Beth Brown | Advancement Director​

Dear Peterborough Players,
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Here we are nearing the end of the uniquely challenging 2020. How are you?

I am by nature an optimist and a problem solver; this year, however, has gotten to me.
I have felt deep sadness and a sense of loss. I have missed all of you. I miss welcoming you as you arrive for a show. I miss hearing your voices between acts. I miss the joyful energy I feel every time I am in the audience with you.

Thankfully, Peterborough Players' family has held strongly together. Your outpouring of encouragement, kind words, support, and enthusiastic engagement in the many events we have hosted, by necessity online, have been uplifting.

Live theatre is a dialogue between artists and audience. Without both of these essential and very human elements, it cannot work. Your faithful continuation of this dialogue, despite the difficulties of this year in which we have had to be apart, has been a boost to our spirits and a lifeline to the continuing mission of the Peterborough Players. Thank you!

My grandmother, Edith Bond Stearns, a single mother of three, founded the theatre in the depths of the Great Depression. While the Players grew during that harrowing time, it went on hiatus from 1943 to 1945 while the United States was at war and closed twice in the 1970s due to my mother’s health. In our 87-year history, the Peterborough Players has been no stranger to difficult times. Each time with love and support, and so, so many people deeply wanting this theatre, in this community, the Players came back.

Today we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic in a year that has seen economic uncertainty and social upheaval. A return to live theatre, with its power to feed souls and encourage healing, feels urgent.

There is lots of hard work to do for the future of your Players, and we are gratefully absorbed in that work now. We are planning theatre that is innovative, inclusive, welcoming, and expresses our gratitude. And, of course, we will produce it in a way that is safe for all involved. We are eager to see you in person again. To have that dialogue between artists and audience. My optimistic nature is greatly anticipating that moment.

Please help us re-start your playhouse by making a year-end donation at this critical moment. Doing so will allow us to share the gift of exceptional, live, professional theatre with you again in 2021.
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In the meantime, know you are missed. Be well. I look forward to welcoming you back to your Peterborough Players next summer.

With great gratitude,

Beth Brown
Advancement Director

PS – Have you seen the plaques listing all the seasons for the first 66 years, hanging under the shed roof outside the old entrance to the theatre? I was a teenager before I realized 1943 1944 1945 GONE TO WAR, was not a ‘hit show’ we did for three years!