28 | September/October 2019
Laughter and familiar characters
will fill the stage this year at the Gilbert
eater, which is producing five shows.
• Sept. 20-Oct. 6: "You're a Good Man,
Charlie Brown" is a musical comedy
about a day in the life of the Charlie
Brown and other characters from the
classic "Peanuts" comic strip. As ever,
Charlie Brown is hapless but hopeful.
• Nov. 22-Dec. 15: "It's a Wonderful
Life" has become a holiday tradition
for the Gilbert. e musical is a
stage version of the Christmas movie
favorite starring Jimmy Stewart and
Donna Reed.
• Jan. 24-Feb. 9: "Ruins" is a dark
comedy about former lovers meeting
unexpectedly for the first time in a
decade. Director Montgomery Sutton
also wrote the play.
• March 20-April 5: "e Complete
Works of William Shakespeare
(Abridged)" is a lickety-split parody of
all 37 of Shakespeare's plays performed
in under two hours. "Hamlet" gets
special speedy treatment, being
performed both forwards and
backwards. (You have to see it to
understand.)
• June 5-14: "e 25th Annual Putnam
County Spelling Bee" closes the
Gilbert's 25th season. e comedy
follows six quirky teens and three
quirky adults through a spelling bee
competition.
e Gilbert has come a long way
from its beginnings in its founder's
basement, where flashlight-holding
audience members provided the lighting.
It has much more elbow room in its
current quarters on the second floor
of a downtown building at Green and
Bow streets, right above the Fascinate-U
Children's Museum. But it holds to its
origins as a "black box" experimental
theater with a simple performance
space and black walls. For tickets and
information, check gilberttheater.com.
