Firehouse FundraiserFri-Sat, September 17-18, 8pm
Mark Twain gets nosy and peeks inside the private writings of the First Family.
Family EntertainmentSat, October 2 at 11 am
"Will you marry me?" gets put on hold each time the cell phone rings! A comic opera in one act.
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENTThu-Sat, Oct 21-23
The delightful Roald Dahl classic brought to the Firehouse stage for one weekend only.
theaterThu-Sun, November 4-7 and 11-14
One man's struggle to edit the image of who he really is and determine what is to be left behind.
Mark Twain's
The Diaries of Adam & Eve
adapted & edited by David Birney
Fri-Sat, September 17-18, 8pm
Reception to follow the Sat performance.
Join us for a very special Firehouse Fundraiser featuring Newburyport's own Fontaine Dubus and Charlie Van Eman as they do a scripted reading of The Diaries of Adam and Eve. Also, making a special guest appearance will be Andre Dubus III (House of Sand and Fog).Come into the Garden of Eden during the first days of Creation and steal a glimpse into the secret writings of Earth's First Family. Mark Twain's inimitable humor is infused into every innermost thought that Adam and Eve could have had during their first days. The idyllic Garden makes the perfect setting in which to wrestle with the exacting demands of Creation but don't expect traditional Bible study teachings here though!
Originally written as two pieces which Twain later expanded, revised and merged together, The Diaries of Adam and Eve provide a good sample of the Twain wry wit and his humorously accurate observations on the human condition.
The stereotypes abound but thankfully Mr. Twain has waved a rather judicial hand when assigning them to his two star characters and they are, for the most part, equally distributed, thereby making it easy to laugh at our humanity.
Adam observes: "She has taken up with a snake now. The other animals are glad, for she was always experimenting with them and bothering them; and I'm glad because the snake talks, and this enables me to get a rest." Oh Adam, be careful what you wish for...
About Fontaine Dubus: Fontaine majored in the Arts at Bradford College and studied illustration at The Art Institute of Boston. She is the owner of the Dance Place at the Tannery. In 1987 she co-founded Exit Dance Theatre, a modern dance company based in Newburyport. Exit performs locally, in Boston and the north shore. In addition to dance Dubus has a passion for theater. She has appeared in dozens of plays, including equity productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and Hello Dolly! She co-founded DarkHorse Productions which for several years produced and directed many plays at the Firehouse Center including Blue Window, Saint Joan and The Illusion. She is a long- time volunteer for the Firehouse and currently sits on the Programming Committee.
About Charlie Van Eman: For 30 years Van Eman has worked as an actor in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta. His television and film credits include Drop Dead Diva, 96 Minutes, Unstoppable, Vampire Diaries, One Tree Hill, Prison Break, Ghost Whisperer, CSI Miami, All My Children, and The Colbys. He spent several years working for the estate of legendary writer Louis L’Amour, researching Mr. L’Amour’s biography and adapting L’Amour’s short stories into audio dramas for Random House Publishing. Recently he directed, produced, and co-wrote 20 episodes of the Atlanta-based television and web drama series, HIGH RISE. After attending many performances and events at the Firehouse over the 20 years he has been working and visiting in Newburyport, he is thrilled to finally be performing here.
About Andre Dubus III: best known as the author of the novel House of Sand and Fog, which was a National Book Award finalist in 1999 and was adapted for a 2003 film of the same title. House of Sand and Fog was nominated as the Common Novel at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2004; the nomination is shared by authors like Maya Angelou, William Joseph Kennedy, Anthony Swofford, and Colson Whitehead. His other books include the 1989 collection The Cage Keeper and Other Stories, the 1993 novel Bluesman, and the 2008 novel The Garden of Last Days. Dubus's work has been awarded a Pushcart Prize and the 1985 National Magazine Award for Fiction. It has also been included in "The One Hundred Most Distinguished Stories of 1993" and "The Best American Short Stories of 1994." He was one of three finalists for the 1994 Prix de Rome given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
This event is produced by the Firehouse by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
Be sure you don't miss "Of A Time When Everything Worked: Adam & Eve," works on panel in graphite and acrylic by artist George Wingate hanging in the upstairs gallery as a special companion piece to this reading.
All Tickets: $20
*Thanks to Titian for Adam and Eve c. 1550
