Historical interpretation is not where Pontine Theatre started almost three decades ago.

"We were more interested in form than message. (We were like) Audience? Who cares? It's art! Deal with it!" says Marguerite Mathews with a laugh. "At first (when you're young), you're very interested in the technology used to produce the material. After a while, that fascination is not enough. Then you become interested in the subject matter, gain this sense of responsibility." To our history, they have been responsible.

Pontine has graced us, in the last decade, with stories crafted from the works of Sarah Orne Jewett, Maxfield Parrish, E.E. Cummings and the Shakers. With a handful of historically relevant plays under their caps, artistic co-directors Mathews and Greg Gathers seemed a natural choice to help illustrate and illuminate a particularly historic event being celebrated in Portsmouth this year: the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty of 1905, which ended the Russo-Japanese War. Russia and Japan, after bitter fighting, came together in Portsmouth to resolve the interminable conflict.

Mathews and Gathers have said that their show's design creates "a sense of accumulation... a trail of bread crumbs to follow." On stage, an almost life-size, turn-of-the-century Portsmouth Herald newsboy present us with the Herald's daily take on the negotiations; Gathers acts as part barker, part interpreter. Mathews tells of f?¬tes and teas, and helps stage an elaborate miniature parade. There's much wryness and many an implicit wink as she translates "journalese" or comments upon the racism and "yellow" journalism of the time. The show's soundtrack is in part created from sheet music printed in the Portsmouth Herald at the time and an old wax cylinder recording recently remastered.

Gathers is in charge of the visual look of "The Peace of Portsmouth," and indeed the assemblage is wonderful: all manner of boats, mounted and foot soldiers, waggish children in conical hats, top-hatted foreigners, historic buildings and maps comprise the supporting images, a hodge-podge, toy-store cast of characters that Gathers and Mathews use to illuminate and illustrate our local history. The stage picture grows as the story and the props are unpacked, providing a rich collage, a visual representation of actual and emotional landscapes.

With the brokering of this deal by Teddy Roosevelt, Portsmouth and its citizens were thrust upon the world stage in an unparalleled way. The photograph, telegraph, telephone and automobile were revolutionary new technologies at the disposal of the world's journalists. Portsmouth became the setting of the first such peace accord covered by an international press. This might be considered obscure history, dry stuff, but considered from the point of view of the era's citizenry it comes to life quite nicely.

Gathers was pleased to find this gem among the news accounts of the day: "Surely, never in the history of this country has there been such a convention of the Lost Legion, the Wanderers of the World, as is now taking place at the Hotel Wentworth. There's hardly a region on the face of the earth, except interior Tibet, where someone now quartered at the Hotel Wentworth has not been. East and West meet there. Nearly every language on earth is spoken in the hotel's big dining room."

Pouring over voluminous materials and images at the Portsmouth Athenaeum and Old York Historical Society both overwhelmed and intrigued Gathers and Mathews.

"This event had a profound impact on Portsmouth citizens. It was in some ways the first celebrity media event. Imagine life at the Wentworth Hotel with journalists running about, telegraphs flying off at all hours to St. Petersburg and Tokyo," Mathews says, describing what they've uncovered in their research. There's a clash in the streets between soldiers and journalists. Between journalists themselves comes a tussle as they vie for views and angles, which leaves the street littered with broken cameras and the glass plates upon which photographic images were composed. It bespeaks the first paparazzi. For comic effect Gathers takes a turn as a satirical Russian ambassador, embattled by the press and officially overexposed.

The Peace Treaty's process was hard to encompass theatrically. After working in the past with the texts of poets, painters and novelists, the "gold nuggets in the (Peace Treaty) work were harder to come by and then to focus," said Mathews. What emerges is a "multifaceted view. It becomes a pointillist sketch of a very complex experience." There was much conjecture about the Japanese and their reserve. In the life of the community, she continues, "We as narrators tell the audience how the situation was viewed, and many of the viewpoints were wrong. A lot of incomplete information made it out into the public domain." Teddy Roosevelt called the Japanese ambassador to New York for complex behind-the-scenes machinations. There were late night calls (unsurprisingly, in Japanese) from Tokyo.

With so much inherent tension and hidden cause-and-effect, the treaty signing and resultant play, "The Peace of Portsmouth," build to an almost illogical conclusion with a flourish of pride and patriotic fervor; we're happy and victorious but not sure entirely why or how. This may or may not be an arch wink, one that shines an interesting light on today's global adventures in peacemaking. As an ending, I think it's clever and provocative. The sold-out crowd brought Gathers and Mathews out for three sets of bows, all well-earned. The entire first weekend was sold out, actually, so I suggest you call quickly for the remaining staged tours of our eclectic history. You can say you were in the right place at the right time. There's much to be said for that.

Pontine Theatre presents "The Peace of Portsmouth" at WEST (West End Studio Theatre), Islington St., Portsmouth, through May 8. Shows are Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $19. Call 603-436-6660 or write This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it for reservations.