About Us:

Brian C. Fahey and Michelle M. K. Hatfield founded Gurnet Theatre Project in Duxbury, MA, in the winter of 2005 with the intention of producing outdoor theatre.

We chose the name Gurnet Theatre Project for our new theatre company. The Gurnet is a name unique to Duxbury, a landmass that protects our lovely bay.

The word "project" speaks of who we are – young, innovative theatre artists, and what we seek to produce – theatre that is inventive and bold. The circle of friends that we travel in is one filled with energized and creative artists – it seemed the natural progression that we should unite forces.

In July 2005, we staged our inaugural production of Tony Kushner's adaptation of Pierre Corneille's The Illusion, at The Myles Standish Monument in Duxbury, MA. The production was a huge success on all accounts. Hundreds of residents and tourists came to the monument each night to enjoy a mystical evening of outdoor summer theatre. Since 2005 we have produced two Shakespeare comedies (Much Ado About Nothing in '06 and As You Like It in '07) and one hilarious mash-up of all his plays (the popular Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged in '08). Macbeth ('09) marked our fifth summer producing theatre at the monument, and our first foray into Shakespeare's darker side.

Our programming in Boston began in 2006 with a production of August Strindberg's Miss Julie in an electrifying new version from acclaimed Irish author Frank McGuinness. Miss Julie premiered at the Boston Center for the Arts, was later brought to the Duxbury Performing Arts Center, and was nominated for a Gold Star Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

In 2007 we produced the Boston premiere of Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, in a sold out extended run at the BCA. In early 2008 we produced Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth at the BCA, a production that earned two IRNE (Independent Reviewers of New England) Award nominations for Best Play and Best Supporting Actor (Jonathan Popp). In the summer of 2008 we returned once again to the Boston Center for the Arts to produce the Boston premiere of Adam Rapp's Essential Self-Defense, which ran for three weeks and received universal acclaim from The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, and The Boston Phoenix, among others.

Gurnet Theatre Project seeks to produce excellent theatre that is at once:

Educational and Entertaining,
Experimental and Accessible,
Principled and Provocative.

Gurnet Theatre Project strives to foster local talent, both new and seasoned, young and old. Gurnet Theatre Project aims to explode theatrical convention, while rediscovering classical ideas.

Gurnet Theatre Project exists to produce, both in workshop and in fully realized productions, original, modern and classical works.

THE PROJECT