Category: Featured Content

If you delayed, it’s time

New Hampshire got off to a great start leading the nation in vaccination rates but now it’s falling behind just as it’s becoming even more important to be vaccinated with the spread of the delta variant.

The delta variant is two to three times more contagious than the original virus and is now the dominant strain of the virus being spread in America. Almost everyone getting infected and then being admitted to the hospital and dying is unvaccinated. That says a lot.

In New Hampshire almost 65 percent of the population — including Gov. Chris Sununu — has been vaccinated but that still is the lowest in New England.

Some may ask, why does it matter? Those who want the vaccine have gotten it. It matters because a fair number of people (younger children and certain people with medical conditions) can’t yet be vaccinated. The more of us that are vaccinated, the more protected those most vulnerable are. It also matters because as effective as the vaccines are, they aren’t 100 percent effective, meaning that even vaccinated people can get Covid and will get sick and die. Again, the more of us vaccinated the less the vaccine will be passed around and the less likely people will get sick.

Hesitancy is definitely understandable. Covid is a new virus and these vaccines were developed quickly. Most of the vaccines we take were developed over many years and have been proven safe by generations of use.

Though it’s tempting to Google vaccine questions, please talk to your health care provider. Ask them about the safety of the three Covid vaccines that you can get.

Folks also have questions about how to get vaccinated. There are more than 400 locations across the state to get vaccinated. All for free. The state even has a van that can come to you to give you a vaccine — for free. Just visit the state’s vaccine website (vaccines.nh.gov).

This is one of those times when we need everyone to get the vaccine so we can finally stamp out the virus. We can do this if we choose to do it. Many who have hesitated simply don’t see the need for them to get vaccinated. They are young and healthy.

I’d argue that we aren’t just doing this for ourselves. We’re doing it for each other. It’s an act of kindness. If you’ve delayed now is the time to get vaccinated for yourself, for your family, for your community.

In the right place

Jonathan Edwards brings new album to Tupelo

Like many in his profession, Jonathan Edwards spent the past several months working on new music, due the a pandemic-induced break from live performing. The result is the wonderful Right Where I Am. His first studio album since 2015, it’s at turns reflective, introspective and celebratory, the latter best represented by “50 Years,” a thank-you note to fans written for a 2017 anniversary show.

“I figured going in I better write a song for this event,” Edwards said in a recent phone interview, “because it was turning out to be a big one. So I did, and the first time I played it was that night at the party.”

He was joined by Livingston Taylor and Jon Pousette-Dart, two friends from his early days on the New England music scene.

The party-hearty groover “Drop and Roll” is one of two co-writes on the LP with Edwards’ son-in-law Jerome Degey. Its sentiments will be familiar to anyone who sang along to “Shanty” from his debut album, when Edwards exhorted listeners to “put a good buzz on.”

This time, he sings “roll over and burn one down” on a tune written in the middle of the night. “It’s kind of a stream-of-consciousness,” he said. “I’m very proud of that song in that it’s kind of subtle but… ‘roll me up a fatty, Bob Marley be proud.’ You know, come on!”

The title track is a statement of purpose. “I’ve got a lot of songs within me still, stories left to tell,” he sings.

“It’s part of my DNA. I’ve always been a creative sort,” he said, quoting another line from the song. “I’ve always built stuff out of other stuff. I went to art school and four years of college and eventually the guitar and rock ’n’ roll took over. Since then, I have many, many outlets for my creativity, and it’s hard to focus often, but I think the introspection that we had during lockdown was really conducive to more creativity, and appreciation for being able to express oneself.” He also states boldly in the song, “I’m not afraid to take a stand and bleed upon the stage … pay the price to tell the truth.”

“Perhaps [that image is] maybe a little too colorful, but that’s what it feels like,” Edwards said, adding that as he approaches his 75th year, “my challenge now is mostly physical.”

He co-produced the new record with longtime friend and accompanist Don Campbell, with help from Todd Hutchinson at his Acadia Recording studio in Portland, Maine.

“I loved it there. … It looks like a yard sale, with all these vintage amps and guitars everywhere … a very creative place,” Edwards said, and it made the work easier. “It’s a corny thing to say, but we followed the songs where they led us, and I’m really, really happy with that destination.”

He’s also pleased with the positive response Right Where I Am is receiving.

“It’s great, because you never know,” he said. “You put [these songs] out there as children, and you never know how they’re going to be accepted by society,” he said.

