Event
As it is in Heaven
As It Is in Heaven by Arlene Hutton premiered to excellent reviews (and very bad timing) at the 78th Street Theatre Lab in New York City on September 13, 2001, just two days after the events of 9/11. The play re-opened early the next year, and went on to a successful four month run in Los Angeles, CA.
The play is set in one of many Shaker villages, such as Sabbathday Lake, ME, in 1838. This was a time, known as the Era of Manifestations, when a resurgence of spirituality in the Shaker villages was marked by young people receiving gifts of songs, drawings and visions. Shaker elders were generally not receiving these gifts. The drama of the play centers around a group of women of all ages who face the conflicts created in this community, both inner and outer, when some young women experience these gifts while their elders struggle to maintain order. Were the visions really sent from heaven? Who was going to get the daily work done when the young ones were off receiving visions? How could the community last when the outside world became aware, truthfully or not, of what was going on inside the community?
An ensemble of nine professional actors will perform a cappella songs and Shaker dances as integral parts of the Opera House Arts production. Mary Ann Haagen, a scholar-in-residence at Dartmouth College, has been studying Shaker song since 1980, and will direct the cast in her own original reconstructions of seldom-heard and seen Shaker music and dance. Ms. Haagen also directs the Enfield (NH) Shaker Singers.
The acting ensemble includes Actors Equity members Carla Cantrelle, one of the members of the original cast, nominated for Best Ensemble at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; and Paula Wilson, formerly with the Alvin Ailey School Professional Division and originally from Augusta, ME. The ensemble additionally features Cherie Mason, a Deer Isle resident, decades-long radio performer, journalist, wildlife advocate, and author of the classic childrens book, Wild Fox.
Playwright Arlene Hutton is a member of New Dramatists and the Dramatists Guild. She has held residencies at Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the New Harmony Project and the Australian National Playwrights Conference and has taught playwriting and improvisation workshops at colleges around the country. Her other full-length works include Last Train to Nibroc (NYC Drama League Best Play nomination, 2000), which, like As it is in Heaven, was also acclaimed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She is a three-time winner of the Samuel French Short Play Festival. Her plays have been produced Off- and Off-Off-Broadway, extensively around the U.S., and in London, Barcelona, Beijing, Taipei and Amsterdam.
Director Carol Estey is the Co-Artistic of Opera House Arts and was recently appointed chair of the Dance Department at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. Carol was the Artistic Director for Quarryography, the Opera Houses 2007 smash success at the Settlement Granite Quarry. She also directed Dracula: The Covenant in 2003; and starred in A Phoenix Too Frequent in 2002. Carol appeared in ten Broadway shows, as well as in countless off-Broadway and regional productions, Radio City Music Hall, and in television, film and recordings. As a performer Carol worked for and with many theatrical greats including Gower Champion, Bob Fosse, Martin Scorcese, Gene Saks, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Liza Minelli, Sandy Duncan and Bea Arthur. She has directed or choreographed such shows as Carousel, Bye, Bye Birdie, Nine, Into the Woods, Sweet Charity and others in regional theaters and universities around the country. She has an MA in Performance Studies from NYU.
Additional Shaker historical assistance has been provided for this production by Sharon Koomler, the author of The Gift Drawing Collection of Hancock Shaker Village and Shaker Style. Ms. Koomler is a staff member at the Shaker Museum and Library in Old Chatham, NY. Assistance and partial funding for this production have been generously provided by Judy and Ray McCaskey.
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LocationStonington Opera House
1 Opera House Ln
Stonington, ME 04681
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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