By Patrick Adrian Staff Writer
CLAREMONT — When the novel coronavirus pandemic forced theatres and performance venues to shutter in 2020, Amplified Arts, a performing arts center in Claremont, turned to its city for a creative solution: perform the play outdoors.
So began the creation of Theatre in the Woods in August 2020, when Amplified Arts performed its production of “M,” an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” in Moody Park in Claremont.
That show garnered enough success to warrant another show in 2021.
On Thursday, July 29, Amplified Arts will return to the forested park for a three-night production of “Picnic at Hanging Rock,” a mystery-drama adapted from the 1975 Australian film based on the bestselling 1969 novel by Joan Lindsay.
“Picnic at Hanging Rock,” a period piece set in the 1900s, begins with a seemingly innocuous picnic outing on Valentine’s Day by a group of schoolgirls and their teachers, but becomes a mystery when three of the senior girls and a mathematics teacher disappear.
“The play lends itself to the environment that we are going to be performing in,” said Shelly Hudson, play director and founder of Amplified Arts. “It’s a period piece, which is always fun to costume and explore, with a lot of great roles and it’s a story I have been wanting to tell for quite awhile.”
The upcoming performance is Amplified Arts’ second installment of its Theatre in the Woods series. The first installment last year “went over very well, with people traveling from across the state to attend,” Hudson said.
Performing outdoors comes with minor challenges, Hudson said. The actors have to adapt their performances to the natural lighting and sound, without the aid of a sound system, for example. There are also the occasional passerbys, as expected in a public recreational park, Hudson said, adding that hikers and cyclists were typically respectful during last year’s performances.
But such distractions were brief and small in comparison to the enjoyment, according to Hudson.
“Moody Park is a great place to do a show,” Hudson said. “We do it in a space that’s off the beaten path but opens widely enough to provide a beautiful backdrop to really any suitage you might think of.”
Moody Park, which celebrated its 100th anniversary on June 26, 2016, is arguably one of Claremont’s greatest natural assets. Donated to the city by William Moody for public recreation, the 175-acre forest offers over seven miles of hiking and mountain bike trails and a straight drive through mammoth pines to a stretched open hilltop with a stone pavilion, picnic tables and a panoramic view of the Vermont side of the valley.
“The city was really wonderful to work with to bring [our production] in,” Hudson said. “I am actually shocked that no one else has ever done theatre at Moody Park before.”
Though the logic of Theatre in the Woods originated from the pandemic, Hudson said she plans to make this outdoor series an annual tradition.
“It adds a different feel to the shows we are doing out there, versus our intimate space where we do theatre,” Hudson said.
Hudson said she is also looking at the process to eventually return to indoor productions in her theatre at 31 Pleasant St. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and New Hampshire Theatre Associations have issued health and safety guidelines regarding inside social distancing and ventilation when performing indoors.
“Obviously we hope to get back into our space as soon as we can,” Hudson said. “Until then we have been doing virtual productions on our virtual stage, so we definitely haven’t been dormant over the last year and a half.”
Seating at Theatre in the Woods is designed to accommodate safe social distancing and the theatre is asking patrons to wear masks when social distancing cannot be maintained.
Performances of “Picnic Hanging Rock” will run from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with shows on Thursday, July 29; Friday, July 30; and Saturday, July 31.
Single seat tickets are $15 and a “picnic ticket” — a designated space on the ground, with a picnic blanket provided — is $40 for two guests.
Picnic ticket buyers may bring a picnic dinner, though alcohol is not permitted in Moody Park. There will not be concessions at the play but patrons may bring their own snacks.
People must acquire their tickets in advance. To purchase a ticket or learn more about Amplified Arts, visit their website at amplifiedartsnh.com.
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