Northern Stage rolls out winter-spring season, new facility

Northern Stage has announced its 2015-2016 season. The company will produce six main stage productions from October 2015 to May 2016 in its new facility, the Barrette Center for the Arts, 74 Gates St., in White River Junction.

Northern Stage’s season opens with Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town.’

The public is invited to a Grand Opening Celebration of the new facility and a kick-off for the 2015-2016 season from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10.

The open house will feature a ribbon cutting ceremony, self-guided tours through the new building, kids’ activities, and a drawing for prizes.

Northern Stage will open the season with Our Town by Thornton Wilder playing Oct. 7 through Oct. 31. The Disney musical Mary Poppins in its smash Broadway incarnation will run for the holidays Nov. 18 through Jan. 3.

The new year brings Mad Love, a world premiere production, by award-winning local playwright Marisa Smith. Next in the season is The Hound of the Baskervilles, Feb. 24 to March 12.

The Barrette Center for Northern Stage. Artist’s rendering.

The Mountaintop, winner of the Olivier Award for Best Play in 2010, runs March 23 to April 9 and is directed by Artistic Director Carol Dunne. The season concludes April 20 to May 8 with Living Together, one play in the Norman Conquests, a comic trilogy by renowned British playwright Alan Ayckbourn. Northern Stage is teaming up with Weston Playhouse and Dorset Theater Festival in an historical Vermont collaboration to present all three plays between April and July 2016.

The third annual New Works Now, a showcase for the development of new plays, runs Jan. 15 and 16, 2016. New Works Now is free, as are the company’s hosted opening night receptions, Athena Conversation Series, multiple post-show conversations throughout the season, and library partnership program, which offers scripts for check-out, workshops to provide context for each main stage production, and free tickets at area libraries.

Education programs at Northern Stage in the upcoming season include a student matinee series, a season-long theater ensemble for students in grades 7–12, after school classes for students ages 8–11, February and April Vacation Week Camps for students aged 5–17, and Communications Inc., an adult interactive class focused on using theater techniques to improve communication skills. The company will announce summer education camps and classes in early 2016.

Northern Stage is a regional non-profit professional theater that seeks to change lives, one story at a time. Based in the Upper Valley of the Connecticut River, Northern Stage brings national and area talent together on an intimate stage in diverse classic, contemporary and new plays and musicals. For more information and ticket sales visit their website at northernstage.org.