OUR GROWING COMPANY HISTORY

Since our founding in 2019, we have produced eleven plays and musicals, along with compilations. 

​Signed, Abigail R. by emma hersey-powers (2021)
Dir. EMma Hersey-Powers

Signed, Abigail R., written and directed by company co-founder Emma Hersey-Powers, was Slemons' first mainstage show at The Hill Arts center. 

Signed, Abigail R. follows a girl, Abigail, who drives herself and her sister, Stella, under the influence of alcohol. Abigail crashes the car, Stella dies as a consequence, and her presence lingers in the community where she once lived. Abigail, her mother, and a cast of friends and acquaintances come to terms with her loss in this touching piece. 

Lockdown by julia edwards (2023)
​Dir. EMma Hersey-Powers 

Lockdown was first produced and directed by Emma Hersey-Powers at Casco Bay High School. Its success there inspired the formation of Slemons Productions.
We produced Lockdown once again in the summer of 2023 to an incredible turnout from our local theatre community. 

Lockdown takes place in a near-future California high school, where corporatization has pushed farther into the public sector. Locked into the school library by an impenetrable institutionalized security system, a ragtag group of teens and one very frightened substitute teacher must fend for themselves, parse through noises that sound like gunshots, and save the life of a student in diabetic shock.

We would like to thank playwright Julia Edwards for her support of our theatrical endeavors. 

Heathers: The Musical by Laurence O'Keefe + Kevin Murphy (2022)
Dir. Lexi Nicholas

Heathers: The Musical was the first musical we attempted to produce in the summer of 2022. After nearly three months of rehearsal and technical production, an outbreak of COVID-19 within the cast and crew brought the production to a halt on opening night. 

Based on the 1989 movie of the same name, Heathers is a classic black comedy about teen angst, mean girls, and murder. Veronica Sawyer joins the clique known as the Heathers, comprised of the three richest, hottest, cruelest girls in her school. When an intriguing but dangerous new student named J.D. comes to Westerberg high school and starts planting seeds in her head, the stakes get high.

​Firebringer by Starkid productions (2023)
​Dir. Bridgid Amato

Firebringer was our first successful musical production. 

Originally produced by Starkid Productions of internet fame, this comedy musical gives us an insight into what our ancestors might have been doing millions of years ago, including worshipping ducks, screaming at the sun, and even tasting their own feces. That is, until one cavewoman, Zazzalil, gets a little too precocious to stay in the Paleolithic age. Will she, against all odds, become... the firebringer?

​Carrie: THe Musical by Cohen, pitchford, gore (2024)
​Dir. Bridgid Amato

Carrie: The Musical was our second successful musical production. 

In the small town of Chamberlain, ME, Carrie White struggles with bullying from her classmates and abuse at the hands of her controlling, evangelical mother, Margaret. When she discovers her telekinetic powers, everything changes for her.

As a stage musical, based on the 1974 novel and 1976 movie, Carrie has a fraught history that spans from 1988 to the present day. The original musical production only lasted 16 previews and 5 shows before it closed. A more successful 2012 Off-Broadway revival of the show has gone on to capture modern audiences' hearts.

Playfest (2024) 
Dir. Emily Hayes, Camden Marble, Emma Hersey-Powers

In our first ever short play festival, we came together to produce six different plays in just a few weeks.

Featuring plays by Bob Leblanc, A.P. Mulrooney, Randy Hunt, Alyssa Borelli, Megan Tripaldi, and John Mabey.

the outsiders by Christopher Sergel (2024)
​Dir. Julia Scholz

Adapted from S.E. Hinton's novel of the same name, The Outsiders was our first ever full-length show performed outside of the summer season. 

In mid-1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma, a family of orphaned boys and their buddies, the greasers, struggle to get by day-to-day. When they get mixed up in fights with the wealthy socialites (socs), young Ponyboy and Johnny are on the lam. This touching classic explores the subjects of class relations, chosen family, and cycles of violence on a historic backdrop.

​Next To Normal by Brian Yorkey + Tom Kitt (2025)
​Dir. Company

The Goodmans are the perfect loving family. Dad's an architect; Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal; their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens. And yet their lives are anything but normal. Diana, the mother and protagonist of this story battles bipolar disorder and mistreatment within the medical system while she fights to keep their family functional.

As our first foray into workshop-style collective directing, Next To Normal brought forth new challenges and also increased understandings of the character dynamics in this very emotional show. ​

​The Only Exception
​written for premiere by slemons productions (2025)
Dir. Lexi Nicholas and Emma Hersey-Powers

The Only Exception was the second self-written-and-produced full-length play that Slemons put on.

It follows a group of teens who've recently graduated from Rosedale High School, in a dystopian town where one test result determines their place in society. As tensions rise between the students, they fight for their lives against the mysterious Anderson Institution-- and each other. Will they escape the locked school, or be forgotten inside... forever?

​She Kills MonsterS By Qui Nguyen (2025)
​Dir. Emily Hayes and Camden Marble

When Agnes Evans' whole family is killed in a car crash, she has no way to further connect with her younger sister, Tilly, until she stumbles upon a D&D module that was created by her in years prior. She joins dungeon master Chuck and Tilly's written memory to traverse a world filled with elves, demons, and other monsters. 

Will she learn turn-based combat, vanquish the dragon, and find meaning in her grief?

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
By David Greig, Marc Shaiman, Scott Whitman (2025)
​Dir. Emma HERSEY-POWERS​

Roald Dahl's classic and beloved tale of an unconventional chocolatier, as seen in the major motion pictures, finds a new life in this stage musical version. 

Only, in this particular factory, in this particular production... Something isn't quite the same. Wonka's Oompa Loompa workers aren't people like in the classic Willy Wonka representations of film... They're sadistic dolls, with Wonka as their puppetmaster. 
When the affable Charlie Bucket and the rest of the bratty golden ticket winners come to see Wonka's wondrous factory, they're in for a tour they will never forget.