Kingfisher Theatre • ODYSSEUS
September 20 - 22
Kingfisher Theatre presents a fresh and intimate interpretation of the eternal Greek legend, The Odyssey: the timeless tale that follows the mythical ten-year journey of one man, Odysseus, struggling to make his way home after the Trojan War. In a stage performance that is at once epic and “breath taking”—with live musical soundscapes performed by percussionist Rob Aptaker—this new solo work from Bill George, with directorial assistance from Gerard Stropnicky (co-founder of Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble) is a sensory experience and a once-in-a-decade theatre event not to be missed. The script, written by George, is drawn primarily from Alexander Pope’s 18th-century adaptation but is also influenced by several other translations of Homer’s epic work. The story may be ancient, but the themes ring true today—revealing deep insights not just about the psychic relationship between us all and the Divine, but also about fathers and sons, husbands and wives, and the profoundly human braiding of life and suffering in our lives.
John Farrell • FOUR QUARTETS
October 25 - 27
With the permission of the T. S. Eliot Estate, John Farrell committed to memory the 886 lines of Four Quartets and now tours internationally with his recitation of Eliot’s epic poem. An unquestioned masterpiece of 20th-century literature, Four Quartets is a complex, deeply moving meditation on time, memory, and human striving toward the divine. Writing at the height of his artistic powers, Eliot packed into Four Quartets a summation of his views on poetry and art, on mystical experience, and on humankind's relationship to history and time.
Pontine Theatre
A NEW ENGLAND CHRISTMAS
November 29 - December 15
Featuring an original staging of William Dean Howell’s Christmas Everyday and Christmas in Our Town by Alice Van Leer Carrick, music by fiddler Ellen Carlson and a post-performance onstage party complete with homemade Christmas Cookies.
Author, editor, playwright, and poet, William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was a resident of Kittery, Maine. In his story Christmas Every Day, a little girl is granted a wish by the Christmas Fairy. Her wish is to have Christmas everyday for a whole year. The first day of Christmas is perfect. The following day it is Christmas again, and every subsequent day as well. It wreaks havoc with the economy. All the woods are cut down for Christmas trees. People get so poor, buying presents, that everybody had to go to the poorhouse. Finally, the little girl begs the Christmas Fairy to undo the spell; she doesn't want it to be Christmas ever again.
In her reminiscence, Christmas in Our Town, Alice Van Leer Carrick tells of her treasured memories of a New England holiday in Hanover, New Hampshire in the mid-20th century. Her whimsical turn of phrase and witty allusions coupled with sheer sentiment goes straight to the heart.
Pontine Theatre
A WHITE HERON & THE STAR SPLITTER
March 14 - 30
Pontine Theatre presents an original staging of Sarah Orne Jewett’t’s A White Heron, published in 1886. This is Pontine’s fifth staging of Sarah Orne Jewett’s stories. Born in 1849 in South Berwick Maine, Jewett was the daughter of the town doctor. As a child, she often accompanied him on his rounds to rural farms in the area. She would sit and listen to family members talking together while waiting for her father. She came to love the wit and wisdom of these country folks and they became the subject of her writings as an adult. She wrote of the rural folk of Maine and the beautiful landscape they inhabited.
Robert Frost’s The Star Splitter, published in 1923, explores the conflict between societal expectations and individual passions. A farmer’s reckless pursuit of a telescope, leads to the loss of his farm and home. This loss initially evokes ridicule from the townspeople. However, their subsequent contemplation reveals the importance of forgiveness and understanding. Frost uses the image of a telescope, "a star-splitter," as a symbol of the farmer’s unconventional path toward cosmic understanding.