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MONMOUTH – For the first time in the theater’s history, Theater at Monmouth will not produce a summer repertory season. After months of planning for the 51st season, the theater will remain dark for the foreseeable future.
“We surveyed our patrons early on and had an idea of what they would and wouldn’t do in response to the continued spread of the coronavirus and what guidance they would be looking for from state and national officials before making a decision to come to the theater again.” said Dawn McAndrews, the theater’s producing artistic director. “On April 28, we expected that the governor would announce an extension of the Stay Healthy at Home mandate and were hoping for guidance on how best to move forward during the pandemic.
“Governor Mill’s announcement confirmed that arts organizations and particularly theaters would not be opening for some time,” McAndrews said. “We recognize that many patrons will be disappointed by the news, but due to the continued threat of COVID-19, we’ve decided to postpone the 2020 season.”
Board President Ryan Dumais agreed, “Since early March, the Board of Trustees has been monitoring developments surrounding COVID-19. It had been our hope that the situation would improve more quickly and that we might be able to go ahead with our 51st season of classic theater here in Monmouth.
“Unfortunately, things have not turned out that way. After nearly two months of meeting, planning, and strategizing, the board came reluctantly to the conclusion that it has no alternative but to forgo production of our 51st season in the summer of 2020, and to move that season instead to the summer of 2021.”
By making the difficult choice to postpone productions this summer, the theater hopes to ensure that it will survive until next year and thrive in the summers to come.
TAM’s 2020 (R)evolutionary Season was scheduled to begin public performances on June 27 and conclude Aug. 27. The season was programmed to celebrate Maine’s Bicentennial, the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage and the election year.
Summer repertory plays were to include Shakespeare’s “Cymbeline,” directed by Eddie DeHais and “Julius Caesar,” directed by Bill van Horn; the Maine premiere of Mat Smart’s “The Agitators,” directed by Josiah Davis; a world premier of Callie Kimball’s “Sofonisba,” directed by McAndrews; Edward Albee’s “Seascape,” directed by Kate Bergstrom. The Family Show, “Aesop’s Guide to Friendship,” adapted by McAndrews and directed by Ian Kramer, annually reaches young people and the young at heart.
The theater plans to produce the plays in 2021.
