2022 SEASON
JULY 8-30
July 8 & 9 at 8:00pm
City Theatre Main Stage
DAVID BIEDENBENDER “SHELL AND WING” (A PNME Commission) My sons, Izaak and Declan, have profoundly changed the way I see the world. After an all too common incidence of violence against children, I felt compelled to respond by giving voice to the conflict I feel as a parent — a profound longing to protect my children coupled with the knowledge that I must also let them go.
ALEX MARTHALER “TETHERS, CAPSULES & COLLISIONS” Composed following the 2016 United States presidential election, the work explores the fracturing of communities—through disillusionment, disconnection, and conflict—but ultimately envisions a restored and collaborative future.
GILDA LYONS “TRUST FALLS” (A PNME Commission/World Premiere) Trust makes bold gestures possible and bolsters the courage necessary for time being quiet and still. There are truths that only reveal themselves in a place of trust. Trust Falls explores the deeply-human nature of what it is to ‘place confidence in,’ stitching together reflections shared in, and reaching toward, a place of trust. Inspired by thoughts shared by our own PNME audience!
July 13 at 7:00pm
City Theatre Main Stage
ERIKA BOYSEN, FLUTE “A LENS FOREVER CHANGED” Does a professional dancer edit every move at a wedding reception? Is it possible for an ornithologist to take a walk in the woods without analyzing each bird call? This program is inspired by the revelations of a musician's first weeks of motherhood. Works by: Nina Shekar, Eve Beglarian, Nadine Dyskant-Miller, PNME Audience, Erika Boysen/Justin Worley.
July 15 & 16 at 8:00pm
City Theatre Main Stage
ARTHUR GOTTSCHALK “LOSER (THE WIT AND WISDOM OF DONALD J. TRUMP” (A PNME Commission/World Premiere) “Throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. ....and a very stable genius at that!” “I will be the greatest president that God ever created. I tell you that.” “When someone is President of the United States their authority is total.” Warning: language used includes direct quotations of Donald Trump
CARTER PANN “ANTARES” Antares refers to the super-giant star in the Scorpio constellation. The music here is celestial, often evoking a cosmic sense, and a feel of stellar beauty and stagnancy.
JIM MOBBERLEY “WORDS OF LOVE” (A PNME Commissioned arrangement/World Premiere) My father: wordsmith, philosopher, lover of learning; yet his most meaningful words were most often about the love of his life for 61 years. Near the end he lost his words, but not the love that inspired them.
July 22 & 23 at 8:00pm
City Theatre Main Stage
EVAN CHAMBERS "OLD BURYING GROUND" (A PNME Commissioned arrangement) I love walking in cemeteries. They are an ideal place to meditate upon how lives appear and disappear in this world. Encounters with gravestones are an opportunity to confront both the inevitability and the simple fact of death, and to grow in under-standing of one of the central truths of our lives: We die. When I visited the cemetery in Jaffrey in 1998, I was floored by the power of the epitaphs. In order to read the stones one must sometimes lie flat on the graves. Stern exhortations about the brevity of our lives and tender statements of loss take on an urgent meaning when you encounter them face down on top of someone’s final resting place… Since I couldn’t imagine residents of eighteenth-century New England rising from the grave and singing in an operatic style, I decided to slant the songs toward musical languages I’ve come to love: Irish traditional music, American folk song, Sacred Harp singing, and Albanian Polyphony, in addition to European classical music.
July 27 at 7:00pm
City Theatre Main Stage
RAMAKRISHNAN KUMARAN, FLUTE “THE FIRE WATCH” Inspired by the restless faith of American monk Thomas Merton, flutist Rama Kumaran interrogates his own faith in a deeply personal program exploring themes of doubt and safety. Rama's original compositions use binaural technology for a revolutionary experience in concert staging. Works by: Ramakrishnan Kumaran, Eugene Bozza, Heinz Holliger, Luciano Berio, Thomas Merton
July 29 at 8:00pm, July 30 at 2:00pm (family show), & July 30 at 8:00pm
City Theatre Main Stage
STEVEN BRYANT “THE TREACHERY OF SOUNDS” (A PNME Commission/World Premiere) Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte is known for thought-provoking images that challenge our pre-conceived notions of reality. From “The False Mirror” to “Not to be Reproduced” Magritte shows us time and again that the eye may well lie to us. But what of sounds? Do you trust them? Inspired by a series of specific Magritte paintings, Steven Bryant’s masterful “The Treachery of Sounds” grapples with music’s core integrity and authenticity, inviting us into surreal scenes of love, loss, alienation, attraction, and wonder. Stories, scenarios, and lyrics by Kevin Noe and Lindsay Kesselman, choreography by Gary Abbott of Deeply Rooted Dance Theater in Chicago. * 2 pm Saturday Family show is free for kids and for any adult who brings a kid!
Flexible to your schedule!
Unsure of what dates you'd like to attend? Purchase these flexible tickets that can be redeemed in any combination for any 2022 PNME performance.
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Add as few or as many from the "How many tickets?" dropdown menu as you'd like and when you know the show you'd like to attend, simply call or visit the Box Office to redeem.*
*Less than 4 tickets will be charged the full price of $25.00.