Edwards was scheduled to return to the stage on his birthday, July 28, at Jonathan’s in Ogunquit, Maine. Two nights later, he’ll play one of the final shows at Tupelo Drive-In, as the venue prepares to return indoors in mid-August.

“I miss the crowd for sure, and I miss the energy that only they can provide,” he said. “I can sit around and play with my friends, which is also really nice, but boy, getting out in front of a crowd….”

He nods to the al fresco event in Derry.

“In this case, and it’s really apt, that’s where the rubber meets the parking lot,” he said.

Jonathan Edwards
When: Friday, July 30, 6 p.m.
Where: Tupelo Drive-In, 10 A St., Derry
Tickets: $22 per person, $75 per car at tupelohall.com

Featured photo: Alli Beaudry. Courtesy photo.

Old

Old (PG-13)

A family has a pretty terrible day at the beach in Old, the latest, I don’t know, not horror really, thriller or something, from M. Night Shyamalan.

Married couple Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps) were probably always going to have a lousy holiday at some resort on an unnamed island. Sure, their kids, 11-year-old Maddox (Alexa Swinton) and 6-year-old Trent (Nolan River), seemed pretty excited about a resort with a candy buffet bar and a beach, but Guy and Prisca both seem to be barely keeping a lid on some misery, with a medical thing, a near-future separation and the concept of a “last family holiday” mentioned. Perhaps this is why Prisca jumped at the suggestion of the hotel manager (Gustaf Hammarsten) for a day trip to a fancy private beach as a place for her family to make some kind of lasting memory.

Though the manager told them to keep this beach a secret, theirs wasn’t the only family he told about it. As Guy and Prisca and the kids pack into the hotel’s van for a ride over, they’re joined by tightly wound doctor Charles (Rufus Sewell), his wife, Chrystal (Abbey Lee), their 6-year-old daughter Kara (Kyle Bailey) and his mother (Kathleen Chalfant). When they arrive at the beach (dropped off by a driver played by Shyamalan himself, which, sigh, really guy?), they find famous rapper Mid Sized Sedan (Aaron Pierre) already there and are soon joined by another couple, Jarin (Ken Leung) and Patricia (Nikki Amuka-Bird).

By the time Jarin and Patricia show up, the day has already started to head south, with young Trent having spotted the body of a woman floating in the water and Charles having accused Sedan, who is sort of stunned and has a non-stop nosebleed, of causing her death. In the confusion of the moment, the group realizes that (1) their cell phones get no reception, (2) they can’t go back through the cave that brought them to the beach because it causes everyone who heads back to get a crushing headache and then black out and, perhaps most disturbingly, (3) something weird is happening with their kids.

After first having to ditch his swim trunks because they don’t fit, Trent (Luca Faustino Rodriguez and later Alex Wolff) is suddenly taller and older, something like 11, Jarin guesses, with Maddox (Thomasin McKenzie, who plays her for a significant part of the movie) at more like 16 and Kara (Mikaya Fisher) also 11. The kids are freaked out at suddenly being bigger and the adults are freaked out about everything, including the increasingly erratic behavior of Charles and the sudden illness of his mother. They eventually guess that they are all, not just the kids, aging and that all of the families were dealing with some kind of illness when they arrived at the island.

I can’t decide if it’s cleverly efficient or over-the-top hokey how this movie delivers the basic biographical information and a bunch of backstory about the characters. We learn names and occupations almost immediately because Trent directly asks everybody about them in a way that is I think supposed to read as a cute kid quirk but comes off as very “hey audience, take notes.” There is also a point when Patricia, therapist, basically gathers everyone on the beach together to have them explain their backstories. It’s not that this action is so weird in the context of the story, it’s that it comes across as clunky and inartful, which then starts to border on silly. There are a lot of things like that here, such as a stretch (spoiled in the trailers) when one character becomes very quickly pregnant and then delivers a baby. Sure, there is something of a horror element to it (also an ick factor) but it also comes across as sort of ridiculous.

I basically went with the first, oh, 45 minutes or so of Old. This isn’t the most solidly constructed plot (or set of characters or dialogue) but it’s an interesting concept, there are a bunch of interesting ideas banging around. The terror of the family, the children changing so fast, the adults watching their children change and realizing what it all means for everybody’s lives, is relatively well developed. But, not unlike some other Shyamalan films, it all seems to unravel and deflate in its back half. I don’t know how I wanted this story to resolve but I do know that how it all comes together feels unsatisfying, both unfinished and overly literal.

