Peter Richards, who will direct a command performance of Opera House Arts' community playreading of "Men's Lives" August 19.
COMMUNITY PLAYREADING OF “MEN’S LIVES”
RETURNS TO OPERA HOUSE, WITH FISHERIES DISCUSSION
STONINGTON – Opera House Arts (OHA), in collaboration with Penobscot East Resource Center, will bring back, by popular demand, a community playreading, including a post-show Talk Back, of “Men’s Lives” on Tuesday, August 19 at 7 p.m. “Men’s Lives” is Joe Pintauro’s stage adaptation of the acclaimed book by Peter Matthiessen, which focuses on the lives and struggles of Long Island fishermen. The staged reading, first presented in May 2008 as part of OHA’s “Our Own” Community Playreading Series, is directed by Peter Richards, a long-time summer resident of Stonington who is currently working as an actor and director in New York City. The reading features community members Jake Adams, Garrett Aldrich, Bob Burke, Bob Harris, Doug Johnson, Joel Walther, and Veronica Young. Robin Alden, Executive Director of Penobscot East, will lead the Talk Back.
Peter Richards, who will direct a command performance of Opera House Arts' community playreading of "Men's Lives" August 19.
“I’ve been wanting to direct ‘Men’s Lives’ in Stonington for some time,” said Richards in May. “The struggles of the baymen to preserve their more than 300-year-old way of life has a lot of resonance with what’s happening with the in-shore fisheries in Maine right now.”
Matthiessen wrote and published Men’s Lives: The Surfmen and Baymen of the South Fork in 1986, and actively engaged in the struggles of the fishermen and families of these Long Island communities against the corporate pollution and federal regulations that eventually caused the demise of their way of life. Award-winning playwright Joe Pintauro adapted the book for stage in 1992, and it premiered at a theater in one of the affected communities on Long Island. Library Journal has called “Men’s Lives” “a finely written . . . observation of a passing culture . . . a somewhat melancholy portrait of frontier characters bowing to modernism, but it is also a masterful celebration of craft, of pride in one's work, of community, of endurance.”
The August 19 performance will be followed by a Talk Back, facilitated by Robin Alden of Penobscot East Resource Center, with the reading participants, the director, and other community members engaged in local fisheries. “Fishermen here are currently facing challenges that also threaten their traditional way of life,” said Alden. “Long Island fishermen faced a similar situation almost 30 years ago, and this drama gives us a powerful opportunity to reflect on how to change the outcome here, now.”
The “Our Own” Community Playreading Series is in its eighth year, and continues on October 1 with a selection of new One Act Plays by Maine Writers. Everyone, regardless of experience, is encouraged to participate in the “Our Own” playreadings, which require only 15 hours of rehearsal time and no memorization. The series presents an excellent opportunity to read new and classic plays; and to explore drama, direction, and performance through scripts while working with guest directors. To participate, please call 207-367-2788.
Penobscot East Resource Center works to secure a future for fishing communities from the Penobscot Bay Islands east to Jonesport by fostering community leadership and making community science projects possible. Penobscot East’s mission is to energize and facilitate responsible community-based fisheries management, collaborative marine science, and sustainable economic development to benefit the fishermen and communities of Penobscot Bay and the Eastern Gulf of Maine. For more information, please go to www.penobscoteast.org.
The 1912 Stonington Opera House, on the National Register of Historic Places, is open year round. Opera House Arts (OHA), a 501 C 3 community nonprofit organization, produces original, live performance events and films that celebrate and extend Maine’s cultural legacy; and that integrate professional performers with community members. OHA also screens first run and independent movies; hosts special community events and dances; and runs performance and community leadership-building programs for teens and adults. For a full schedule of events and more information, please go to www.operahousearts.org.