Punxsutawney Theatre Arts Guild Announces 51st Season & Audition Notice
The Punxsutawney Theatre Arts Guild (PTAG) is proud to announce its 2026 season. A Patron Campaign is underway, so current patrons should see their letter arrive soon. If you wish to become a Patron, who are advanced ticketholders, you can receive our Patron mailing to sign up. Give us a call at (814) 938-0378, e-mail us at punxsytheatre@outlook.com, or find us on Facebook. You choose your donation level, pay in advance, and receive season tickets to use as you wish.
Jef Dinsmore, Guild president, states, “We are trying to keep the troupe alive, but among others, it takes patrons and audiences to make it all happen as it should. So, with that, let’s look at the 2026 Season. The following shows are the ones we hope to stage, provided a cast & crew can be found for each. Plays are subject to change. ” PTAG announces what appears to be interesting theatrical enjoyment for 2026.
Spring: “Tinker Bell” by Patrick Flynn, based on the works of J. M. Barrie. This fresh and intensely theatrical adaptation of the classic story emphasizes play and fun as well as the complicated nature of friendship. A new, twinkling light shines on all the characters you love as J.M. Barrie’s story is reborn from this feisty fairy’s point of view. Tinkerbell. Dinsmore reminds us, “Who doesn’t love a journey to Neverland, complete with Lost Boys, Capt. Hook and all.”
Summer: “Chemical Imbalance: A Jekyll and Hyde Play” by Lauren Wilson. A darkly comic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic gothic horror novella “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.” In Victorian England, repressed impulses burst their corsets as Dr. Jekyll’s experiments into the nature of evil threaten to reveal the bloody hands beneath the gloves of the British Empire. A fast-paced romp about men and women tightrope walking the line between aristocracy and depravity, and between the twin spectres of good and evil. About this work, the Guild president says, “Trust me when I say, there is a silly way in which this horror can come off as funny. A true frace, the kind the troupe and audiences love to explore.”
Fall: “The Cemetery Club” by Ivan Menchell. Three widows meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands’ graves. Ida is sweet-tempered and ready to begin a new life; Lucille is a feisty embodiment of the girl who just wants to have fun; and Doris is priggish and judgmental, particularly when Sam the butcher enters the scene. He meets the widows while visiting his wife’s grave. Doris and Lucille squash the budding romance between Sam and Ida. They are guilt-stricken when this nearly breaks Ida’s heart. “A tender, sweet, satisfying theatrical moment”, says Dinsmore, “It is a gentle, warm, humorous way to end the season.”
PTAG hopes you join them for their 51st Season of Community Theatre! And it all starts sooner than you think, as the Theatre Arts Guild announces auditions for its first play of 2026. Auditions for “Tinker Bell” will be held January 26 and 27 from 6 to 8 PM at the Presbyterian Church of Punxsutawney on the corner of Union and Findley Sts. The play, a retelling of the Peter Pan story from Tinker Bell’s viewpoint, is by Patrick Flynn and based on the works of J. M. Barrie. Performance dates are March 20 and 21.
The show’s director, Kathy S. Dinsmore, is looking for a cast of 2 to 9 females and 5 to 11 males ages 9 to 70. She explains in detail, “There are both large and small roles – this is a great show to get your acting feet wet! This play allows for flexible casting by gender and by age. At least 2 of the roles – Tinker Bell and Wendy should be played by females, preferably pre-teens or teenagers, though they could be young adults too. Girls can also play the 6 lost boys…and Michael and John (though we are hoping we get enough boys to play those two roles). Peter Pan can be played by (preferably)a boy, a girl, or even a young woman. The only roles I would specifically like to be played by adults are Captain Hook, Smee, and any pirates. We also need a crocodile.”