Penobscot Theatre dynamic resource

The Penobscot Theatre is not just a cultural anchor for downtown Bangor; it is also a valuable resource for education throughout the state. I have been actively involved in the theater for the 10 years that I have lived in Bangor – first as a local actor and then as the director of education. I have witnessed the growth from the lone, intimate stage at 183 Main St. to three performing spaces and an education program that developed from summer musical theater camp to the Shakespeare Workshops in the Schools Outreach Program, which became the largest of its kind of any cultural arts organization in Maine. Just this year hundreds of students in 30 elementary, middle and high schools participated in workshops from Madawaska to Cumberland. Gutsy vision, passionate people and tireless volunteers made it happen.

The education program has created a dynamic relationship with schools. Actors in the classroom guide students through drama strategies to create meaning and make Shakespeare’s plays accessible. Teachers have shown their gratitude from watching actors at work as they also learn new techniques, which they can adapt to other texts. The reading teachers at Greely Junior High School in Cumberland wrote, “Not only did our students learn a great deal about Shakespeare’s plays, but they also became actors and directors and learned much more about performance, helping us to meet some of the Maine Learning Results that we had not had an opportunity to address in past years.”

Many educators recognize the value of drama in the process of reading and writing, but few have the specific training that provides the confidence to use it actively in the classroom. Jeffrey Wilhelm, an assistant professor at the University of Maine, has been a force for moving drama into the mainstream of the reading and writing curriculum from elementary through to the high school grades. In his book, “Imagining To Learn” (1998), co-authored with Brian Edmiston, Jeff demonstrates from his practice in schools how drama engages students in a community of learning, helps them in making personal connections to the text, promotes inquiry, collaboration and the understanding of multiple perspectives. “Students must learn that to translate print into meaning, they must first crack the code of print and must then apply their own experiences to that broken code to flesh it out into a virtual reality. Drama work makes this process visible.”

PTC’s first-ever NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) grant was for $10,000 in 2001 to fund the touring performance of “Macbeth.” Many children in rural Maine do not have the opportunity to go to a theater. PTC took the theater to the students. Local students with an interest in theater can partake in the high school intern program, gaining experience in all aspects of theater from building a set to running the lighting board. Many schools take advantage of the matinee programs. As parents and educators, as business owners interested in the prosperity and quality of this region, we cannot afford to lose this valuable resource. We must support that which makes our community vibrant and offers our children options in the arts. The stakes are high.

These are tough economic times, and unfortunately the arts tend to be the first to feel the pinch not just in Maine but nationally, even internationally. A friend recently wrote of the efforts of the Chichester theater in England to restructure itself to cope with the economic downturn. In the 10 years I worked at PTC it lived close to the financial edge. It is not hard to imagine that when a drop in contributions reflects a worsening economic climate, the theater can be pushed over that edge. As we know too well, ticket sales do not cover the running costs. Patrons are the lifeblood.

In her June 19 op-ed, Kathryn Hunt described the theater as one of the cultural anchors of downtown Bangor. Her commentary on the “creative economy” argued that a town’s cultural center is not just beneficial for the quality of life, but also for the economy. The Bangor City Council is currently offering to match all donations to the theater before the end of August to the sum of $30,000. I urge you to support our theater now and take a stand for the future of the arts in Bangor. We have enjoyed an expansion of culture locally through the development of our beautiful library, the new museums and the promise of the continuation of the National Folk Festival. Culture represents the heart and soul and history of a people and a place. Let us choose to sustain Penobscot Theatre for live theater and dynamic outreach education.

Sharon Zolper, of Bangor, is a graduate student at the University of Maine and a 2003 fellow of the Maine Writing Project.