The Shortlist is announced

The play selection process at The Newtowne Players is an ongoing labor of love by a dedicated group of volunteers who read and review plays, discuss how they can fit on the Three Notch Theatre stage, and then make recommendations to the Production committee. 

The Production committee then whittles down the list to just five to ten per category: Comedy, Drama, Musical, Shakespeare and in a new category added this year Children's Theatre. This list is known as "The Shortlist" and it is presented to the membership at the annual meeting, held this year on Sept. 30 at Three Notch Theatre. 

The play reading lead, Brittainy North, gave members more insight into how plays may be suggested. 

"You are all an unofficial part of this team," North said. "The right way to submit a play for consideration is to read and review it first. Your review serves as your script recommendation." 

From there the official team of readers will add additional reviews, and if the script scores high enough on the review scale (it needs to have at least a 7 out of 10 rating) it will be added to the exhaustive list of plays submitted to the Production committee.

This year members are encouraged to vote for their favorites and that will contribute to the final decisions made by the Production committee when crafting the next season. The other factor taken into consideration is director applications. The short list is available now on our Director Submission page along with a link to download the submission package.

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Ready to Open our Doors - COVID protocols

Throughout the last 18 months, The Newtowne Players offered a variety of theatre performances presented in new and creative formats to keep its members and the community at large engaged and entertained. Through it all, the ultimate goal was to get back on our stage to present live theatre performances for our community. 

On September 10, 2021, The Newtowne Players is bringing its first indoor performance to the stage since the onset of the pandemic - A Night on Broadway.  We could not be more excited to have our theatre space once again filled with family, friends, and our community. 
As we prepare to open our doors for indoor performances, we put the health and safety of everyone in our space as our utmost priority. The Newtowne Players will implement the following COVID protocols:

• Additional cleaning between performances to include all high touch surfaces
• Hand sanitizer stations available at key locations throughout the building
• Opening the auditorium earlier to alleviate congestion in the lobby and promote social distancing

• Training of our staff, signage and communication with patrons

But what about masks? Following the guidance and direction of both the St. Mary’s County Health Department (SMCHD) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), while the community transmission rate is high, meaning more than 100 weekly cases per 100,000 residents:

• Masks are required for patrons and staff, regardless of vaccination status, while in the building

• Masks may be removed by performers while on stage, and by patrons while actively eating or drinking

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While our new HVAC system provides consistent ventilation and air circulation, our space and the nature of audience seating during a performance is close and sustained. We appreciate the full cooperation of our patrons as we prepare to get back to the business of entertaining.

If you have already purchased a ticket for the upcoming show and you are uncomfortable with masking requirements you may opt to receive a credit in the form of a gift card that will be good for any future performance of your choice. Please reach out to the Front of House Chair at tickets@newtowneplayers.org. 

We will continue to monitor transmission rates on a show-by-show basis and will communicate with our patrons via our website, social media and email when changes to our protocols take effect. 

Thank you for supporting the Newtowne Players, and we look forward to bringing our shows to life on our stage. We hope to see you soon!

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The Newtowne Players Mission

To promote all aspects of the performing arts in Southern Maryland. We provide quality entertainment to the surrounding communities as we foster, promote and increase the public knowledge and appreciation of the arts and cultural activities in Southern Maryland, and make live theatre affordable and available to as many members of the surrounding communities as possible.

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Thank you to our Sponsors