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Then Waterhouse, who lives most of the year in Newbury, Vt., sent a copy of the rehearsal script for Love Alone to Bill Coons and asked the theatre’s founder and artistic director “what do you think of this one?”
The subject matter of Love Alone is challenging. Deborah Salem Smith’s drama explores the impact of a woman’s death in surgery on her same-sex partner, their children and the doctor of the deceased.
Waterhouse waited for a few minutes that felt like days for Coons to call him back.
“He just said, ‘I. Love. This. Play,’” Waterhouse recalled last week between rehearsals. “It was such a relief, because so do I. As soon as I read it, it just jumped out at me.
“To say I loved it isn’t any kind of exaggeration.”
Coons, who usually directs Shaker Bridge productions, loved the idea of handing the reins for this one to Waterhouse.
“He has taught and coached several actors who have worked for me in numerous productions,” Coons wrote during an email conversation on Wednesday. “If they have worked with him, I know I will be working with an actor who understands and is committed to an acting process that I value greatly. I have seen actors grow in their skills because they have worked with him. So I knew, in asking him to direct this play, that I would see acting that is honest, truthful and imaginative.”
Waterhouse said that he learned about Love Alone, which Shaker Bridge will stage starting next Thursday night, from Curt Columbus, artistic director of Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, R.I., which had produced the play a few years ago to wide acclaim, especially from Providence’s medical community.
“It deals with medical and legal issues in a very real way,” Waterhouse said. “And it’s very relatable. Everyone can relate to somebody and something going on in this play. … It’s about loss, in a lot of ways, but it’s not a downer. I love a play where I’m crying one minute and laughing the next. This has those ingredients: the humanity, the messiness of life. It’s really attractive to me.
“The play is a beautiful reflection of life.”
Waterhouse said he met Salem Smith in Providence last fall, while he was teaching at Brown University on an adjunct basis while Salem Smith, whose woman partner is a doctor, was serving as playwright-in-residence at Trinity.
“She is quite something,” Waterhouse said. “She was excited that someone was going to do the play again. We discussed it over lunch, and now we’re in email communication during our rehearsals.”
The rehearsals, with an ensemble that mixes New York actors in the lead roles with a supporting cast that includes Mike Backman of Quechee, have been frequent and intense in the run-up to next Thursday night’s opening.
“I’m knocking on wood as I say, ‘It’s going really well,’ ” said Waterhouse, who often directs and occasionally acts in plays around the Upper Valley when he and husband Dan Butler are in Newbury. “You can’t always say that. Some plays can be bumpy. We’re in a great process.”
Shaker Bridge Theatre raises the curtain on its production of
Humorist and author Dwayna Covey hosts a “Shine Your Light” session of storytelling by women on Saturday night at 6:30 at Bradford Academy in Bradford, Vt., Admission is by donation to Safeline VT’s programs for survivors of sexual and domestic violence in Orange County and the towns of Sharon, Royalton, Bethel, Stockbridge and Rochester. To learn more about Safeline, visit safelinevt.org.
A double dose of contra dancing at Norwich’s Tracy Hall on Saturday night begins at 6:30 with Revels North’s Band of Fools playing the music and Revels North artistic director Nils Fredland calling the steps.
And starting at 8, with Fredland staying at the mic to call the steps, fiddler Audrey Budington and pianist Clayton Clemetson set the Celtic rhythm for Muskeg Music’s Second Saturday go-around at 8. Admission to the later dance, for which there will be a 7:45 run-through for newcomers, is $6 to $9. For both sessions, dancers should bring a change of clean, soft-soled shoes, and are encouraged to bring snacks for a pot luck. Admission costs $6 to $9.
The contradances cap Revels North’s monthly Revels Traditions Day, which starts at 12:45 in the afternoon with Fredland and guest leaders hosting a dance for teens. To learn more about the Revels events, visit revelsnorth.org/revels-traditions.
Upper Valley accordionist Jeremiah McLane leads his trio into West Newbury (Vt.) Hall on Sunday afternoon at 3, to play the second Americana concert of the Rock Farmer Road Show series. To reserve tickets ($20) and learn more, visit patrickrossmusic.com.
Pop-rock singer-songwriter Senayit Tomlinson and her band are among the performers scheduled to play a concert at Bradford Academy, on Sunday afternoon, as a benefit for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s effort to block the Dakota Access oil pipeline through ancestral land in South Dakota. Twisted Knickers will play its mix of classic and modern Celtic music and singer-songwriter James Graham also will lend his voice to the cause. The music begins at 3. Admission is by donation at the door. Bright Sun Kitchen will serve food for free. To learn more, visit facebook.com/Bands4Standing Rock.
Boston-area singer Donna Byrne and bassist Marshall Wood perform the Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon session this weekend at the Center at Eastman in Grantham. The music begins at 4. To reserve tickets ($16 to $18) and learn more, visit josajazz.com or call 603-381-1662 or email bill.wightman@comcast.net.
The Upper Valley Jewish Community screens Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem next Wednesday night at 7 in room 13 of Dartmouth College’s Carpenter Hall in Hanover. The 2014 feature, co-directed by Shlomi Elkabetz and lead actress Ronit Elkabetz, follows an Israeli woman’s effort to obtain a divorce from her husband through a court of balky Orthodox rabbis. Admission is free. To learn more about the community’s series, which runs through Feb. 22, visit uvjc.org.
