PigPen Theatre Company is Back!

The PigPen Theatre Company has come back to Martha's Vineyard for another summer and are ready to unveil their new rendition of "The Old Man and the Old Moon."

The group of six young actors and one behind the scenes member have come as a result of the collaboration between the Yard, ArtFarm and Vineyard Arts Project. As artists-in-residence at The Yard, they've spent the past few weeks reworking and renewing the first play they ever performed on the Island as part of the Island Theatre Workshop, "The Old Man and The Old Moon." A tale of an old man who must abandon his duties of filling up the moon every month, to cross the seas in search of his missing wife.

"PigPen represents the best of the emerging contemporary performing artists that we hope to champion, alone or with partners, in the years to come," Artistic Director of the Yard David R. White said.

This boisterous group of seven young men: Alex Falberg, Ben Ferguson, Curtis Gillen, Ryan Melia, Matt Nuernberger, Arya Shahi and Dan Weschler met at Carnegie Mellon University and all graduated with B.F.A.'s, bachelor of fine arts, this year.

The group collectively writes the plays, usually with the kernel of an idea that blossoms into a life of its own. 

PigPen likes to keep things fresh, with eight performances at the Yard all under an hour, and they don't use conventional theatre lighting. They use practical lighting, like lamps to give the show a natural, unique feeling. They've been known to call it, "campfire theatre."

The group of friends got their name, PigPen, after their first year at the Playground Festival, a festival where Carnegie Mellon University allowed drama students to get out of classes and take over the theatre and perform their original works of art. The men didn't have a name for the show, but Nuernberger happened to be wearing a shirt with a ton of words including, PigPen. The group unanimously decided it was meant to be, and later discovered that Elizabethan shows used to take place in pig pens, and further became the PigPen Theatre Company. 

Besides visits to Back Door Donuts and collecting coins from the Newes, the PigPen Theatre Company will be performing "The Old Man and the Old Moon" in collaboration with ArtFarm and the Vineyard Arts Project from July 14-16, 21-23 at 8 p.m. A free family matinee on both Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults, and $15 for students and seniors. Visit www.dancetheyard.org or www.pigpentheatre.com for more information.