From an African American neighborhood in 20th century Oak Bluffs to 1800s Colorado Rockies, and with a Black New York City schoolteacher and the British author of “Peter Pan,” the plays and characters in the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse 2024 calendar will carry audiences near and far this spring and summer.
“To be born is to be wrecked on an island.”
So said J.M. Barrie, the most successful English-language playwright of his time. In Courage, John Pielmeier tells the story of Barrie’s remarkable life in Barrie’s own words - from his relationship with his too-possessive mother through his friendship with the five boys who inspired his most famous play. Alternately humorous and heart-breaking, the author of Peter Pan reveals his own secret self by telling the stories of all the heroes he knew in his own life—the men and women he loved, the men and women he tragically lost.
While responding to a student’s question about their body, a school teacher at an elite New York City school accidentally propels the school into controversy and into the press. This original solo play details a community’s charged response to a well-intentioned lesson.
Denys Wortman gives us a rare perspective of this place we call home — specifically, from up high. His current exhibit, “View from Above,” at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, is an alluring array of photographs he has taken with drones since 2016.