“Down Along the Cove” cast members.
Heartwood Regional Theater Company enthusiastically presents an original new work, written and directed by Griff Braley, on stage June 29 through July 7. “Down Along the Cove” has been in development for several years, with three separate actor workshops, subsequent rewrites, a preview audience in May, and final rewrites. Rehearsals begin this week, in the final stage of creation.
Set in Midcoast Maine from the late 1980s to early 2000s, “Down Along the Cove” explores the challenges and joys of a small community facing hard memories, change, love, loss and redemption. Braley describes this work as “an ode to our small towns, a look at grace in small moments, a call to recollect and cherish.”
Based on a collection of 15 short stories, the vignette-driven piece winds its way through the relationships of family, friends, and neighbors navigating daily events, old wounds, and changing times. One preview audience member described it this way: “How refreshing it is to be reminded that in a small town, our lives are interwoven with our neighbors’; through pain and joy, and we are all the richer for it.”
Seven actors create more than 20 characters whose interconnected stories unfold within the Midcoast landscape. Five professional actors from Southern Maine, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania will join two local talents from Damariscotta and Tenants Harbor (that’s “Hah-buh”) to bring plenty of Maine humor, Maine determination, and easily recognizable Maine characters to life in this poignant, universal examination of small-town relationships.
Five performances are scheduled in the Parker B. Poe Theater at Lincoln Academy, with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, July 1, and four 7:30 p.m. performances on June 29 and 30, and July 6 and 7. Reservations are strongly suggested, by emailing info@heartwoodtheater.org or phoning 563-1373. Student tickets are $5, subsidized by donations from First Advisors and Colby & Gale; adult tickets are $20.
“Down Along the Cove” received special support from the Maine Community Foundation. Heartwood’s annual programming would not be possible without the support of Season Sponsor Bath Savings Institution and Mainstage Sponsor Granite Hill Estates.