There are some decent performances here: The core family — it’s Bernal, Krieps, McKenzie and Wolff who are together for I think the longest stretch — work well together and the actors playing the older incarnations of very-recent kids do a good job of giving us both grown-up people and people whose life references are still child-based. Bernal and Krieps have some nice scenes together; they believably play out a long marriage over a short period of time. But there are also times (many of Sewell’s scenes, for example) when the movie-ness of the movie just can not get out of an actor’s way enough for them to give a compelling, and not silly, performance.

Old isn’t terrible but it’s ultimately more frustrating than anything else. C

Rated PG-13 for strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and brief strong language, according to the MPA at filmratings.com. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan (who also wrote the screenplay, which is based on a graphic novel called Sandcastle by Pierre-Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters), Old is an hour and 48 minutes long and distributed by Universal Studios. It is playing in theaters.

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (PG-13)

How charismatic is Henry Golding? So charismatic that I basically, on balance, enjoyed Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, an origin story for a character in the G.I. Joe universe.

Once upon a time, kid Snake Eyes (Max Archibald; the character may have had a name at some point but I didn’t catch it) watched in horror as baddies murdered his dad (Steven Allerick). Left to grow up on the streets, Snake Eyes (Golding) has become a bare-knuckle fighter who drifts from town to town as an adult. A Yakuza tough guy hires Snake Eyes to become one of his worker-bee tough guys. Snake Eyes initially turns him down but then agrees to join up because they offer to find the man who murdered Snake Eyes’ father.

While working for the Yakuza, Snake Eyes becomes friends with Tommy (Andrew Koji), a guy who seems to be a little higher up in the gang’s corporate organizational chart. When Tommy is revealed to be a spy for the Arashikage clan, the gang tries to order Snake Eyes to kill him but instead Snake Eyes saves Tommy, who in turn takes him to his family’s palatial estate in Japan and offers Snake Eyes the chance to train with the ninja of the Arashikage, whose head is Tommy’s grandmother, Sen (Eri Ishida). Akiko (Haruka Abe), the head of Arashikage security, is not so sure about this Snake Eyes fella and doesn’t like the plan to let him join the clan.

Eventually, the international bad guy operation known as Cobra makes an appearance, with Baroness (Ursula Corbero) working with Kenta (Takehiro Hira), the movie’s central bad guy. We also get talk of the “Joes,” presented here as kind of an international good guy organization, in the form of Scarlett (Samara Weaving).

There’s more G.I. Joe mythology, but my memories of the cartoon are vague — enough that I remembered a bit of “hey, isn’t that guy going to become that guy” type character beats but not enough that I found myself super invested in all the backstory. Nor do I think you need to be to enjoy what’s best about this movie, which is its basically talented, if not always well-served by the movie, cast, in particular Golding. More Golding in any form, is my general feeling and he makes for an engaging action hero here. The movie gives him about a quarter inch of character development but he’s able to stretch that just a little farther through the power of his presence. In my fantasy casting of the next generation of James Bond, Golding has been one of my contenders for a while — he’s suave and handsome and believably bad-ass and capable. This movie doesn’t have that much humor or that many emotional beats, but Golding definitely makes the most that he can of what often feels like just a live-action version of the cartoon I remember from my childhood.

The movie also shines in some of its fight scenes, many of which are sword-based. The choreography makes what you know are likely to be fights to the draw none the less energetic and they’re often situated in some pretty settings (the Arashikage training grounds, a rainy cityscape).

Snake Eyes isn’t particularly great, it’s not one of those popcorn movies that transcends form in some way. I wish more had gone into making this cinematic world a little richer, especially since it feels like we’re going to be here a while. But for what it is, it does OK, with Golding largely saving the day. C+

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and brief strong language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Robert Schwentke with a screenplay by Evan Spiliotopoulos and Joe Shrapnel & Anna Waterhouse, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is two hours and one minute long and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. The movie is currently in theaters only; according to IndieWire and Wikipedia, Snake Eyes will stream on Paramount+ on Sept. 6.

FILM

Venues

Chunky’s Cinema Pub
707 Huse Road, Manchester;
151 Coliseum Ave., Nashua;
150 Bridge St., Pelham, chunkys.com

The Flying Monkey
39 Main St., Plymouth
536-2551, flyingmonkeynh.com

O’neil Cinemas at Brickyard Square
24 Calef Highway, Epping
679-3529, oneilcinemas.com

Red River Theatres
11 S. Main St., Concord
224-4600, redrivertheatres.org

Rex Theatre
23 Amherst St., Manchester
668-5588, palacetheatre.org

Wilton Town Hall Theatre
40 Main St., Wilton
wiltontownhalltheatre.com, 654-3456

Shows

• Jaws 21+ trivia night at Chunky’s in Manchester on Thursday, July 29, at 7:30 p.m. Admission costs $5, which is a food voucher.

• Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (R, 2021) will screen at Red River Theatres in Concord Friday, July 30, through Sunday, Aug. 1, at 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

• Pig (R, 2021) will screen at Red River Theatres in Concord Friday, July 30, through Sunday, Aug. 1, at 4:45 and 7:30 p.m.

• In the Heights (PG-13, 2021) will screen at Red River Theatres in Concord Friday, July 30, through Sunday, Aug. 1, at 1:15 p.m.

• Jungle Cruise (PG-13, 2021) a sensory friendly flix screening, with sound lowered and lights up, on Saturday, July 31, 10 a.m. at O’neil Cinema in Epping.

• The Wizard of Oz (1939) at the O’neil Cinema in Epping on Monday, Aug. 2, and Wednesday, Aug. 4, at 10 a.m. as part of the summer kids series. Tickets to the screening cost $2 for kids ages 11 and under and $3 for ages 13 and up. A $5 popcorn and drink combo is also for sale.

• Raya and the Last Dragon (PG, 2021) at the Rex Theatre on Tuesday, Aug. 3, at 7 p.m. with a portion of the proceeds going to Manchester Police Athletic League. Tickets cost $12.

• Jaws (1975, PG-13) screenings at Chunky’s in Manchester, Nashua and Pelham Wednesday, Aug 4, through Saturday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. plus screenings at 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Tickets cost $4.99.

• Rock of Ages (PG-13, 2012) screening at the Rex Theatre in Manchester on Wednesday, Aug. 4, at 7 p.m. with a portion of the proceeds going to the Manchester Police Athletic League. Tickets cost $12.

Featured photo: Old.

Fresh and balanced

New meals each week at Hopkinton’s BB Take Home Kitchen

Hopkinton native Emily Knowlton and her mother Deb found success last July with the launch of BB Take Home Kitchen, also known as the Balanced Brussel, a weekly take-home meal business they operated out of a stationary food truck. A year later, the mother-daughter duo has grown out of their mobile space, selling the truck in favor of a new brick-and-mortar location.

BB Take Home Kitchen reopened earlier this month following a brief renovation period, introducing grab-and-go options for the first time, as well as an overall more streamlined ordering process for its meals. Before, pre-ordering was required and meal pickups were only available at the truck within a two-hour window every Tuesday. The new space expands the Knowltons’ hours of operation to Tuesday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“The plan will be to have the same as what we have available for pre-order on the website also available in the deli case, so if somebody was driving by they could just stop in and pick up something on their way home,” Emily Knowlton said. “You can still pre-order and you guarantee what’s on the menu. But if you just walk in, you can have anything we have in the case.”

A graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a degree in nutrition and dietetics, Knowlton offers a new menu each week; once it appears on the website, it’s available to pre-order and pick up any time BB’s is open. Certain specialty items will be available on Thursdays and Fridays each week.

“I had a lot of people who would order meals for the entire month, so I’m actually going to release them now on a rotating basis,” Knowlton said. “So as one week goes away, the next week will come up, just so that we can keep a couple of weeks in advance for people, and also for us.”

Depending on an individual meal’s ordering popularity, you might see it rotated out once or twice a month, or several months in between. Next week’s featured menu items include ginger sesame chicken with white rice and vegetables; Buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese and a side salad with house dressing; a falafel wrap with house tzatziki sauce and hummus; and a shrimp corn chowder with a side of homemade cornbread. The specials for later that week will be sauteed lemon chicken, and taquitos with an avocado ranch dipping sauce.

Other items that have been popular with Knowlton’s clientele have been the pork ponzu meatballs, a beef enchilada casserole, and a chicken and vegetable stir-fry served over noodles. You’ll also find a selection of baked goods out of the display case, from freshly baked chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies to blueberry muffins and jumbo cinnamon rolls.

BB Take Home Kitchen is closed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to fulfill catering orders, which Knowlton said have “gone through the roof” over the past several months. The space will then reopen each Tuesday with the start of a new menu of take-home options.

“Our event business has picked up probably 300 percent since we started,” Knowlton said. “I get weeks where I’ll get five inquiries a week, and it probably does have something to do with Covid restrictions being lifted and people starting to plan weddings and parties again.”

