“The Ahab Inside Me”—A High-Seas Blues Opera Sails into Augusta September 2, 3, and 4

From acclaimed Maine playwright Michael Gorman of the famed La MaMa Theatre in N.Y.C., comes a NEW ground-breaking Blues Opera and epic tale of addiction, obsession, and recovery.

AUGUSTA, Maine--()--In a tale that stretches across generations and ancients—lost mariners, lost souls, lost lives—“The Ahab Inside Me” is a provocative new musical theater production that explores the traumatic impact of a fatal overdose on a fishing family and the inspiring efforts of the community to address the destructive roots of addiction. It is presented by The Forty Hour Club Productions.

Venue:
Colonial Theater, 139 Water Street, Augusta, Maine (https://colonialtheater.org)

Dates:

Friday, September 2nd at 7 p.m. (with community talkback featuring Addiction and Recovery community leaders, as well as the playwright and performers in the show)

Saturday, September 3rd at 7 p.m.

Sunday, September 4th at 3 p.m. (with community talkback featuring Arts community leaders, as well as the playwright and performers in the show)

More info and tickets:
www.fortyhourclub.com ($25 suggested donation, per person)

Directed by Joe John Battista, this thrilling production incorporates original live music and song (with full blues/rock band), spoken word, dramatic performance, commentary choruses, community participation, and more—to restore connections lost or frayed by the compound crises of the opiate epidemic and COVID. The work draws inspiration from Ahab’s obsessive pursuit of the White Whale depicted in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

Performers will include community members of all ages from the theater and recovery communities, as well as professional actors, singers and musicians from Maine, New York City, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

The production is supported by a Project Grant from The Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by The National Endowment for the Arts, and is

part of the on-going project Chasing The New White Whale—Harpooning Addiction—a performance-based Art & Advocacy model created by the playwright and his production company, The Forty Hour Club—a collective in independent artists dedicated to bringing awareness to the issue of opiate addiction in the commercial fishing community of New England and beyond.

The production is being staged in recognition and celebration of National Recovery Month, an annual observance to draw attention to substance use disorder and treatment.

Contacts

Donna Daly
The Forty Hour Club
(207) 542-5114 or donna@fortyhourclub.com

Release Summary

A High-Seas Blues Opera Sails into Augusta, Maine, Sept. 2 - 4, 2022, featuring blues/rock band, dramatic performance, and community participation.

Contacts

Donna Daly
The Forty Hour Club
(207) 542-5114 or donna@fortyhourclub.com