EAC’s Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center series will continue February 5 at 3 pm, with a Stage East staged reading of Afternoon Tea by Alaric Greene, directed by Carolee Bier and featuring a cast of four. 

“Choosing a play for a staged reading is always a challenge for me because I want to pick the perfect one,” said Bier.  “I like to do comedies because it’s winter, and I think we need laughter. Unfortunately, after choosing a comedy I really liked, it turned out I had no males auditioning. The comedy required four. Time was short so we ended up (with help from Manuela, who was able to get two more females) doing a different script: a sweet story, but not a comedy.” Bier has been active with Stage East since 2007, performing many of the behind the curtain jobs.

Cast members include: Alison Brynn Ross, an artist, designer, and muralist who notes that she loves to read things and is loud, so that acting seems a natural fit; Vivian Blatt, who has performed in several Stage East productions and who is thrilled that in Afternoon Tea her ghostly complexion is a good thing; Manuela Brice, AKA Lunamuse, a multifaceted artist who combines the left and right hemispheres of her brain in equal measures of logic and creativity as a self-employed IT consultant, fiber and visual artist, singer, painter and writer; and Jude Kempe, artist, photographer, independent video maker, carpenter and come-late-to-the-party music maker and play readings actor. 

Bernie Cecire will do lighting and sound for the staged reading. A veteran of Stage East tech, Cecire particularly enjoys creating sound cues.  His latest efforts were for the company’s The Glass Menagerie.

Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center programs are held in Eastport Arts Center’s cozy downstairs Washington Street Gallery, amidst rotating exhibitions. Admission is by voluntary donation; proceeds are shared equally between the presenters and EAC constituent group The Concert Series, which offers year-round programming run by volunteers. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. 

Eastport Arts Center is at 36 Washington Street, Eastport. EAC abides by the State of Maine CDC COVID guidelines, revisiting our policy monthly. Additionally, at this time, the EAC encourages people to wear masks when in our building.