BB Take Home Kitchen

Where: 633 Maple St., Hopkinton
Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Weekly menus are posted on a rotating basis; meals can be pre-ordered online, but some items are also available for walk-ins)
More info: Visit bbtakehomekitchen.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram @bbtakehomekitchen

Featured photo: Pork ponzu meatballs. Photo courtesy of BB Take Home Kitchen.

The Art Roundup 21/07/29

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

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• Outdoor Shakespeare: The Dana Center (Saint Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester) presents a Shakespeare on the Green production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Friday, July 30, and Saturday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m. The play will be performed outside on Founder’s Green in front of the theater. Bring your own lawn chair or blanket. General admission tickets cost $25. Visit anselm.edu/dana-center-humanities or call 641-7000.

• NH antique art: The New Hampshire Antique Co-op (323 Elm St., Milford) has an exhibit and sale, “Fresh Perspectives,” on view in the Co-op’s Tower Gallery now through Aug. 31. It features works by New Hampshire artists Peter Milton, ​Varujan Boghosian, Robert Hughes, Robert Hauser and others, including paintings, prints, sculptures, assemblages and collages. Visit nhantiquecoop.com or call 673-8499.

• A memoir on grief: The Toadstool Bookstore in Nashua and Peterborough presents a virtual author event with Cathleen Elle on Thursday, July 29, at 6 p.m. Elle will discuss Shattered Together: A Mother’s Journey From Grief to Belief. A Guide to Help You Through Sudden Loss. The memoir documents the author’s 10-year journey of finding healing, meaning and forgiveness after the unexpected death of her son. Register online for the free event, which will be held over Zoom. Visit toadbooks.com or call 673-1734.

“Looking for Seashells,” a painting by Maryclare Heffernan. Courtesy photo.

• NHAA artists in Manchester: The New Hampshire Art Association will feature work by two of its artist members at its new exhibit venue, Creative Framing Solutions, located across from the Palace Theatre at 89 Hanover St. in Manchester, during August. Joe Flaherty of Portsmouth is an oil painter whose paintings “aim at being curious, mysterious and peculiar before they aim at being representational or affirmative,” he said in a press release. Maryclare Heffernan of Candia will present a series of paintings titled “A Spray of Sea Salt.” “This body of work is about the essence of the ocean, of the feelings that arise in us when we’re near the sea,” Heffernan said in the release. An opening reception will be held on Friday, Aug. 13, from 5 to 8 p.m. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call 320-5988 or visit nhartassociation.org.

• Small town tale: The Peterborough Players (55 Hadley Road, Peterborough) returns with a production of Our Town Aug. 4 through Aug. 15, with showtimes Wednesday through Sunday, at 5:30 p.m. Performances will take place at the Players’ outdoor theater space, located off Phoenix Mill Lane in downtown Peterborough. The 1938 play by Thornton Wilder tells of love, life and death in the fictional small New Hampshire town of Grover’s Corners. According to the Players’ website, the company first produced the play in 1940 with consultation from Wilder himself. It has since become the Players’ most produced play to date. There will be a talkback immediately following the show on Sunday, Aug, 8. Tickets cost $47. Visit peterboroughplayers.org or call 924-7585.

Art

Exhibits

• “FASHION FORWARD: AFRICANA STYLE” Exhibit showcases Black fashion and explores connections between African American and African design aesthetics from past to present. The Seacoast African American Cultural Center (located inside the Portsmouth Historical Society, 10 Middle St., Portsmouth). On view now through Sept. 1. Gallery hours are Monday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; visitors must reserve a 45-minute time slot in advance. Walk-in guests will be accommodated as space permits. Tickets cost $10 for the general public and $5 for Historical Society members and are available through eventbrite.com. Visit saacc-nh.org.

• “THE BODY IN ART: FROM THE SPIRITUAL TO THE SENSUAL” Exhibit provides a look at how artists through the ages have used the human body as a means of creative expression. On view now through Sept. 1. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester. Museum admission tickets cost $15, $13 for seniors age 65 and up, and must be booked online. Call 669-6144 or visit currier.org.

• “TWILIGHT OF AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISM” Exhibit showcases New England painters and masters of impressionism Alice Ruggles Sohier and Frederick A. Bosley. On view now through Sept. 12. Portsmouth Historical Society (10 Middle St., Portsmouth). Gallery hours are daily, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission costs $7.50 for adults and is free for kids under age 18, seniors age 70 and older and active and retired military. Admission is free for all on the first Friday of every month. Visit portsmouthhistory.org.

