Greetings from the Barn!

I’m Brendon Fox, the artistic director of the Peterborough Players. I approached the Ledger-Transcript earlier this year to see if they would be open to me contributing a column every couple of weeks giving you all a glimpse behind the curtain of the Players, and they agreed. I’m grateful that they were open to this collaboration.

“Collaboration” is a word you’ll be seeing a lot in my column throughout the summer, because it’s at the heart of what we do in the theater. Whether you’ve attended several plays in your life, or never stepped foot in a performance space, I hope my column will give you a sense of the multilayered ecosystem that has to work together to create a production. To do that, I’ll shine a light on some of the different theater-makers at the Players who bring their own area of experience and enthusiasm in everything, including marketing, design, directing, acting, stage management and technical direction.

But first, a little about myself. Though born in Chicago, I’m a New Englander through and through. This beautiful part of the country is where I learned to hike, ski, admire foliage and cultivate a love of seafood. I first started exploring theater at Eastern Junior High School (go Gators!) and fell into co-directing when the teacher who was supposed to direct the spring production opted out after getting the students excited to work on a show.

When faced with an angry mob of theater-loving kids, my friend Ben and I chose the classic 1930s farce “You Can’t Take It with You” (which the Players has produced) because it had 19 roles – not exactly a highbrow reason, but we all had a great time with the vivid characters orbiting an odd, adorable family. It occurs to me as I write this that I’ve been drawn throughout my directing career to scripts that celebrate quirky clans, either biological or chosen. In fact, our final show of the 2025 season is Noël Coward’s comedy “Hay Fever,” which combines elements of “You Can’t Take It with You,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “Arrested Development.” So, I guess that there’s a pattern to some of my work!

I’ve spent most of my life directing, producing and teaching undergrad and graduate students around the country and internationally. I’ve directed plays and musicals from Portland to Prague, but my most-rewarding experiences have been in arts leadership positions. I was the artistic director of the Eclipse Theatre in Chicago (focusing on new work), the associate artistic director at the Old Globe theatre in San Diego (producing and directing some of the 14-show season on three stages) and associate producer at LA Theatre Works (producing both live radio plays with sound effects as well as national tours).

I had just moved up to Massachusetts with my wife (and cat Sophie) when I learned that the Peterborough Players were searching for a new artistic director. The interview process lasted several months, culminating with an on-site visit last July which enabled me to see their lovely production of “Pride and Prejudice,” directed elegantly by interim Artistic Director Chuck Morey and starring my friend and colleague, Nisi Sturgis.

What attracted me to the job, and to Peterborough? I saw that the theater’s list of past plays and musicals lined up beautifully with the kind of shows I was attracted to as a director. Its illustrious history (90-plus years and counting) was inspiring, and I heard great things about the Players from fellow theater-makers who had worked there in the past. I was also excited by the fact that the company was also looking for a managing director, as well, who would be starting in the fall of 2024 at the same time as the artistic director.

The partnership of an artistic director and a managing director is crucial to the success of a theater company, because they need to balance artistic excellence and fiscal responsibility. Starting together would enable me to begin a working relationship with someone who hopefully shared my passion for great storytelling and had strong skills in finance. Fortunately, I found that person in Tori Zischke, who began just after me last September and has proven to be incredibly sharp, funny, fiscally smart and as committed as I am to making the Players an exciting place to share great stories with your neighbors. Plus she’s a great actor and singer, as witnessed by those who attended our “Curtains Up” fundraiser in May.

Speaking of neighbors, the final factor in why I wanted the job was simple – you. Everyone on the search committee, as well as the residents I chatted with when I visited Peterborough, were warm, thoughtful and committed to making their town and region a great place to not only live in, but thrive. That has continued to be the case as I’ve gotten to know more of you at First Fridays at Mariposa, the library, the Rotary Club, the Women’s Club, RiverMead, Children in the Arts – the list goes on and on.

I hope to see you at the barn on Hadley Road this month when we open our first show of the season, “Boeing Boeing,” June 18 – directed by me. I’ll sign off for now and look forward to sharing more behind the curtain soon!

Brendon Fox is artistic director of the Peterborough Players.