MHTL Out of the Hat! 11/18/2023

October through April, 2023 - 2024 

2023-2024 OUT OF THE HAT! Readers' Theatre Series  

What’s "Out of the Hat!?” It’s a fresh, compact production with a rehearsal time of one day, 7 hours, performed that same night. The play, the director, the cast are all picked "out of the hat" so to speak -- this makes it fresh and exciting.

It goes like so ... we gather at noon to read the chosen play -- many of us for the first time. After a first read, the director for the play retires to cast the show. Once done, the group works to put the play on its feet with the result being an outstanding and very fresh performance at 6 or 7pm.

Come to read and play at noon or come to watch it that evening. Admission is free, although donations are gratefully accepted.

Interested in reading? We would love to have you! To read, you will need yourself, writing utensils, dark clothes, a potluck, energy and a penchant for fun. Please message Meetinghouse Theatre Lab on Facebook or e-mail Cathy at cathyjohnson2012@hotmail.com if you would like to be a part of the day's production. Children very welcome to read at Holiday Readings and Huckleberry Finn.

Saturday, November 18:      

Angel Street (Gaslight), by Patrick Hamilton

Angel Street tells the story of the Manninghams, who live on Angel Street in 19th century London. As the curtain rises, all appears to be the essence of Victorian tranquility. It is soon apparent, however, that Mr. Manningham, a suavely handsome man, is slowly driving his gentle, devoted wife, Bella, to the brink of insanity with an insinuating kindness that masks more sinister motives.

Saturday, December 9:

Holiday Readings – and more!

5:30PM - 6:30 PM 

Please join the Meetinghouse Theatre Lab for family friendly/child friendly dramatic fun for the Holidays with favorites such as “T’was the Night Before Christmas”, “The Grinch” and more!  Come in your pajamas if you want. Cookies and cocoa will be served.

Saturday, January 20:       

Maine Playwright’s Contest Winning Play -

Saturday, February 17:       

Last Gas by John Cariani 

Nat Paradis is a Red Sox-loving part-time dad who manages Paradis’ Last Convenient Store, the last convenient place to get gas—or anything—before the Canadian border to the north and the North Maine Woods to the west. When an old flame returns to town, Nat gets a chance to rekindle a romance he gave up on years ago. But sparks fly as he’s forced to choose between new love and old. LAST GAS takes a hilarious and heartbreakingly hard look at love lost and found, and at what it means to “get back to happy."

Saturday, March 16: 

Short plays by local playwrights 

Saturday, April 20:   

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

This popular retelling of the beloved children's classic never strays far from Twain's original text. Huck Finn is an outcast. He has no mother and his father is a hopeless drunkard. The Widow Douglas takes him in but he rejects her "civilized" world and runs away. On his epic journey down the Mississippi River with a runaway slave named Jim, Huck finds acceptance for the first time in his life. He also learns responsibility, an awareness of equality, and the meaning of true friendship.

May:  Fully Staged Production, TBA