Stage East, a program of the Eastport Arts Center (EAC), will be holding a community planning meeting on Saturday, September 27 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the EAC. All who are interested in live theater are invited to attend.
As Stage East prepares for its 2026 season, two productions are being considered, with a third yet to be selected. The organization is particularly eager to hear from local playwrights with original works to propose, as well as those who have a particular play they would like to be considered.
In addition, Stage East will talk about possible new classes and programs, including acting, stagecraft, directing, playwriting, and improv, as well as a new play reading group. These opportunities would be open to both seasoned theater participants and newcomers alike.
Volunteers are also essential to every production, and Stage East welcomes those interested in behind-the-scenes roles such as set design, lighting, costuming, stage management, directing, production and more.
For more information, please visit <eastportartscenter.org>.
Saturday, September 13: Crosswinds Quintet of the US Navy, Eastport Arts Center at 7 p.m.
Sunday, September 14: Captain Bob Peacock on the Downeast sardine industry, Eastport Arts Center at 3 p.m.
Wednesday, September 17: Quoddy Voices rehearsal, Eastport Arts Center at 6 p.m.
Saturday, September 20: Downeast Storyteller Hawk Henries, Eastport Arts Center at 7 p.m.
Saturday, September 27: Stage East community meeting, Eastport Arts Center at 2 p.m.
Saturday, September 27: Open mic, Eastport Arts Center at 6 p.m.
Sunday, September 28: Aftermath of the Colfax Massacre featuring Charles “Chick” Moore, Eastport Arts Center at 3 p.m.
Quoddy Voices holding fall rehearsal
New and returning singers are invited to join Quoddy Voices for a rehearsal session for the upcoming fall season on Wednesday, September 17, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Eastport Arts Center. Quoddy Voices is a community chorus led by Gene Nichols, professor of music at the University of Maine at Machias. The theme for the upcoming season has not yet been announced. Performances will be held on December 5 and 7.
No experience is necessary to participate, and no audition is required. Those who are interested in joining should contact Nichols prior to the first rehearsal at <gnichols@maine.edu> or 207-271-7169.
EAC to host storyteller, history talks
Several noteworthy events are on the docket at the Eastport Arts Center (EAC) during the month of September, including some first-time performances and a close look at the Downeast sardine industry with Captain Bob Peacock.
Navy band to play
The Crosswinds Woodwind Quintet, an offshoot of Navy Band Northeast, will be bringing a rousing program to the arts center beginning with a military march by Sousa, according to band leader Banri Hoshi. “In the middle of the concert we’ll be including some music by classical American composer Samuel Barber who got the inspiration for a woodwind quintet while visiting Blue Hill,” Hoshi says. “He wasn’t even thinking about writing a quintet until he got to Maine. But this is a very beautiful and a very approachable piece. It will stretch the listeners’ imaginations a bit.”
The band members, each of whom is stationed in Newport, Rhode Island, will be Musician 2nd Class Banri Hoshi on bassoon, Musician 1st Class Amber Hosmer on clarinet, Musician 2nd Class Maria Mandico on flute, Musician 2nd Class T’Anna Tercero on French horn and Musician 3rd Class Paul Converse on oboe. The performance will be held on Saturday, September 13 at 7 p.m.
Sardine industry in focus
On Sunday, September 14 at 3 p.m., Captain Bob Peacock will present on the history of the sardine industry. The sardine industry in Maine was born in Eastport with the Wabanaki people who harvested herring in the waters of Passamaquoddy Bay. Early colonists capitalized on the robust population of the first in the area surrounding Eastport and Julius Wolff built the first cannery in Eastport in 1876. Within a few decades Eastport became known as the Sardine Capital of the World.
Captain Peacock is the owner of the R.J. Peacock Canning Company in Lubec, founded in 1917. It ceased sardine canning Downeast in 1992 but continued processing salmon in Lubec until 2001, and after that ran salmon-processing businesses internationally for another 12 years.
Nipmuc Hawk Henries to speak
Nipmuc Hawk Henries, now a resident of Sullivan, Maine, is a master flute maker and flutist who also excels at nature photography. He will be speaking at the center as part of the Downeast Storytellers series on Saturday, September 20 at 7 p.m. Henries’ Nipmuc lineage helped give form and voice to his thoughts, feelings and relationship to the world around him. Ceremony and other social traditions influenced both his personal relationships as well as his life work.
The Downeast Storytellers series is made possible through a partnership between Eastport Arts Center, The Quoddy Tides and the Sipayik Museum with funding from the Maine Humanities Council.
Colfax massacre examined
The unsettling historical truths of the Colfax massacre, which occurred in Louisiana in 1873, and the ensuing miscarriage of justice in reclaiming the human remains and honoring those who were lost, will be the focus of a talk on Sunday, September 28 at 3 p.m. Presenter Charles “Chick” Moore, a retired attorney who practiced in Baton Rouge, will provide background on the massacre and how it and its accompanying mass grave have been poorly recognized by the State of Louisiana, a situation that he is currently endeavoring to remedy.
Learn more about EAC’s offerings and RSVP to individual events at <eastportartscenter.org>. All of the above presentations are free and open to the public.
