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From
Issue #3, Autumn 2003 OPEN
BOOK PLAYERS A small town in northern New England lays claim to being the home of the longest running independent Readers Theatre Ensemble in the US. Since it's founding in the spring of 1996, The Open Book Players have presented nearly 150 performances of over seventy-five different RT plays to an estimated 8,000 adults and children within 200 miles of its home venue, Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center in Gardiner, Maine. Johnson Hall is a small intimate performance space on the street level of a former vaudeville and movie theater in downtown Gardiner. Open Book Players have presented many full length Performances there including original works like "Spoon River Revisited" and "The Tilbury Chronicles". Many adaptations of non-dramatic literature have premiered there and standards like "Christmas Carol", "Dracula", "Wind in the Willows", "Love Letters" and, most recently, "A Cheever Evening" by A. R. Gurney are enjoyed by hundreds of Maine theatre goers. In the summer of 1998, strictly as an experiment, OBP prepared a program of eight short RT plays for children with the idea of offering it to three or four nearby schools or libraries. By the end of August a total of twelve libraries and three schools had booked the program. Today tour bookings are limited to 12-14 venues per season. This leaves time for the touring cast of eight actors , ranging in age from sixteen to seventy-five to meet the responsibilities of family and jobs. A theme is determined and the summer tour play titles are selected and advertised to potential venues by mid-March. Titles are performed as a package and are not available indivdually. Bookings are usually set by the time the tour begins towards the end of June. Four or five rehearsals beginning in early June are more than adequate for the veteran actors to prepare a polished performance Available dates are publicized on the OBP web site (see links page) and by low-key postings to several regional school and library Internet discussion lists. Great care is taken to make these postings informative, brief and devoid of anything that 'tastes' like spam. Road trips are by van and equipment consists of a half dozen stools and two or three music stands. Performances last 45-60 minutes and the cast is generous with its time for discussion and interaction with audience members after each show. OBP is a 501(c)3 organization. No participant receives any remuneration for his or her time and talent, however a modest fee is charged to help cover out-of-pocket expenses for travel, meals and lodgings, and royalties, when applicable. FMI contact touring@openbookplayers.org
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