New England theater company celebrating America 250 with historical play

As we celebrate America's 250th birthday, a new theater company is helping us remember how it all started. Time Travel Theatrical is based in Epping, New Hampshire, but offers free performances throughout New England.

Founder, Laura J. Bilodeau, explained the new company lets her combine her love of history with her love for the stage.

"I want to focus solely on historical pieces, things that have significance either in our time or in the past," Bilodeau said.

"My Dearest Friend" is the company's first production. It is part civics lesson, part love story. The play uses letters between John and Abigail Adams to tell the story of the birth of the United States.

Actor Katie Broach, who plays Abigail, said, "I think a lot of people tend to see these historical figures, especially from before their time, as very flat figures that didn't have feelings, didn't have emotions. And it's really wonderful to show that John and Abigail were real people who had real struggles like people do today."

Co-star James Hunt, who portrays the nation's second president, added, "It's actually a wonderful treat for an actor to portray someone who's a living being, especially when you have all this existing content that you can look at and get into the mind of the character that you're portraying in a historical play."

Bilodeau said that the audience is invested.

"They have been effervescent in what they've had to say about the shows, how it made them feel, how it reminded them of history lessons that they had learned and maybe forgot a little bit," Bilodeau said.

"You have the history buff who is coming in, seeing how much they already know about that character and seeing if you can reveal something new to them," said Broach, "And there's also the folks who come in there who know nothing about that character. And so you are really kind of awakening that story for them."

The company makes it a point to put historical locations on the tour schedule.

They've already had stops in Manchester, New Hampshire, Chelmsford, Acton, and at the John Adams House in Quincy. And in the days ahead, the play will be staged in Reading and in Concord, something Hunt is looking forward to.

He said, "It's going to be right there in the center of Concord where a lot of the action from the Lexington and Concord happened… It's just a wonderful experience altogether as an actor in the town where it all occurred."

You can catch "My Dearest Friend" in Reading, July 10 through the 12th, and in Concord, from July 14th through the 15th.