I'm writing this while we are performing two company shows in repertory at The Theater Project: WONDER OF THE WORLD, by David Lindsay-Abair, and LA FILLE AT TESS' MARKET, which I wrote. Jim Hall composed the original music for LA FILLE. These two productions reflect the wonder of The Theater Project.

I, of course, am prejudiced. I am proud of what The Theater Project does, of how far it has come, of how well Wendy Poole directs the whole operation, ably assisted by Theater Manager Joanna Patterson. However, even if I weren't so wedded to The Theater Project, I would be impressed by these two productions. Why?

Start with WONDER OF THE WORLD, directed with aplomb by Christopher Price. This is a complex and delightful comedy, a bizarre take on real life, with Niagara Falls, a hotel room, a bus, a restaurant and a wacky cast of characters. All this takes place in our 80 seat black box theater.  Chris Price has designed and built a set that reflects all these settings in our intimate space.  Imagine: Niagara Falls in an intimate space! JP Gagnon, our oh-so-clever lighting designer, has melded his lights with Chris' set to enable the audience to see and feel the different settings of the play, and Jen Roe has applied her creative eye to the costumes.

   

The acting is a treat. Theater Project veterans Wendy Poole, Reba Short, Heather Weafer, Craig Ela, Michele Wigton, and guest artists Brent Askari and Burke Brimmer take us on a roller coaster of laughs that link an odd collection of events and characters. How did all these things happen?  How did these people come together? This is life "stuff," and David Lindsay-Abair and this cast bring it all to our stage.

   

In repertory with WONDER OF THE WORLD is an original play set in our own Brunswick, Maine: LA FILLE AT TESS' MARKET. La Fille, whose real name is Theodora, is a real character who grew up in Brunswick and for years - no, decades - collected bottles and cans downtown. Many years ago, I got to know her a little and the more I saw her, the more interested I became. What if La Fille had a private life, a "secret life" that no one knew about, at least no Yankee who only knew her as the little woman with the page boy haircut and the startling blue eyes who collected bottles and cans? I decided to write that fantasy, and I needed a collaborator to compose the music for it.

  

That collaborator is Jim Hall, my piano teacher. As I have gotten to know Jim and have collaborated with him on other projects at The Theater Project, I have realized he is a remarkably talented musician who quietly goes about the work he delights in and comes up with outstanding and sometimes startling results. So Jim composed the music and was willing to play it live in the production. What about playing a role or two in the play, I asked. Okay, says he, and so there he is, on stage, not only playing the music but also playing several roles.

   

The other collaborators in this venture, in addition to designers Gagnon, Price and Roe, are company actors Lee K. Paige, Craig Ela, Jean S. Shaw, Reba Short and Don Weatherbee and Young Company actors Anna Palopoli, Cameron Toy, Natane Bann and Ben Nadell. Young Company actor and stage manager Rose Lortie is the stage manager for both shows.

All this at The Theater Project, our black box 80 seat theater on School Street, just off Maine Street. An ensemble of very talented and energetic actors, designers, musicians and directors create some magic that makes the audience laugh, tap their feet, think and sometimes cry. A small theater that takes you to Niagara Falls in a barrel and the next night transports you back to Merrymeeting Park in Brunswick  late in the 19th century. In these two plays the audience can travel through time and space without leaving their seats. All they need is a ticket and an imagination.

Remarkable, isn't it!

Al