Pendragon Theatre will cap off its summer performance schedule this week with six final performances of The Woods by Jahna Ferron-Smith. The production, directed by Colette Robert, contains explicit content and is suitable for mature audiences only.

About The Woods:

Since its creation, the United States National Park Service has been tasked with preserving, arguably, this country’s most stunning monuments to the “American Dream” – majestic swaths of untamed land, symbolizing the unbridled American spirit that forged a world power; a birthright theoretically available to all Americans, regardless of race. However, dwindling Park attendance nationwide has sent the NPS scrambling to ensure its survival. The mission? To engage those they’ve traditionally left out of the narrative of the great outdoors — people of color.

The Woods, using comedy and acute perception, explores our learned relationships to the American landscape and the consequences those cultural narratives have on young Black Americans and asks: Going forward, might there be a way to manifest a more positive narrative surrounding the natural environment, for the sake of those next in line to inherit it?

The Woods schedule:

Tuesday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.:
PAY WHAT YOU CAN @ the Door

Wednesday, August 31 at 7 p.m.:
OPENING NIGHT Post show Reception

Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.:
TALK-BACK w/ Nicky Hylton-Patterson*

Friday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 4 at 2 p.m.

*For the Sept. 1 performance, 50% of box office sales will be donated to the Adirondack Diversity Initiative.

For more information and to purchase tickets online, click here.

Photo courtesy of Pendragon Theatre.

Pendragon Theatre will hold open auditions for its upcoming musical: Nutcracker! directed by Kent Streed on Thursday, September 8.

Imagine what happens when  a group of middle school students with a wide variety of talents, skills and personalities  get together to put on their version of Tchiachowsky’s classic holiday ballet and you’ll understand the plot behind this show.

Songs, all types of dance,  tumbling, sword fights,  and a soccer team are all part of this surprising  take on the much loved and familiar Nutcracker Ballet.

There are a total of 18 speaking roles available for interested students. Each role has a fair number of lines and a significant onstage presence dancing and singing in three production numbers.

So, if you are (or look like) a middle school student, know karate, can clog dance, hula hoop or have similar talents, you might  have what we need to make this Nutcracker a wild and crazy addition to our community’s holiday season.

What: Auditions for Nutcracker

Date: Thursday, September 8

Time: 6 to 8 p.m.

Where: Pendragon Theatre
15 Brandy Brook Ave, Saranac Lake, New York

Simple music and dance rehearsals are slated to begin early October, with more dedicated rehearsals starting in November. Performance dates are projected for early-to-mid December, with all performances completed by December 18.

For a script sample, audition form, or answers to any questions, call Pendragon Theatre at (518) 891-1854 or send an email to: foh@pendragontheatre.org

Photo at top: The Woods cast. Clockwise, top left: Ricki Lynée, Max Morter, Ty Spencer, SJ Hannah, Ian Poake, John Racioppo, Lisa Jill Anderson, Hannah-Kathryn Wall. Pendragon Theatre website photo.