Pontine performs ‘The Story of a Bad Boy’

In its day, “The Story of a Bad Boy” sparked a great deal of controversy, yet it has also been hailed as the work of a pioneering genius. Portsmouth’s Thomas Bailey Aldrich deviated from tradition when he published a semi-fictional account of his childhood in 1870. The content was unusual and risky, perking the curiosity of thousands of shocked readers.

Beginning on Friday, April 25, Pontine Theatre in Portsmouth will host an original adaptation of the revolutionary story. The events narrated in the book will be recreated by Greg Gathers and Margeurite Mathews, who have revised the content to fit the confines of a stage.

Gathers said adapting Aldrich’s book to the stage was easier than you might expect. The book is divided into stories about Aldrich’s childhood, narrated by the author as an adult. In the two-person performance, Gathers tackles the role of Aldrich, while Mathews portrays several other characters. At various points in the play, the pair uses 30-inch puppets, cutout illustrations, shadow puppets and projector video to recreate other characters and settings.

“Everyone who has seen rehearsal so far has said it’s a visual feast for the eyes,” Gathers said.

As a mischievous adolescent, Aldrich bullied newcomers to his school, set fire to a local man’s stagecoach, lit off the town’s cannons and riddled the neighborhood with snowballs. It is possible that some of the stories in the book were slightly embellished, but most of the content is true to Aldrich’s experiences in 19th century Portsmouth.

For an audience accustomed to reading about the sophisticated and polished lives of the upper class, Aldrich’s book contained some unsettling material. “He is being very up front that he got into a lot of trouble,” said J. Dennis Robinson, noted Portsmouth historian and author. “In those days, you wouldn’t tell of those things.”
Aldrich, however, did not shy away from the controversial bad boy image.

“I call my story the story of a bad boy, partly to distinguish myself from those faultless young gentlemen who generally figure in narratives of this kind, and partly because I really was not a cherub,” Aldrich wrote in the book’s introduction.

One hundred years ago, in 1908, the Thomas Bailey Aldrich Memorial was dedicated in Portsmouth. The memorial is still preserved at Strawbery Banke, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Many other burgeoning authors of the time, including Mark Twain, tried to learn from Aldrich’s new approach toward writing. While controversial, the book was a huge success, laying the groundwork for other popular novels, such as Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn.”

According to Gathers, many of the locations referenced in “The Story of a Bad Boy” are easy to pinpoint today. Although Aldrich used fictional names for places in Portsmouth, there are obvious references to Market Square, Prescott Park and other local landmarks.

“I definitely think people will relate to the places,” Gathers said. “The thing that will really surprise people is how much freedom and latitude these kids had to misbehave.” The trouble makers in the book lit bonfires, played with fireworks and even toyed with guns, he noted.

Robinson will put “The Story of a Bad Boy” into context with a set of pre-performance discussions. The talks, he said, will mostly revolve around opposing theories about raising children. Robinson poses the question, “Are children really better off today than they were back then?”

Robinson’s discussions are free and open to the public and will be held at West End Studio Theatre on Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26 at 5:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 27 at 11:30 a.m. “The Story of a Bad Boy” will run from Friday, April 25 to Sunday, May 11, with performances held on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. A Saturday matinee will take place on April 26 at 4 p.m., with tickets available for $20. Tickets for every other show are $25 and can be purchased online at www.pontine.org. The theater is located at 959 Islington St. in Portsmouth, 603-436-6660.