Despite spending most of my life on the NH seacoast and seeing a fair share of local theater, I’d somehow never been to The Players’ Ring Theatre in Portsmouth NH until this past weekend.
When my sister invited me to a play there, I couldn’t even picture where the theater was. Turns out that’s because it’s pretty inconspicuous, located in a flat brick building on the edge of Prescott Park, not exactly downtown.
My sister wasn’t feeling well the night of the play, so I went with my dad to The Players’ Ring to see C33: The Queer Story of Oscar Wilde’s Undoing, a new historical play about Oscar Wilde’s arrest and imprisonment for “gross indecency” (i.e, being and acting gay) in the mid-1890s.
The Players’ Ring is a fairly casual, seat-yourself black box theater. It’s also maybe the smallest theater I’ve ever been to. That’s great for an intimate performance and not so great if (like me) you’re sometimes uncomfortable with being right beside the action.
Thankfully my dad had been to the Ring before and knew we should sit back a row. Given the stage size and setup, there wasn’t really a bad seat in the place. It ended up being a pretty full house.
Despite the play’s serious topic and tone, it was hard not to laugh watching the people in the first row sometimes flinch at the sudden emotional outbursts or movement from the actors (the play was one with lots of shouting and banging of fancy canes and cups).
I thought I recognized a couple of the actors from other local theater productions, but maybe not. In addition to The Players’ Ring, Portsmouth is home to THE REP (Seacoast Repertory Theatre, but THE REP is more fun to say) plus outdoor theater via the Prescott Park Arts Festival every summer.
After the play, many of the actors hung out in the little lobby, still in their Victorian attire, to mingle with the audience and thank them for coming.
I left with the impression that what differentiates The Players’ Ring is its intimate minimal-frills setting, its support for local artists (C33 was written by a local playwright), and a dedication to community theatah.
Photo Credit: The Players’ Ring Theatre website.