Northern Stage raises the curtain on the world premiere production of Jack Neary’s dark comedy Trick or Treat with previews at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction at 7:30 on Wednesday night and next Thursday night and Friday nights before opening officially on Jan. 21. The play co-stars Upper Valley resident and veteran TV and film actor Gordon Clapp as the patriarch of a family enduring a crisis over Halloween.
For tickets ($15 to $30) and more information about the play, which runs through Feb. 5, visit northernstage.org or call 802-296-7000. On Jan. 22, Neary will lead a conversation about the evolution of the play from early readings at Northern Stage through the current version; the session, free to the public, will run from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
The Jones Family Singers will fill Dartmouth College’s Spaulding Auditorium with gospel music next Thursday night at 7 in Hanover. To reserve tickets ($17 to $25) and learn more, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
The North Country Chorus will perform Haverhill resident Bob Mead’s Camelot-inspired musical Arthur’s Dark Angel during its 36th annual Madrigal Dinner on Jan. 20, 21 and 22 at the town hall in Monroe, N.H. Seating is limited to 100 tickets ($33) for each performance, with shows scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on the 20th and the 21st and 4:30 the afternoon of Jan. 22. To reserve seats, visit tickets.catamountarts.org or call 888-757-5559. To learn more about the chorus and about the production, visit northcountrychorus.org.
Acclaimed pianist Simone Dinnerstein will play works of Franz Schubert and Phillip Glass during a recital at Randolph’s Chandler Music Hall on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. For advance tickets ($33), call visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-6464. Tickets at the door cost $10 to $35.
The Hungarian theater ensemble Bela Pinter and Company stages the American premiere of Our Secrets, a play about spying among folk dancers and musicians during Hungary’s Communist era, on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 in Dartmouth College’s Moore Theater in Hanover. The performance is in Hungarian, with English supertitles. For tickets ($25 to $35) and more information, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
As part of Dartmouth College’s observance of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday night, musician, minister and activist Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou sings at Dartmouth College’s Moore Theater in Hanover. Admission is free to the concert, which starts at 7. To learn more, visit hop.dartmouth.edu or call 603-646-2422.
Out on a Limb plays a set of roots music in the tavern at the Lyme Inn tonight at 6:30, and a Bluegrass Brunch at the Skinny Pancake in Hanover on Sunday from noon to 3.
Singer Cyn Barrette, bassist Peter Concilio and pianist Bob Merrill collaborate on a session of jazz at the Canoe Club tonight from 6:30 to 9:30. Following them to the microphone with 6:30 shows over the coming week are guitarist Ted Mortimer with a dose of jazz on Friday, pianist Gillian Joy on Saturday, jazz singer Rowland Hazard on Sunday and jazz guitarist Billy Rosen on Wednesday. And on Monday night between 5:30 and 8:30, Marko the Magician performs his tableside sleight-of-hand.
Singer-guitarist-storyteller Jon Clinch appears at Bentley’s restaurant in Woodstock tonight at 7, followed by Americana singer Dave Clark on Friday night at 7 and singer-pianist Jamie Ward on Saturday night at 7.
Singer-songwriter Chris Powers performs at Windsor Station tonight starting at 7:30. Next to the stage over the coming week are the Etna Old Time Association with a session of roots music on Friday night at 9:30, the roots-rock band Freevolt on Saturday night at 9:30 and the rock ensemble Dr. No on Tuesday night at 6.
The Minnesota-based ensemble Davina and The Vagabonds performs its blend of jazz, blues and roots music at the Skinny Pancake in Hanover tonight at 8. For tickets ($10) and more information, visit skinnypancake.com.
The Occasional Jug Band appears in the tavern at Jesse’s in Hanover on Friday night at 5.
The Boston-area ensemble Cold Engines rocks the Salt hill Pub in Lebanon on Friday night at 8.
The weekend lineup at Salt hill’s Hanover hangout features bluesman Arthur James on Friday night at 8 and guitarist Ted Mortimer on Saturday at the same hour.
Pop-rocker Jim Hollis performs at Salt hill Pub in Newport on Friday night at 8.
Turner Round rocks Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners on Friday night at 9.
The Never Too Late folk trio of Hilde Ojibway, Adam Sorscher and Sharon Whyte performs at the Stone Arch Bakery in Lebanon on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Bow Thayer plays his weekly set of Americana at the Skinny Pancake on Wednesday night at 7:30.
Jim Yeager hosts at open mic at 7 tonight at the ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret.
Ramunto’s Brick & Brew Pizza in Bridgewater hosts an open mic starting at 7:30 on Thursday nights. Participants get a free large cheese pizza.
String players of all ages and abilities are welcome at the weekly acoustic jam session at South Royalton’s BALE Commons on Friday night from 6:30 to 10.
Joe Stallsmith leads a weekly hootenanny of Americana, folk and bluegrass at Salt hill Pub in Hanover on Monday nights starting at 6.
Bradford’s Colatina Exit holds an open mic on Tuesday nights at 8.
Jim Yeager hosts an open mic at Hartland’s Skunk Hollow Tavern, at 8:30 on Wednesday nights.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304.