOU, MAN, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED), Russel Soder (I MARRIED A MOBSTER) and Kat Fairaway (GETTING MEISNERED) - in the world premiere of this comedy.

This play contains adult themes and is not recommended for under age 13. Includes profanity, adult content and partial nudity.

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Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse Opens With Timely Tale

June 29, 2017
Inspired by the conservative outcry after a popular children’s television show spotlighted a family with two mothers, playwright Cusi Cram’s biting comedy Dusty and the Big Bad World lost its topical hook on the eve of its first production in January 2009. “It opened four days after Obama was inaugurated and it seemed like old news, pulling funding from public television and censoring children’s shows,” said MJ Bruder Munafo, artistic and executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, who is directing Dusty and the Big Bad World in its second-ever public run.

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Science confronts politics in ‘Gene Play’

June 28, 2017
The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse was filled to capacity last Monday night for the reading of Gene Play, written by Jonah Lipsky and Casey Ann Hayward. The performance was part of the theater’s weekly Monday Night Specials, showcasing new work from budding and seasoned playwrights for a one-night-only performance.

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Patricia Neal Stage

Gene Play

Monday, June 19, 2017
Based on real-life events in Cambridge, MA. in 1976 and 2017, a new drama about the ongoing controversy over the ethics and politics of gene editing.

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Gene Play Opens Monday Night Specials

June 15, 2017
As the title suggests, the play is about genetic engineering, tracking the growth of this science through time, along with the factors controlling it. Act One takes place in 1976 and Act Two occurs in the present day.

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Patricia Neal Stage

The Green Rose

Monday, June 12, 2017
At the turn of 20th century England, love blooms in many varieties. But beware of the prick of the Green Rose.

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Marilyn Meyerhoff Lobby

Sold Out – Chardonnay from around the World

Friday, June 9, 2017
Led by Jack Korpi, Certified Specialist of Wine

We'll be tasting five Chardonnays from California, France, Australia and Argentina. If you already love Chardonnay, this tasting will enable you to possibly find your new favorite. And if it's been awhile since you gave Chardonnay a try, here's a great opportunity to renew your acquaintance.

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Monday Night Specials opens with a comedy, Gwyn McAllister’s ‘The Green Rose’

June 6, 2017
The series begins with a comedy by Gwyn McAllister, directed by MJ Bruder Munafo, and featuring a cast of seven actors. Ms. McAllister is a longtime resident and frequent contributor to the Times; she now splits her time between Oak Bluffs and New York City. She is a journalist, humorist, and playwright who has previously had her work produced as readings on the Vineyard and in New York City.

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Patricia Neal Stage

Dusty and the Big Bad World

June 30 - July 29, 2017
Based on a 2005 scandal in the world of children’s television known as “Bustergate”, DUSTY AND THE BIG BAD WORLD is a darkly funny, no-holds-barred yet even-handed look at PBS, government censorship, gay marriage, and what it takes to ultimately step up and fight for what you believe in.

Audience Comments



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Artist Anne Cook at the M.V. Playhouse

May 24, 2017
Island-born artist Anne Cook will showcase her work at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse Art Space until Thursday, June 8. Her exhibit, “Color in Motion; Darkness in Action” depicts Vineyard landscapes and cartoons from Dante’s “Inferno.” This unique series features pastel paintings of tranquil up-Island scenes, in tandem with mixed-media and collage works on paper.

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Patricia Neal Stage

From Ship to Shape

May 12 & 13, 2017
A young actor gets a job on a cruise ship and winds up in a mental hospital. FROM SHIP TO SHAPE is a funny and heart wrenching autobiographical monologue about losing your mind while chasing your dreams, the journey in pursuit of healing and how a cruise ship can push you over the edge. Developed at Bay Street Theater with Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominated director SCOTT SCHWARTZ, and premiering in New York this September at the United Solo Theatre Festival.

All tickets $20 Adults/$15 Juniors

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Patricia Neal Stage

Been There, Still There

Saturday, May 6, 2017
Second City Main Stage alums Bruce Jarchow (Parks and Recreation / Boss / Seinfeld / Ghost) and Nancy McCabe-Kelly (web series Teachers as seen on the Onion Channel / Welcome! To Prison / TBS Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs) are bringing their highly praised show BEEN THERE, STILL THERE to the Playhouse for ONE NIGHT ONLY.

The show follows a baby boomer couple on a road trip to Wisconsin for a destination wedding. Along the way they ponder empty nest angst, becoming victims of both urban gentrification and illogical technology, and anything else that comes to mind, with the local radio and nostalgia of Wisconsin as their backdrop. Though this is a scripted show, each performance is slightly different as they expound, riff and allow themselves to go off script as the spirit (and audience) moves them.

Tickets $20 Adults, $15 Juniors (under 30)

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Been There, Still There at the Playhouse

May 3, 2017
Second City Main Stage alums Bruce Jarchow and Nancy McCabe-Kelly are bringing their show, Been There, Still There, to the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse for a one night only performance on Saturday, May 6, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

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To Kill a Mockingbird – 1998

April 25, 2017
My first major immersion into the MV Playhouse occurred in 1998, when M.J. asked me to audition for Atticus in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I was flattered and thrilled. Since moving from Boston with my wife and daughter three years earlier, I had seen nothing but top-quality M.V. Playhouse productions. I had never tackled a role like Atticus, but I was game to try it and be directed by the expert - M.J.

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Marilyn Meyerhoff Lobby

Poetry Café – April

April 4, 2017 at 7:30 pm
Hosted by MV Poet Laureate
ARNIE REISMAN

Joined by Poets
Brooks Robards
Lee McCormack
Valerie Sonnenthal
Maureen D. Hall

$10 at the door, cash only
Price includes a beverage and a slice of PIE CHICKS pie.

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Patricia Neal Stage

Shakespeare for the Masses Presents Romeo and Juliet

April 1 and 2, 2017
For its final show of the season, Shakespeare for the Masses is presenting fan favorite Romeo and Juliet, but with a twist. In the theatrical world, everyone wants the coveted role of Juliet, but of course only one person per show gets this gem. Until now that is. Shakespeare for the Masses is known for putting new spins on the mighty English bard, including slicing and dicing his plays down to a manageable hour.

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