• “ROBERTO LUGO: TE TRAIGO MI LE LO LAI – I BRING YOU MY JOY” Philadelphia-based potter reimagines traditional forms and techniques with inspiration from urban graffiti and hip-hop culture, paying homage to his Puerto Rican heritage and exploring his cultural identity and its connection to family, place and legacy. The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St., Manchester). On view now through Sept. 26. On view now. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester. Museum admission tickets cost $15, $13 for seniors age 65 and up, and must be booked online. Call 669-6144 or visit currier.org.

• “TENSION: PROCESS IN THE MAKING” The Surface Design Association’s (SDA) New Hampshire Group presents an exhibit featuring fiber art and textiles by New Hampshire artists. July 24 through Sept. 4. Twiggs Gallery (254 King St., Boscawen). Visit twiggsgallery.wordpress.com or call 975-0015.

• “SUMMER HAZE” Concord artist and gallery owner Jess Barnet hosts her first group art exhibit. Gallery located in the Patriot Investment building, 4 Park St., Suite 216, Concord. On view Aug. 6 through Sept. 3. Visit jessbarnett.com.

Fairs and markets

• CONCORD ARTS MARKET Outdoor artisan and fine art market. Every third Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Now through October. Rollins Park (33 Bow St., Concord). Visit concordartsmarket.net.

• CRAFTSMEN’S FAIR Nine-day craft fair featuring work by hundreds of juried League of NH Craftsmen members. Sat., Aug. 7, through Sun., Aug. 15. Mount Sunapee Resort (1398 Route 103, Newbury). Visit nhcrafts.org.

Theater

Shows

• THE LITTLE MERMAID The 2021 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series presents. Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester). Wed., July 28, through Thurs., July 29, 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Visit palacetheatre.org.

• TELL ME ON A SUNDAY The Winnipesaukee Playhouse presents. 33 Footlight Circle, Meredith. July 28 through Aug. 14, with showtimes Tuesday through Saturday, at 7:30 p.m., plus matinees on Tuesday, Aug. 3, and Thursday, Aug. 5, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 to $39. Visit winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org.

• DANI GIRL The Winnipesaukee Playhouse presents. 33 Footlight Circle, Meredith. Now through July 31, with showtimes Tuesday through Saturday, at 4 p.m. Tickets cost $29 to $39. Visit winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org.

• YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN Prescott Park Arts Festival (105 Marcy St., Portsmouth). Now through Aug. 15, with shows daily at 7 p.m. More information is TBA. Visit prescottpark.org.

•​ CABARET The Seacoast Repertory Theatre presents. 125 Bow St., Portsmouth. Now through Sept. 5. Visit seacoastrep.org or call 433-4472.

• BEAUTY AND THE BEAST The 2021 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series presents. Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester). Tues., Aug. 3, through Thurs., Aug. 5, 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Visit palacetheatre.org.

• RAPUNZEL The 2021 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series presents. Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester). Tues., Aug. 10, through Thurs., Aug. 12, 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Visit palacetheatre.org.

• CINDERELLA The 2021 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series presents. Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester). Tues., Aug. 17, through Thurs., Aug. 19, 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Visit palacetheatre.org.

•​ MAD HAUS The Seacoast Repertory Theatre presents. 125 Bow St., Portsmouth. Sun., Aug. 18, 8 p.m. Tickets cost $15. The show is also available to livestream. Visit seacoastrep.org.

Concerts

• SUZUKI STRINGS Violin students perform. Canterbury Shaker Village(288 Shaker Road, Canterbury). Sun., Aug. 15, 4 p.m. Suggested donation $10 per person.

Cornhole!

When local cornhole enthusiasts Shon Haley and Brian Fletcher started the 603 Cornhole league in 2014, they started it out of necessity; at that time, there were few opportunities for New Hampshire’s small but fervent cornhole community to get together for organized games and events.

“We figured there are leagues for bowling and pool and all that type of stuff,” Haley said, “so why shouldn’t we have a league for cornhole?”

Now, not only does New Hampshire have opportunities to play — it’s a nationwide hotspot for the game. With 78 teams, 603 Cornhole is one of the largest cornhole leagues in the country; Londonderry is home to Game Changer, the country’s only cornhole-specific sports bar; and American Cornhole League Pro Sheila Roy hails from Hooksett.

“I go to events across the country, and I will say that the folks here [in New Hampshire] have so much passion for the game,” Roy said. “That’s not to say people aren’t passionate about it elsewhere, but the people who play here locally love not just the game, but the whole scene of it.”

Phil Parker, a cornhole boardmaker from Deerfield and early member of 603 Cornhole, moved to New Hampshire from Virginia around 13 years ago. Cornhole has always been popular in the South, he said, so its absence in New Hampshire came as a surprise.

