Animal Therapy Pre-Show Seminar

Peninsula Players Theatre, in conjunction with its production of Christian O’Reilly’s late-in-life romance, “Chapatti,” will host Debbie Barnes, Door County Humane Society Assistant Animal Care Coordinator, and her dog Timber on Tuesday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to the performance are available and admission to the pre-show seminar is free, no tickets are required.

Barnes will discuss the importance of service animals and their roles in people’s lives. Barnes has always worked in a care-giving field as a veterinary technician, a pharmacy tech and unit dose coordinator as well as a certified nursing assistant.

Barnes is the Humane Society’s parade guru and all-around cheerleader for colleagues. Her passion is working with animals and that starts with her beautiful German Shepherd, Timber. Timber recently became a certified therapy dog through the Door County Humane Society’s Therapy Dog Training Program. Timber and Deb participate in many shelter events, including business promotions, school and library visits and parades.

Pets such as dogs and cats provide companionship to lonely, secluded caregivers, but there is no real substitute for actual human connections. “Chapatti” touches such themes when Dan and his dog Chapatti meet Betty, a caregiver to 19 cats, in a Dublin vet office. Both have been wounded in life and have pets as companions.

Peninsula Players Theatre is committed to providing educational programming for the community. The Players has a long history of educational initiatives including an intern program that dates back to the founding days of the Players in the 1930s. The theater continues to offer theater tours and post-show discussions as listed in the program and website. Contact the Players Box Office at 920-868-3287 for more information on free seminars, tours or to purchase tickets.

Peninsula Players is America’s oldest professional resident summer theater and is unique in the country for its diverse productions, continuing loyalty to a resident company, and its beautiful setting of 16 wooded acres along the cedar-lined shores of Green Bay. In the past 81 years, the theater has become a Door County landmark and its cornerstone arts institution, attracting audience members from throughout Wisconsin and across the country.