irreverent ‘Underbelly Tour’ coming to a theater near you

If you live in the Seacoast and have an interest in the arts, then you’re familiar with Seacoast legend George Hosker Jr. The actor and performer has done everything from singing and dancing to running Prescott Park Arts Festival to writing a yearly show at the Players’ Ring for many years in a row. Most recently, Hosker has been applying the full force of his energy to the real stories of the Seacoast—the history that lies beneath the cobblestones, in the centuries-old houses and along the docks.

The Underbelly Tour of Portsmouth, written by collaborator and well-known local journalist Laura Pope, is a combination of Pope’s research and Hosker’s molding and shaping of local characters’ stories into pieces that could be directed and performed in a bit of roving street theater.

“It’s where history meets theater for a belly laugh,” as Hosker describes it.

The tour and its enactors have been featured on WMUR’s “Chronicle” and on N.H. Public Radio, and more than 200 tour groups have caught an earful while winding their way through Portsmouth’s historic waterfront over the past two years. Stepping off from the Rusty Hammer restaurant Thursday through Monday at 6 p.m., the tours travel roughly one hour through the “underbelly” of Portsmouth, retelling the parts of history that are spoken of in hushed whispers, as they were lived by characters you might not find in the history books.

Now the tour is also coming to local stages as a theatrical production. Launching the 2007 season, “The Underbelly Play” will be presented by Vatican Productions, May 25 through June 3 at The Mill Pond Center for the Arts in Durham and June 15 through 17 at the West End Studio Theatre in Portsmouth. All shows are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m., and tickets are $15-$12, available at 603-380-6142.

Hosker plays Silas Deane, an accused spy during the Revolutionary War. Other characters include Gov. John Langdon and Minerva, a tavern wench. All actors wear period costumes, no matter how hot the weather is, and they play real people—or, in a few cases, composite character based on a number of people.

“We wanted to tell the stories of Portsmouth that you never hear,” Hosker explains. “Everyone knows that Portsmouth has a seedier side, but no one was telling the stories.

All of the history is accurate, all the stories are compelling, and all the laughter is infectious, Pope and Hosker promise.
“We improve on everything while putting forth the history,” Hosker says when asked about how they managed to turn seedy history into a theatrical event. “I personally think of it as one hour of historically accurate stand-up. What other walking tour features ‘Baby Got Back’ by Sir Mix-a-lot and ‘Mrs. Brown You Have a lovely Daughter’ by Herman’s Hermits?”

Some of the history featured in this retelling is the well-known story of the hanging of Ruth Blay, whose execution was moved up so it wouldn’t conflict with the presiding sheriff’s dinnertime. After she was hung earlier than scheduled, news of her pardon arrived in Portsouth. 

“We also explain how slavery existed in Portsmouth, and how a man named John Stavers sent his slave to his death by ordering him to break up a fight,” Hosker says.

Then there was the Red Light District, featuring the famous madames—especially Mary Baker, who was so successful that she had two diamonds implanted in her front teeth. The tour also includes the stories of the three great fires of Portsmouth and their devastating effect on the city.

“People keep coming back time and again because the tour is different every night with all the improv done by the actors. The history continues to grow as does the way we present it,” Hosker explains.

Hosker, who studied at Emerson College and in New York has been writing with Laura Pope for three years, although they’ve known each other for 15 years.

“We started collaborating when we were talking about failed relationships one night at dinner. We went on to write ‘The Ones That Got Away’, then ‘M. is for Marian,’” Hosker says. The pair are working on a new production called ‘Trace,’ a sentimental thriller they hope to produce in the fall.