Cape Cod Theatre Project

Falmouth’s Cape Cod Theatre Project celebrates its 21st season this summer. The mission of the project is to develop new plays by bringing one playwright each week in July to the Cape to develop a play. The chosen playwrights arrive on a Sunday and then a cast and crew develop the play for the next several days. By Thursday night, the play is performed for an audience. Shows run Thursday through Sunday, with an opportunity for the cast and crew to discuss the play with the audience, giving the audience the chance to be a part of the development of the production. Many of the plays have gone on “to have wonderful future lives on Broadway, off-Broadway, in the West End, and many other theatrical venues,” says Cape Cod Theatre Project’s artistic director Hal Brooks. For more information, visit capecodtheatreproject.org.

Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse

The Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse is a cornerstone of the island community. Completely renovated last season, the Patricia Neal Stage hosts a great line-up of productions for the 2015 season, which will be extended this year, from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. This season includes two premieres: Arnie Reisman’s new comedy Not Constantinople and Edward L. Beck’s Sweetened Water. The playhouse also features the Tisbury Amphitheater, where a troupe of actors called the Fabulists put on outdoor performances for children every Saturday morning in July and August. Other productions are also performed on the outdoor stage. This season, catch The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) performed at the amphitheater from July 15-August 15. For more information, visit mvplayhouse.org.

Harwich Junior Theatre

Harwich Junior Theatre is a nationally recognized children’s theater. With origins dating back to the 1950s, HJT has been pairing a love of theater and education for generations. Main stage productions at the HJT this summer include The Music Man from June 26 to July 11 and Aladdin from July 17 to August 1. In addition to the main performances, HJT offers classes, workshops, and touring productions. Workshops are also available for those interested in the technical side of theater, such as visual and audio tech. The theatre offers classes for all ages, from children as young as 4, all the way up to adults. For more information, visit hjtcapecod.org.

Cape Rep Theatre

Cape Rep Theatre is celebrating its 30th anniversary season this summer with a number of performances and events that are sure to delight and entertain audiences of all ages. Founded in 1986, Cape Rep has been working to produce unique and challenging theater, pursuing works that are fresh, entertaining, and bold. Cape Rep has both an indoor theater and outdoor theater space that are utilized during the summer season. Children’s shows are performed on the outdoor stage every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10 a.m., starting in early July. On the indoor stage, the theater will be putting on two productions for the summer season, leading with a run of Outside Mullingar, which was nominated for a Tony for Best Play in 2014. The play is a romantic comedy based in the Irish countryside, and runs from June 25-July 25. Closing out the summer season will be Evita, running from August 4-August 29. For more information, visit caperep.org.

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater  (WHAT) returns for a full 2015 season. The summer season kicks off June 20th with the world premiere of Moby-Dick. Following Moby-Dick is a run of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, a glimpse into one of Billie Holiday’s last performances before her death, opening July 25. The summer ends with Time Stands Still. Managing Director and Artistic Associate of WHAT, Christopher Ostrom, says that audiences will be impressed with Moby-Dick, saying, “I’m especially looking forward to Moby-Dick. James Armstrong’s adaptation embraces the language of Melville, but blends it with a keen awareness of theatricality and storytelling. Audiences will be surprised at how fresh the story feels in this version.” For more information, visit what.org

Peregrine Theatre Ensemble

Peregrine Theatre Ensemble, a professional performing arts company located in Provincetown, has an exciting summer season ahead, as the company moves into its newly acquired location of the former Provincetown High School. The first show to be performed in the new venue is Carrie: The Musical. The show premieres June 29 and will run through September 9. Also being performed during the summer season will be Blue Dusk, two one-act plays written by Tennessee Williams, one of which The Parade centers on Williams’ autobiographical recounting of unrequited love in Provincetown. In addition to these productions, Whale of a Tale: Theatre for Young will be performing a young audience adaptation of Shakespeare’s Tempest, Thursdays, July 16-August 13. For more information, visit peregrinetheatre.com.

Academy Playhouse

The Academy Playhouse, located in Orleans, and operated through the Academy of Performing Arts, has been putting on productions, including musicals, dramas, comedies, and original works, for over 40 years. Over 20,000 people annually attend performances at the Academy Playhouse. The Playhouse will feature three productions for the summer 2015 season. The first, Sweet Charity, will run from June 18-July 18. Following that will be Man of La Mancha from July 22-August 22. Closing out the sum-mer will be Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, which will be performed from August 26-September 20. In addition to these major productions, the Playhouse will run its Children’s Summer Morning Matinee Series, Beauty and the Beast Jr., Friday and Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. from July 5-August 29. For more information, visit apacape.org.

Cape Playhouse

The Cape Playhouse ushers in its 89th season on Cape Cod this summer. This longstanding pillar of the theatrical community has a full and eclectic schedule, where audiences can expect laughs, tears, and suspense from the number of shows in the historic playhouse. Six productions will be held at the playhouse, starting with the delightful comedy-drama The Velocity of Autumn, which comes straight from Broadway, and focuses on an elderly woman who refuses to leave her apartment for a retirement home. It runs from June 16 to June 27. July 14 to 25, experience the new comedy Women in Jeopardy!, presented as a play-reading at the playhouse last summer for the first time, centering on two women who become suspicious of a friend’s new boyfriend. The season ends with Murder by Misadventure, running August 25-September 5, a British thriller featuring two mystery writers who have grown to dislike one another after years of partnership. For more information, visit capeplayhouse.com.

Cape Cod Community College Theatre

The Tilden Arts Center at Cape Cod Community College promotes a love of theater and art in the college community. Putting on productions in both the fall and spring semesters, students are encouraged to learn about every aspect of the theater world, from the technical to the dramatic, and everything in between. Currently, the college does not put on productions during the summer season, but that is something that Vana Trudeau, performing arts coordinator at the college, is hoping will eventually change. The next production will come in the fall semester, and will be a run of the 1965 Lanford Wilson play Balm in Gilead. For more information, visit capecod.edu/web/tilden.

College Light Opera Company

The College Light Opera Company, which performs at the Highfield Theatre in Falmouth for the duration of the summer, has produced musicals and operettas for Cape Cod audiences to enjoy in the summertime since 1969. This summer marks the company’s 47th season. The company will perform nine performances throughout the summer season, starting with Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, a production performed perennially by CLOC.  Productions of West Side Story and Titanic are just a few of the other performances audiences won’t want to miss. The company will also be performing two Hammerstein musicals, New Moon and Oklahoma! The season opens June 30 and runs through August 29. For more information, visit collegelightoperacompany.com.