Dashing into the EAC to hear Mark Macey’s talk on January 23, attendee Jeanne Peacock enthused to series co-organizer Marged Higginson, “This Sunday Afternoon series of lifelong learning gets me through the winter!”
Macey’s congenial audience seemed to agree. The talk focused on theatre appreciation, including a brief survey of theatre history (from classical Greek theatre to 20th century Theatre of the Absurd) and provided tips and tricks to better enjoy reading scripts and viewing plays. After the event, another Sunday series frequenter, Joan Lowden, commented: “I am so happy that the Sunday series is back at the EAC this year as each week we get the opportunity to be both informed and entertained. Mark’s presentation did just that. As a musician, I’ve had the opportunity to get a glimpse of the inner workings of some recent Stage East productions but Mark provided further insight and helped me to draw parallels between the theater and music. ‘A script isn’t a play,’ just as a score isn’t music. You need actors and musicians to make both come alive. I also loved his tip to ‘suspend judgement, observe first.’ How often in art (and in life) do we judge first? Sage advice. I look forward to attending more programs in this series!”
Check out Mark’s talk, in photos and video, below, and stay tuned for many more from the Sunday series, which runs through April.
The work of Eastport Arts Center is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.