“I brought my boards up with me [during the move] and could not find anyone who knew anything about cornhole, so I would just play by myself in my yard,” he said.

Parker said he remembers when the sport really started “taking off” after 603 Cornhole was formed and in the years that followed.

“It grew from [being] just me, Shon [Haley], Brian [Fletcher] and a couple other friends, to six new people the next week, then eight new people, then 20 new people,” he said.

If you still have no idea what cornhole is or how it’s played, here’s the abbreviated version, based on the American Cornhole Association rules: Two teams of two players compete. There are two smooth plywood boards measuring four feet long and two feet wide, with a hole 6 inches in diameter positioned at the far end of the board, which is elevated one foot above the ground so that it sits at a slant. The boards face each other 27 feet apart, with one player from each team standing on either side of each board. From there, players take a series of turns underhand-throwing 6-by-6-inch square bags, traditionally filled with feed corn, at the board across from them. A bag that lands and stays anywhere on the board is worth one point. A bag that is thrown into the hole or pushed into the hole by another bag — theirs or their opponent’s — is worth three points. The first team to reach 21 points wins.

There are a couple different approaches to the game: You could focus all of your energy on getting the bag in the hole and scoring points for your team — and that’s a perfectly valid way to play, Haley said — or you could employ a bit more strategy to try to keep your opponent from scoring points.

“Sometimes it’s better to throw a bag right in front of the hole on purpose,” Haley said. “That tends to make your opponent not throw as good of a throw, or [they] throw their bag over the top [of the board] because they’re trying not to knock your bag in the hole.”

There are a number of cornhole leagues in New Hampshire with different formats. Some are more casual, with games held on an ongoing basis that are open to drop-ins and will even pair single players with a partner. Others, including 603 Cornhole, run more formal seasons and tournaments.

“Pretty much any night of the week, whether you’re a beginner or a more advanced player, you can find something somewhere within New Hampshire involving cornhole,” Haley said.

In May 2020, brothers Bob and Rodney Carrier opened Game Changer, a 6,000-square-foot facility with a bar and eight indoor regulation cornhole courts. The venue is used by organized cornhole leagues and groups for weekly games and tournaments; private parties, charity fundraisers and corporate events; and people just looking to have a fun night out.

“We started playing with some of these [local] cornhole groups, and we realized that they didn’t have any place to play during the winter. They just kind of stopped,” Bob Carrier said. “We saw an opportunity.”

Game Changer was an instant success.

“We didn’t have to build up a clientele or anything; the cornhole community came right in and hit it hard right from the start,” Carrier said. “We had tournaments going every night almost right away.”

The vision for Game Changer, Carrier said, was to create a sports bar that is also a “family-oriented place,” and having cornhole as the focal point has facilitated that atmosphere.

“We don’t get people coming in here to do a bunch of shots,” he said. “We get families with babies; people in their 50s, 60s, 70s; husbands and wives; fathers and sons; mothers and daughters — cornhole brings everyone together because anyone of any age can play.”

Roy can attest to that; she’s 56 and was accepted for her first season as an ACL Pro this year.

“It doesn’t have a barrier like other sports,” she said. “There’s no advantage to being tall or fast or strong or a certain age. It’s a level playing field for everyone, so I always felt like I could do this, and keep competing at a higher and higher level.”

To anyone who is hesitant about playing due to their athletic ability, Roy said don’t be; she had never played or even heard of cornhole until around seven years ago.

“There are folks who just pick it up really quickly, some who would totally surprise you,” she said. “You just can’t know until you throw a bag.”

Meet Phil Parker

Phil Parker is the owner of Kustom Woodz, where he builds custom cornhole boards out of his home wood shop in Deerfield.

Parker became interested in making cornhole boards around 15 years ago while living in Virginia, not long after being introduced to the game. It started as a hobby, making boards for his family and friends. The first board he ever made was one with a Budweiser/Bud Light logo.

“I was basically just taking a piece of plywood and two-by-fours, painting them and putting a sticker on it,” he said. “It has evolved from that into making league-quality boards with the best materials.”

There wasn’t much demand for cornhole boards in New Hampshire, he said, until around four years ago. That’s when he turned his hobby into an official business. He started working with a local print shop using a UV flatbed printer to transfer the custom designs – which can be personal photos, business logos or any other kind of image – onto the boards.

“The technology with UV printing has really taken off, so I jumped on that,” he said. ‘It’s much better having the image printed directly onto the wood itself, as opposed to a sticker, which is going to end up peeling or getting pulled off.”

