Don’t miss this special holiday event! We are pleased to welcome back Portsmouth’s Pontine Theatre to Tamworth, with two intimately-scaled holiday stories featuring the essence of Christmas in New England.

A NEW ENGLAND CHRISTMAS 2025
For this year’s holiday program, Pontine performs two treasured seasonal tales: A Speakin’ Ghost and Christmas Back Home. Both stories are by wonderful regional authors long gone and largely forgotten by contemporary audiences.

+ A Speakin’ Ghost, written by Annie Trumbull Slosson (1838–1926), features a woman born and raised in Rye, New Hampshire. Many years after leaving her childhood home near the ocean to work as a household servant, she finds herself living an isolated life providing care to an elderly man. She spends most of her time alone in her room, reliving memories of years gone by. From these musings arises a ghost-like figure, a young boy who begins making regular visits to this lonely soul.

Annie Trunbull Slosson published over 15 collections of short stories between 1878 and 1912 and was a frequent contributor to the Atlantic and Harper’s. Her first book, “The China Hunter’s Club” (1878), a collection of dialect stories situated in her native Stonington, Connecticut and the Franconia Notch area of New Hampshire, was considered, along with Sarah Orne Jewett’s Deephaven (1877) and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Pogonuc People (1878), to be one of the first identifiable examples of the regional or “local color” genre.

+ Christmas Back Home, a story by Eugene Wood (1860–1923), features a delightful cast of characters who inhabit a small, rural town. The piece evokes the childhood magic and suspense of Christmas as the special day approaches. The enchantment of preparing gifts to both give and receive enlivens this simple, heartfelt musing about the most magical day of the year.

Eugene Wood wrote stories describing the lives of rural folks whom he had known in the small towns where he lived. His three best-known books are fittingly titled “Back Home,” “Folks Back Home,” and “Our Town.” His career began with newspaper work as a reporter on The Cleveland Herald. He was also a regular contributor to principal magazines.

Scene from the “toy theatre” production of Christmas Back Home, original artwork created by Greg Gathers of Pontine Theatre. Watch the video below to see Pontine Theatre’s toy theatre in use, along with other theatrical stylings.

Pontine’s Co-Artistic Directors and performers, Marguerite Mathews and Greg Gathers, have developed a special fondness for searching out rich, historical literary gems and bringing them to life for audiences throughout the region. Pontine’s shows often feature antique stage techniques, including rolling panoramas, puppetry, and toy theatre figures to bring stories alive onstage. Mr. Gathers creates all the props and sets used in the theatre’s productions.

This event would make a delightful pre-Christmas gift!

$10 | $5 for members
Space is limited, preregistration is required.
Suitable for ages 14 and above; interested and patient attendees under age 14 are welcome.
The program is approximately 60 minutes long.
Interaction with the artists and viewing of the theatre staging and props are possible after the performance.

PREREGISTER HERE
Members: All ticketing falls under the $10 registration fee, member discount will be applied at checkout.
Not sure if your membership is current? Give us a call at (603) 323-7591.

This event is part of our Fall at the Farmstead schedule.

58 Cleveland Hill Rd.
Tamworth Village, NH 03886
Telephone (603) 323-7591
info@remickmuseum.org