Penobscot Theatre gets $100,000 grant

BANGOR – Penobscot Theatre Company-Maine Shakespeare Festival has received a $100,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation as part of a campaign to renovate and refurbish the theater at 183 Main St.

“The Kings’ generosity allows us to move another step closer to renovating one of Bangor’s Victorian architectural jewels,” said Alicia Nicols, Penobscot’s director of development.

Annually, about 30 performances are staged in the 132-seat theater. The building also houses administrative and educational outreach offices and rehearsal space. This past summer, 100 7- to 18-year-olds participated in the Creative Arts Program based at the Main Street facility.

“As a 27-year-old professional theater company dedicated to the highest standards of artistic achievement, we sometimes find reaching that standard to be quite challenging in a 115-year-old building,” observed Mark Torres, the theater’s producing artistic director. “For the benefit of our patrons, artists, and the entire community, however, we are eager to undertake the major improvements that this wonderful structure requires and deserves.” Fund raising for the project is under way.

In addition to renovating the Victorian-style building, the $400,000 project will improve access for patrons needing to reach the theater’s lobby, box office, and restrooms. According to Torres, “Theater patrons using wheelchairs, walkers, or canes now can enter the auditorium through a side entrance, but access to the rest of the theater requires navigating a set of stairs to the lobby, an impossible path for some patrons.”

The auditorium also will be redesigned to provide an enhanced theatrical experience for both audience and actors. The performance space now features a proscenium arch with the audience seated in front of an enclosed, raised stage. The performance and audience spaces will be reconfigured to allow for more flexible creative use.

“The renovations will enable us to construct a thrust stage with audience seating on three sides of the stage area or perhaps theater-in-the-round, bringing the audience closer to the theatrical experience,” Torres explained.

The project also addresses audience comfort. Existing theater seats, which were acquired from a now-defunct Bangor movie theater, will be replaced; and the heating and air-conditioning systems will be upgraded.

For more information about the renovation project call 947-6618 or e-mail ptcmsf@mint.net. Information about PTC-MSF productions and educational programs is available at www.PenobscotTheatre.com or by contacting the box office at 942-3333 or ptcbo@mint.net.