Keeping Time, Groton’s Historical Theater Piece,
Will Be Reprised

Keeping Time is back by popular demand.  The original play about Groton’s first 350 years will run for two more performances, Sept. 22 and 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center on Main St., Groton.

Keeping Time is a two act musical.  The play is narrated by the keeper of the clock in Groton’s First Parish Church.  The Clock Keeper tells the town’s story, beginning with the native people who first settled on the banks of the town’s three rivers, John Tinker who opened a trading post in the early 1600s, and the Indian Wars which followed.  Through narrative, music, movement, action and dialogue, the first act carries the audience through the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the underground and above ground railroads, and arrival of immigrants, the founding and implementation of the Groton Woman’s Club, the First World War and the Groton Hospital.  The first act ends with a town band scene on Main Street at the end of the Roaring 20s.  The second act begins with the Depression, quickly followed by a humorous scene about the arrival of the telephone.  The central moments of the second act revolve around the Second World War, where the Clock Keeper takes the audience to Sherwin Brothers Market in West Groton and shows them the effects of those years on the people who stayed home and the people who went overseas.  The final scenes of the play reflect on the change and growth of the last 50 years, with a particular focus on the Nashua River.

The cast includes 20 children between the ages of five and 17 and 40 adults, several of whom are in their seventies.  The play is an ensemble piece, so the cast is on stage for the full length of the show.

Tickets will be available for the reprise of Keeping Time at Main Street Café and Workers’ Credit Union on Main Street, Groton beginning on Monday, Aug. 29, at Grotonfest or at the door of the Performing Arts Center on Sept. 22 and 23, the nights of the two 7:30 p.m. performances.  Tickets which were purchased for the March performances, but which were not used due to the inclement weather, may be exchanged for either September performance by calling 978-448-6620 or 978-448-6629.  The deadline for this exchange is Friday, Sept. 16.

      We’ll keep you posted on the progress of “Keeping Time.”  Check our website periodically for information.

L-R. Playwrights Edie Tompkins, Erica Reynolds Hager, and
Laura Rogerson Moore.