The Cape Playhouse in Dennis.
Cape Cod shines throughout the year when it comes to live theater performances, and the month of October is no exception. If you’re looking for a night of laughter, tears, or just good old entertainment, here is a sample of some of the great shows our local theater companies have to offer this month.
October 8
The Second Girl, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Martha’s Vineyard
Enjoy the season’s final performance of The Second Girl, with Eugene O’Neill’s classic Long Day’s Journey into Night as a backdrop. The Second Girl is set in the downstairs world of the Tyrone family kitchen in August, 1912. In this lyrical, poignant play, two Irish immigrant servant girls and the American chauffeur search for love, success and a sense of belonging; giving us a wrenching, often humorous and intimate behind the scenes look at their lives. This play had its world premiere at the Huntington Theater in 2015, and is the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award. For tickets and time, visit mvplayhouse.org/theater.
October 8
Frost/Nixon, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit
Frost/Nixon is a historical drama based on the real-life interviews between British media personality, David Frost and disgraced former American president, Richard M. Nixon. Written by first-time playwright Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon mixes the real words of the two figures with fictionalized dialogue among the men and their respective teams. Within the structure of the play, the interviews are presented as a kind of boxing match — a crucial turning point in both of their careers in which only one of them can emerge victorious. For tickets and time, visit cotuitcenterforthearts.org.
October 8, 9
On Golden Pond, Cape Cod Theatre Company, Harwich
This is the love story of Ethel and Norman Thayer, who are returning to their summer home on Golden Pond for the 48th year. He is a retired professor with heart palpitations and a failing memory, but still is as tart-tongued, observant and eager for life as ever. Ethel, the perfect foil for Norman, delights in all the small things that continue to enrich their long life together. They are visited by their divorced, middle-aged daughter and her dentist fiancé, who then go off to Europe and leave his teenage son behind for the summer. As humorous as it is heartwarming, On Golden Pond will leave audiences enraptured. For time and tickets, visit capecodtheatrecompany.org.
October 8-31
Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, The Academy of Performing Arts, Orleans
Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, the outrageous musical comedy lovingly ripped off from the film classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” tells the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they embark on their quest for the Holy Grail. Flying cows, killer rabbits, taunting Frenchmen and show-stopping musical numbers are just a few of the reasons you’ll be eating up SPAMALOT. For times and tickets, visit apacape.org.
October 8, 9
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit
The play examines the breakdown of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George as they draw an unwitting younger couple, Nick and Honey, into their bitter and frustrated relationship. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? won a Tony Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle awards. The dialogue in the first act has been hailed by some critics as some of the greatest in all of American theater. Set in three acts with two 10-minute intermissions. For tickets and times, visit cotuitcentergforthearts.org.
October 8-16
Neil Simon’s ‘Rumors’ – A Farce, Woods Hole Theater Company, Woods Hole
The story of Charley and Myra Brock’s anniversary evening gone awry grows and develops. In the end all the guests are complicit in a cover-up that no one even really understands, but the fantastical events of the evening are hilarious and give a rich basis for great characters doing what Neil Simon does best – making the mundane…insane! For tickets and times, visit woodsholetheater.org.
October 9
Sit a While with Kami Lyle, Cape Playhouse, Dennis
What is a Sit-A-While? A Sit-A-While is an evening of great music and a gathering of friends set in a variety of cozy, ocean-side settings across Cape Cod. Two national touring visiting guests will perform their favorite songs in a round with custom musical jingles for the Playhouse’s sponsors interspersed with stories, skits performed by the Cape’s prominent business owners, and more great music. Cape Playhouse has teamed up with international radio station WMVY to broadcast the shows on their website and with Live from Center Stage to videotape and broadcast locally. For time and tickets, visit capeplayhouse.com.
October 9-16
The Woman in Black, Cape Reparatory Theatre, Brewster
Arthur Kipps, a middle-aged solicitor, is tortured by an episode from his past when, while settling the estate of an elderly recluse, he is visited by a woman in black, a figure who terrifies the locals. He hires an actor and a theater to help him reenact his experience, and exorcise the specter that haunts his life. This is a classic ghost story and the second-longest running play in London’s West End. For tickets and times, visit caperep.org.
October 11
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit
WatermelonAlligator is bringing this life-saving seminar to southern New England, running as needed to ensure survival. Dr. Dale Seslick, founder of the UK School of Survival, has assembled a crack team of zombie survivalists who will entertain as well as inform their audience, ensuring the survival of the human race as we approach the zombie apocalypse! How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse is the award-winning zombie survivalist spoof written by Ben Muir. This exclusive East Coast tour features Kasey Bishoff of Plymouth, Garrett Olson of Pembroke, Jess Wilson of Onset and Alexandria Huntington of Weymouth, and is produced by the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Company. For time and tickets, visit cotuitcenterforthearts.org.
October 13-30
Venus in Fur, Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit
Playwright Thomas Novachek is at a loss. There are simply no actresses talented enough to play his leading lady. Then, in walks Vanda, a mysterious siren with the uncanny ability to inhabit his character. All bets are off when the audition quickly escalates into a seductive power play. With loads of cheek and a hint of the erotic, Venus in Fur keeps you on the edge of your seat as you question, “Who is really in charge here?” (Contains strong sexual content) For times and tickets, visit cotuitcenterforthearts.org.
October 20-31
Nevermore, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater
Take a dark and mysterious journey into the life of Edgar Allan Poe. This imaginative musical uses Poe’s poetry and short stories as its base and his shifting obsession with the women in his life as its catalyst. With hauntingly beautiful melodies, Nevermore breathes new life into Poe’s work and explores a twisted true-life tale that is as bizarre as his classic stories of the macabre. For times and tickets, visit what.org.
October 22
Through the Looking Glass, Cape Reparatory Theatre, Brewster
An old woman suffers from dementia. A young stroke victim struggles to make language. A transgender woman claims her new identity. All three find themselves in a strange new world. ‘Alice’ appears in many forms, but when she/they encounter her/their new reflections in the world of Through the Looking Glass, each ‘Alice’ must choose how to reconcile her/their life-changing experiences with a sense of identity and what that means for their future. Adapted and directed by Simone Tetrault; Technical direction by Rich Johnson; featuring Kathleen Donachie, Tom DiFeo, Lizi Myers and Fiamma Piacentini. One night only. For tickets, visit caperep.org.
October 24
It Can’t Happen Here, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Wellfleet
Written in 1935 during the rise of fascism in Europe, Sinclair Lewis’ darkly satirical It Can’t Happen Here follows the ascent of a demagogue who becomes president of the United States by promising to return the country to greatness. Witnessing the new president’s authoritarian tyranny from the sidelines is a liberal, middle-class newspaper editor from Vermont who is caught in the chaos of social upheaval. Sound familiar? Called “a message to thinking Americans” upon its publication, this eerily prescient book receives a new adaptation just in time for election season. For time and tickets, visit what.org.
October 28, 29
Tales and Anecdotes – A Night of Storytelling, Woods Hole Theater Company, Woods Hole
Enjoy a night of compelling personal stories from friends and neighbors in the community. This is a two night-only special performance. For times and tickets, visit woodsholetheater.org.
