Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Newton Theatre Company (NTC) is known for its inclusive interpretations of a variety of plays. For example, while movie portrayals of Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice feature swoon-worthy, brooding male actors, this innovative troupe is reinventing Jane Austen’s romance this fall with an all-female production.
The nonprofit’s stated mission is to “include original stagings of classical literature, new plays and devised pieces that celebrate the art of storytelling and often challenge historical representations of women.”
“Women and men can play anything – they’re actors,” said Melissa Bernstein, NTC founder and artistic director. “If they’re good actors, you just buy it.”
Regan Sims starred in the Newton Theatre Company’s production of “Twilight: Los Angeles 1992,” a one-person show by Anna Deavere Smith. The 2021 performance took place at the Hyde Community Center’s bandstand. {photo: Teresa Curtin) 
From left, Krystal Hernandez, Yaritsa Sanchez and Amber-Nicole Rodriguez play three of four sisters in the Newton Theatre Company’s 2023 production of “In the Time of the Butterflies.” The play, which was performed at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Newtonville, is by Caridad Svich and based on the novel by Julia Alvarez. {photo: Teresa Curtin) 
Front, actor Liz Adams as the Blue Fairy and back, Chiara Durazzini as Pinocchio after he is turned into a donkey, are seen in a 2020 performance of “Pinocchio” at the Union Church in Waban. Newton Theatre Company worked in partnership with Pazzi Lazzi, a local commedia dell’arte troupe, on the show. Durazzini is the artistic director of Pazzi Lazzi. {photo: Teresa Curtin) From left, Gena Hooper and Meaghan Downes-Berry are seen playing witches in Newton Theatre Company’s 2019 production of Roald Dahl’s “The Witches,” at the Union Church in Waban. {photo: Teresa Curtin) 
From left, actors Hannah Rosenberg and Gena Hooper are seen in the Newton Theatre Company’s 2019 performance of “Marie Antoinette,” by David Adjmi, at the Union Church in Waban. Rosenberg played the French queen. {photo: Teresa Curtin)
Paige Clark, a theater and costume design teacher at Newton South High School, is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association (union) and has been performing professionally in Boston since 2009, including with NTC.
Clark praised NTC for offering more opportunities to actresses, particularly in classical Greek plays like Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides and The Oresteia by Aeschylus.
“Why can’t we pretend that a person who presents female in everyday life [is] a male character,” she said.
Newton resident Linda Goetz, a historical interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village, has been acting with NTC for all 10 years of its existence. She has played everyone from Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Clytemnestra in The Oresteia; and the Dauphin (i.e. the heir to the French throne) in Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw.
“I had never done Greek theater before … it just was a great experience,” she said, praising Bernstein for showing that she “could take Greek theater and make it accessible.”
Usually playing women’s roles, when she was cast as the Dauphin, Goetz said “stepping into the male role didn’t … feel like I had to switch too much. To me it was a unique challenge.”
“I think human beings have masculine and feminine inside of them … [and] an actor’s job is to create a character that has the right balance,” said Clark.
Bernstein said that, in addition to increasing roles, NTC over its 10 years has aimed to open other opportunities for women, including as directors and by performing their original works.
“There are so many wonderful plays by women that need to be produced,” she said. “It’s really about opportunity … and telling stories from a woman’s point of view.”
Building a true community theater
“We want to engage with the community,” said Bernstein, while discussing how the group evolved. “We want people to feel like NTC is their theater company.”
Back in 2000, with her PhD in theater in hand, Bernstein moved to Newton from California to be closer to family. While working in children’s theater, she met Linda Plaut, the City’s former director of cultural affairs. Bernstein pitched creating the Newton Youth Players, and with Plaut’s enthusiastic support, Bernstein ran the program for many years through the city’s Parks & Recreation Department.
Bernstein knew she also wanted to work with and direct adult actors, and Plaut supported that idea as well. With growing popularity, by 2013, it was clear the group should expand.
“We needed a larger budget … we wanted to be independent,” said Bernstein. No longer run through the City, the organization became the Newton Theatre Company, and its fiscal sponsor at the time was Newton Community Pride, a nonprofit arts and culture organization.
Since 2018, NTC has been its own nonprofit because “we needed to fundraise and get sponsors … so we could raise money to put on shows,” said Bernstein.
NTC also includes The Monologue Project, “an initiative that seeks to bring the community together through the power of personal storytelling,” according to its website. This summer’s show was called “LGBTQ+ Voices.” In 2019, the group started Newton Theatre Kids, which ran for six months in person before Covid hit and then had to migrate online. It is now back meeting in person.
Thinking about her work with NTC and the organization’s role in the city, actor Clark said that “it feels like each performance … is in conversation with the community.”
More information
Newton Theatre Company is located at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Newtonville, at the corner of Lowell Avenue and Otis Street. The theater entrance is at 96 Otis St. Parking is available on both Otis and Lowell. Tickets are available for upcoming performances of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, adapted by Claire Wittman, which runs from October 27 through November 4. Donations are tax-deductible and appreciated.
