On With the Show

Kate Thompson recalls the moment she first recognized the enduring bond between her hometown of Tamworth, N.H., and its local landmark, The Barnstormers, America's oldest professional summer theater.

"I was painting one of the theater's marquee posters when I noticed that as actors rehearsed Our Town inside, the local church choir next door was singing "Blest Be the Tie That Binds," the hymn that's featured in that play. Suddenly, everything seemed magically connected," says Thompson, 59, a Tamworth native who's been involved with the theater since 1975.

For citizens of Tamworth (pop. 2,510), the picturesque village and the theater have been inherently linked since The Barnstormers was founded 75 years ago by President Grover Cleveland's son, Francis Cleveland, his wife, Alice, and a college friend, Edward P. Goodnow.

"Francis saw a potential audience in the swarm of summer visitors that flooded the area. But since folks weren't likely to come to Tamworth, the players 'barnstormed' their shows from place to place, at first traveling as far as 80 miles away," says theater director Clayton Phillips, 55. "Eventually, the Clevelands bought a Tamworth building in the '30s and their audiences followed them home."

Originally built as a general store, today the 282-seat theater is the centerpiece of the community, where Main Street is bounded by the Swift River on one side and rolling hay fields on the other.

Renovations to the theater in 1998 created a versatile venue that now hosts cultural activities year-round, including concerts, a children's theater workshop co-hosted with the town's recreation department, and productions by a local Shakespeare company and Tamworth's arts council.

During July and August, the theater stages eight weekly shows with a cast and crew including many local and summer residents ranging in age from 16 to 90. Locals and visitors pack the audience for cultural events year-round, says Thompson, who serves on the theater's board of directors.

"Many actors are also local, and audiences come back year after year to see them, almost as if it's Uncle Joe or another family member on stage," says Phillips, adding that The Barnstormers is one of the few theaters in the country with actors and crew who still rehearse and build the set for one show during the day while performing another at night.

This season's playbill includes eight shows, including Dirty Blonde, a 2001 Tony Award nominee about 1940s American pop icon Mae West; The Lion in Winter, a historical comedy about Henry II and his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitane; Urinetown, a musical about a mythical place where the government has decided to charge for the right to pee; and the ever popular Our Town, the drama by Thorton Wilder.

Across the street from the theater, Harrison Gill, 16, serves up ice cream treats at The Other Store, a local gathering place owned by Thompson since 1990. Like other local teens, Gill has logged many hours ushering theater patrons, assisting with lighting for shows, and parking cars during summer performances, making him a member of the Barnstormers family.

"Francis used to refer to company members as his 'family' and we consider ourselves the Barnstormers family today," Thompson says. "He was an extra kind man, a gentle and charismatic director and friend, which is why so many people kept coming back, and worked together so well. He first came here as a little boy and his only regret was that he wasn't a native, although I think he was certainly accepted like one."

Despite being a transplant in town, Cleveland makes his enduring legacy in Tamworth evident each season when the curtain rises, actors take the stage and the show goes on.

Visit www.barnstormerstheatre.com or call (603) 323-8661 for more information.

Phyllis Edgerly Ring is a freelance writer in Exeter, N.H.

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