We are just about TWO WEEKS away from opening day of A Lord Of A Ring In A Suitcase: A Two-Part Trilogy (The Extendish Edition)!
We are currently in the middle of our rehearsal period for our summer show. Costumes are being made, songs are being arranged, and props are being built — it is VERY exciting!
Make sure to check out our TOUR SCHEDULE page and mark your calendars!
One year ago we started inching towards Middle Earth…
Throughout 2020 and 2021, Marlene (Princess Gwen) started adapting The Two Towers and The Return of the King. With the help of friends near and far (and the power of ZOOM!), we hosted a private online reading of this version (Version 2) of the script. This reading was incredibly helpful, showing us where big thorns were, and where moments of delight happened. Without the help of our friends, we wouldn’t be where we are today: hosting auditions for our production, under-going another major rewrite (Version 4!), and standing on the precipice of actual rehearsals!
Just like Fellowship supporting Frodo and Sam from Rohan, Gondor, and fields beyond, the support of your friends near and far is one of the best feelings you can feel. Is there something you can do to support a friend today?
The Peripatetic Players would like to personally thank Kristen Matia, Holly Kenney, Phill Correa, Julie Douglas, and Radek Antzak!
The Peripatetic Players are seeking 1-2 additional performers to join us for our summer performance & tour, A Lord of a Ring in a Suitcase: The Two-Part Trilogy (The Extend-ish Edition), an original adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. This is in part a remount of our 2019 production (Part 1), and an original production (Part 2).
We are looking for actors who love working in collaboration with an ensemble and who are comfortable with physical/devised theatre, movement, and music. We are looking to diversify our current ensemble, so we especially encourage femme- and woman-identified performers of color to audition.
Our production features imaginative leaps, incredible assertions, feats of theatricality, and a whole lot of mystical beings, far away places, and rings. Performers will embody characters and help create the ensemble-driven music, atmospheres and settings of the play.
For more information and to read the full audition announcement, please visit this link!
Howdy Friends!
No, I’m not referring to Christmas, I’m referring to the Peripatetic Season!
I’d like to start off this over-due post by talking about how amazing performing in A Lord of A Ring In A Suitcase was. Performing with the Peripatetic Players is always a delight. Being able to create fantastic stories, create meaningful relationships, and create joy FOR YOU is one of the things I’m most proud of.
Dimond Park, Oakland, 2019
A particular moment in A Lord of a Ring that brought me joy was actually towards the end of the show. [SPOILER ALERT?!] At the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo decides that it is better for him to journey to Mordor alone. His best friend, Samwise Gamgee notices Frodo is leaving alone and follows him:
FRODO picks up an oar and starts rowing. SAMWISE sees him and calls out.
SAMWISE: Mister Frodo, no! Not without me!
FRODO: Sam, you can’t swim! Not across the river of the audience!
SAMWISE: It doesn’t matter — you’re my friend, and that’s all that matters!
“Not alone, Mister Frodo!”
The line, “You’re my friend, and that’s all that matters!” always struck me in my heart, and I was constantly reminded how special it was to be performing in this play, with this group of performers, and for the audience that took time out of their day to see this show.
Thank you!
And now, we are getting ready to do it all over again!
We’ve started developing our 2020 summer tour, and while we waiting just a bit longer to make our official announcement, I can tell you that you will have an Extended Amount of Fun (perhaps TWO TIMES?!) this summer!
Cookin’ stuff up for our #summertour !
On Sunday, April 5th we will be hosting our annual Particularly Obstinate Obstacle Course FUNdraiser! Last year was tons of fun — please check out the link above and stay tuned for more details!
Sending you all lots of love,
Marlene
AKA
Princess Gwen
and also, AKA
Frodo Baggins, Arwen, and Galadriel
The Peripatetic Players have been hard at work creating the props, costumes, and special effects that will bring Middle Earth to life at a park near you!
Thumper, the Peripatetic Players Head Whirlygig-Maker, has a brilliant idea: Since the members of the famous Fellowship had to travel by foot, the Players will, too — they’re packing all of the whirlygigs, wigs, and whatnot into suitcases and trunks rather than into FluxWagon, their folding mobile stage. All of Middle Earth will come out of the suitcases, and the Players will bravely perform sans stage for the first time!
It’s quite an audacious experiment, and we’re reasonably confident that Samuel (Peaches, the Peripatetic Players’ leading man and impressario) will think it is a *genius* idea.
Behold, some designs-in-progress! Including Princess Gwen in a princess wig, paper claws painstakingly crafted by Percival Perkins, and statuesque illustrations by Meekins!
A Lord Of A Ring In A Suitcase opens in Santa Clara on Saturday, August 17, sponsored by the Santa Clara City Library!
The Peripatetic Players are back this Summer for six performances only with a new adaptation, A Lord Of A Ring In A Suitcase, August 17-25, 2019.
But this isn’t the first time the Players have tackled Tolkien’s epic tale! In early 2018, Samuel tried his hand as an artiste in a new medium, the silver screen… and the Players bravely filmed several scenes of The Fellowship Of The Ring starring Princess Gwen as Frodo, Guy Hank as Gandalf, Madame Directrix as both Merry and Pippin, Mr. Peaches as Samwise Gamgee, and Thumper and Meekins as two terrifying Ringwraiths. Percival Perkins made a detailed shotlist and kept the shoot running on schedule.
Have a look at some of the film stills here, and join the Players in Santa Clara, Oakland, Alameda, or Port Costa this summer!
Hello All!
It has been far too long since our last blog post, so I am here to give you all a special delight today!
The SPPP’ers have been meeting every other week or so since the beginning of the year to …. play. We have playdates. Sometimes cool things emerge, sometimes business-type things emerge, and then sometimes…. feats of greatness emerge.
Like what happened on Sunday, February 25th 2018.
Sunday saw Samuel Peaches, Thumper, Princess Gwen, Guy Hank, and Madame D. starting to make their adaption of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring entitled: A Lord of A Ring.
And it was delightful.
I can honestly say that I don’t think the five of us have laughed so much in so long — we laughed so much we all started crying at one point!
We can’t wait to keep creating things for you — if you have something you’d like to see, send us a message, and we will see what we can whip up for you!
Love,
Marlene (Princess Gwen)
The Peripatetic Players 