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Adam Berry of the Peregrine Theatre Ensemble.
PROVINCETOWN – The Peregrine Theatre Ensemble in Provincetown was founded by a group of friends who wanted to take chances and make bold choices on local productions.
For their current production, “Carrie: The Musical,” they are tackling a show that had a short and bumpy Broadway run in 1988 but has become somewhat of a cult classic in the years since.
But for Adam Berry, who holds the title of executive producer and co-founder of Peregrine, the choice of “Carrie: The Musical” with its focus on the hot topic of bullying makes sense. The group decided to stage the play at Provincetown High School, where the audience is further immersed in the story.
Peregrine was founded three years ago.
“We basically got tired of saying ‘I wish people would do these shows.’ We took the leap. We launched and decided to create our own company and bring theater back to the birthplace of modern American theater,” Adam Berry said.
Besides Adam Berry, the ensemble is led by his husband, Artistic Director Ben Berry, Executive Director Tessa Bry Taylor and Company Manager Jake Ford. All four have worked in theater for many years. Taylor and Ben Berry, who both attended Guthrie Theater/University of Minnesota BFA Actor Training Program, were heavily involved in the theater company, Shakespeare on the Cape in past years.
Adam Berry attended the Boston Conservatory and among his credits in recent years is as one of the characters in the show “Ghost Hunters” on the SyFy Channel. He was on the show for five years.
Adam Berry explained of the four founders, “We’ve all worked in the theater industry in many, many different ways. We’ve all been actors. We’ve all been producers. We’ve all been set designers and costume makers. “
As to how they came up with the name Peregrine, the group wanted a name that fit the Provincetown and the Cape but also could be used elsewhere. The name came from Peregrine White, the first baby that was born on the “Mayflower” while it was docked in the Provincetown Harbor.
“To us it is about new beginnings, new adventures. Peregrine White became very successful. He opened a law school. He had a bunch of children. He lived to age 83,” Adam Berry said.
It’s also a name that the founder can take with them if they stage performances off Cape, because, Berry pointed out, the name also means traveler and Pilgrim.
Currently, Peregrine is staging “Carrie: The Musical” until September 9, in repertory with a pair of Tennessee Williams one-act plays.
“Carrie” began as a 1974 first novel by a then-unknown writer named Stephen King. King, of course, went on to become one of the best-selling novelists of all time and “Carrie” was made into a movie considered a cult classic. Adam Berry reassures that “Carrie: The Musical” is not scary and the focus is not on the horror story aspects of the original book and the movie, as much as it is on the bullying aspect.
“It is about high school now. It is about bullying. It is about being different and accepting that you’re different and coming to terms with it,” he said.
Peregrine Theatre Ensemble’s production of “Carrie: The Musical” is being performed Mondays through Wednesdays at 7 p.m. until September 9, and “Blue Dusk: Gay Plays by Tennessee Williams” is being performed Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m. until September 18.
As a special event for Peregrine, Betty Buckley will be participating in a “Carrie: The Musical” Talk Back, where she talks about appearing in the original movie and the original Broadway play, on September 2. She will then give a concert including songs from her latest album on September 3 and 4.
Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 774-538-9084 or online at www.peregrinetheatre.com.
Click below to find out more about Peregrine Theatre Ensemble’s current productions.
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