“Vermont Mythos,” Guilford Play Premiere

On the first weekend in October, Guilford Center Stage will present the premiere of a new full-length play, “Vermont Mythos—a small town fable,” written & directed by Michael Nethercott.

Several months ago, the theater company asked Nethercott, a Guilford playwright and longtime GCS collaborator, to create a play which in some way would recognize the town’s backstory. Producer Don McLean comments, “It seemed fitting in a year when the nation is celebrating its 250th anniversary to touch on local history. The play blends local legends, historical figures, and imaginative storytelling into a theatrical fable exploring the human experience with humor, mystery, and heart.”

“To get off the ground,” says Nethercott, “I started researching various historical figures, both noted and obscure, with connections to Guilford, to create a cast of characters. Some are represented directly onstage, while others are referenced. I came up with a concept that draws from the town’s backstory, but also goes in a more fantastical direction, exploring what it means to be human.

“To tell its tale, the play, featuring 16 actors, uses various historical figures —such as Ethan Allen, Royall Tyler, and Lucy Terry Prince — but also a Greek chorus and a pestering jester. The best known of these is Allen, who was sent here in 1783 to squelch a rebellion. Then there is playwright Royall Tyler, author of the first American comedy to be professionally staged, and his wife Mary, who penned the country’s first child-rearing book by a woman. Guilford resident Lucy Terry Prince has the distinction of being the first chronicled Black poet in America.”

Michael Nethercott directs the premiere. In the cast are: Sasha Cooke, Geof Dolman, Denise Evans, Warren Friedman, Jenny Holan, Alex Lacey, Dyana Lee, Nick Morgan, Zoe Nelson, Brandy Reynolds, Addison Rice, Yayba Rios, Rebecca Saunders, Lois Scott-Conley, Robert Tucker, and Ann-Marie White.

Producer is Don McLean, Sue Kelly is stage manager, with Mael March as production assistant, and technical designer is Bree Lacey, assisted by Peter Broussard.

This will be Nethercott’s fifth production that he has presented at Guilford Center Stage. His past works include Spoon River, Haunts of the Season, and Our Enemy’s Cup.

Guilford’s theater company, a project of Broad Brook Grange, has given special attention to work by Vermont playwrights, and even to Guilford authors such as Verandah Porche, and Charles Henry, born in Guilford in 1850, who painted the scenic curtains on the stage at Broad Brook Community Center, and who makes an appearance on stage in this show.

Performances of Vermont Mythos are: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 1-3, at 7:30 pm, and Sunday the 4th at 2:00 pm. at the fully-accessible Broad Brook Community Center, 3940 Guilford Center Road. General admission is at the door at $16 per person, by cash, check, PayPal or Venmo.