Our 2023 Season
We are thrilled to welcome audiences back to Maudslay State Park and to other historic venues on the North Shore and beyond for our 44th Season. Puppets, Pantos, and Classic Dramas are in store for 2023, and we hope you will join us! You can take a look at the full performance calendar here.
OUR MAINSTAGE SEASON
PETRUSHKA’S FLYING PUPPET CIRCUS
Devised by the ensemble
May & June, 2023
Maudslay State Park, Newburyport, MA
Read the program here.
LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN
By Oscar Wilde
Directed by Rory Pelsue
July 22nd, 23rd, 29th, and 30th at 4pm
Maudslay State Park, Newburyport, MA
Read the program here.
MACBETH
By William Shakespeare
September 22nd-October 1st
St. Paul’s Church, Newburyport, MA
Read the program here.
POE.
Adapted by the Company from the works of Edgar Allen Poe
October 6th, 7th, 13th, & 14th @ 6:30 & 8 pm, Gedney House, Salem MA
October 15th @ 6:30 & 8 pm
Ellen T. Brown Memorial Chapel, Oak Hill Cemetery, Newburyport
Learn more here.
CINDERELLA IN DECEMBER: A FROZEN FAIRYTALE PANTO!
By Edward F. Speck & Josh Shack
December 8th-23rd, 2023
The Firehouse Center for the Arts, Newburyport, MA
Learn more here.
OUR FUNDRAISERS
HOT PEPPER HAMLET
To celebrate Shakespeare's birthday, some of the most talented Shakespearean performers you've loved on Theater in the Open stages will perform Shakespeare's greatest monologues and scenes—with one twist; they're taking a bite out of a wicked hot pepper before they start.
April 23 @ 6:30pm
Museum of Old Newbury, 98 High Street, Newburyport, MA
Suggested donation: $50
Tickets available here.
Circus SMirkus presents: A Midsummer Night’s Circus
The annual Big Top Tour returns to the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury on August 4th and 5th. Four shows over two days with some of the most talented young circus performers in America—all proceeds help benefit Theater in the Open’s programs and scholarships. We’ll see you out at the farm!
To purchase tickets to Circus Smirkus, click here.
Our 2023 Circus Smirkus performances are sponsored by the Institution for Savings. We thank them for their generosity.
Maudslay is Haunted!
Our annual haunting of Maudslay State Park returns this October for more frightening fun and giggling ghouls! This family friendly stroll through the park is our largest fundraiser of the year—grab your costumes and join us for some spooky, Halloween fun!
October 21st and 22nd (Raindate October 28th)
Gates open 1:30pm to 4pm.
To learn more about Maudslay is Haunted and volunteering, click here.
POP UP PERFORMANCES
AN EVENING AT GATSBY’S
Kick off the summer season in style, old sports! Join Historic New England and Theater in the Open for a night in West Egg. Following characters throughout Phillips House, hear passages from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and experience this enduring classic in a unique setting. Come as your best 1920s inspired self and enjoy light refreshments following the performance.
June 10th, 7pm
Phillips House, 34 Chesnut Street, Salem
Tickets available here.
Enduring Hawthorne
Join The House of the Seven Gables, NPS, Essex Heritage, The Salem Athenaeum, and Theater in the Open as we celebrate Salem Literary Fest with the 4th presentation of Enduring Hawthorne! Watch as a curated selection of Hawthorne’s most famous short stories come to life in The Gables’ historic houses. Guests will be treated to four stories, each played out in a different historic setting, fully activating the site and spaces.
September 10th, 1-4 pm
The House of the Seven Gables
115 Derby StreetSalem
Cost: Free – $50
Concrete Bouquet: A Day of Dance in Nature
Join us for a unique experience that builds collective consciousness around climate change through dance. First, a dance performance will be shared on an outdoor stage with the forest as its backdrop – including choreography by Contemporary Dance majors at The Boston Conservatory and Exit Dance Theatre choreographer, Julie Pike Edmond!
Following the performance, all bodies are invited to join us for an optional dance workshop that will introduce another avenue to connect with the Earth.
Sunday, October 1st, 2 pm
Maudsley State Park
More information here!
Thank You to our Season Underwriters
Director Level Sponsors:
Circle of Friends Sponsors:
Ganesh Imports
ADDITIONAL THANKS TO
Jeremy & Arlene Barnard