All Kustom Woodz boards are made to ACL specifications and are sealed in three coats of a water-based polyurethane, giving them a glossy, water-resistant finish. This not only protects the custom image, Parker said, but also ensures that the boards have the surface texture that regulation boards are supposed to have.

“Pretty much all of the cornhole leagues around here order their boards through me,” he said. “If you go to a cornhole tournament, you’re expecting your bag to [move across the board] at a certain speed, according to the ACL specs that you’re used to.”

Parker said he expects to make and sell between 1,000 and 1,200 boards this year, for leagues as well as for individuals and families who want cornhole boards for their personal use.

“You can give me a picture of your son or your daughter, or your dog or your horse, or your boat or your Harley-Davidson, whatever, and we’ll personalize a board for you,” he said. “People like to have that to take camping or put in their yard.”

See “Kustom Woodz” on Facebook or email [email protected].

Leagues and groups

• 603 Cornhole All skill levels are welcome. League seasons are September through November; January through March; and April through June. The cost is $100 per team for a league session. Drop-ins looking to try it out or play a one-night game can usually be accommodated. Non-league games continue in July and August every Thursday. 603 Cornhole also hosts official ACL events. Visit facebook.com/603cornhole.

• Cornstars Cornhole All skill levels are welcome, with opportunities for both social and competitive play. Blind draw/round robin drop-in tournaments are held most Fridays at 7 p.m. at Game Changer Sports Bar and Grill (4 Orchard View Drive, Londonderry), and every Tuesday at 7 p.m. during the summer outdoors at Town Cabin Deli & Pub (285 Old Candia Road, Candia). Bring your own bags. Entry costs $15, $10 for first-timers. Visit facebook.com/cornstarscornhole.

• Franklin Cornhole League All skill levels are welcome. League season starts in the fall; information on the 2021-2022 season TBA. Visit facebook.com/franklincornholeleague.

• Lakes Region Baggerz Cornhole All skill levels are welcome, with social and competitive divisions. Blind draw/round robin games held every Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Lakes Region Casino (1265 Laconia Road, Belmont). Entry costs $15. League games are held on Saturdays. Visit facebook.com/Lakesregionbaggerz.

• Skull It Cornhole All skill levels are welcome. Blind draw/round robin games every Wednesday night at AJ’s Sports Bar & Grill (11 Tracy Lane, Hudson). Players accumulate points, with playoffs held for top players. Entry costs $15. Visit facebook.com/skullitcornhole.

Special events

• Raymond High School students will have a charity Cornhole Tournament for Special Olympics NH and Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Hampshire in the upper fields at Iber Holmes Gove Middle School (1 Stephen K. Batchelder Parkway, Raymond) on Saturday, July 31, with registration at 9 a.m. and the tournament starting at 10 a.m. The cost is $30 for single players and $60 for teams of two. The tournament is open to ages 14 and up. Visit bbbsnh.org.

• Less Leg More Heart will host its first annual Cornhole Tournament on Saturday, Aug. 7, from noon to 6 p.m. at White Birch Brewing (460 Amherst St., Nashua). The cost is $100 for competitive teams and $50 for social teams. Cash prizes will be awarded. Tickets are available on Eventbrite. Visit lesslegmoreheart.com.

• The Bags on the Beach Cornhole Tournament takes place at Hampton Beach on Saturday, Sept. 11, with check-in from 11 to 11:30 a.m., and the first tournament at noon. Signups for a second tournament to be held later that day will be available after the first tournament, estimated to begin around 3 p.m. There will be cash prizes for the top three winning teams. Registration costs $50 per team. Visit seafoodfestivalnh.com/cornhole-tournament.

Anytime play

These venues have open-play cornhole boards and host various cornhole events throughout the year. (Availability and fees may vary depending on demand and when in use for organized events).

• AJ’s Sports Bar & Grill (11 Tracy Lane, Hudson, 718-1102, ajs-sportsbar.com)

• Block Party Social, 51 Zapora Drive, Hooksett, 621-5150, blockpartysocial.com

• Bonfire Country Bar (950 Elm St., Manchester, 217-5600, bonfire.country)

• Game Changer Sports Bar and Grill (4 Orchard View Drive, Londonderry, 216-1396, gamechangersportsbar.com)

• Revolution Taproom & Grill (61 N. Main St., Rochester, 244-3022, revolutiontaproomandgrill.com)

Featured photo: 603 Cornhole hosts a cornhole fundraising event at the fields at Epsom Central School. Courtesy photo.

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