ISLE Theater Company

05/10/2025

OH, WHAT A NIGHT! 🎉🎉

Hundreds of you braved the fog and the rain to be “astonished” by our five storytellers last night — and we’re still buzzing from it.

DOWN EAST SPEAKS remains a cornerstone of our mission to bridge communities through storytelling. And none of it’s possible without you.

Thank you for making this an “astonishing” start to our fifth-anniversary season. And here’s to many more nights of stories that connect us!

📸 River Delieto ()

05/09/2025

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT! 🎤✨

In just a few hours, the Reach Performing Arts Center will come alive for DOWN EAST SPEAKS 2025. The stage is set, the stories are written — all we’re missing is you! Experience an evening of storytelling that leaves you "astonished," featuring Bailey Bowden, Lisa DePasqual, Alison Eaton, Abby Hafey, and Robert Shetterly. One night only. Don’t miss it.

📷 Emily Marie Photography (.miller.me)

05/07/2025

JOIN THE STORYTELLING CELEBRATION! 🥳🎉

Don't miss your chance to see DOWN EAST SPEAKS 2025 on May 9 — purchase your tickets today! While we wait, we’re revisiting a story by Jacob McCarty, nonprofit leader and entrepreneur in Stonington, that made waves in 2023.

Listen to “Seriously” here: https://youtu.be/n3Nls0284sc

📷 Jack Sullivan ()

05/06/2025

FREE TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE! 🎟️❤️

Is the cost holding you back from joining us for DOWN EAST SPEAKS 2025 on May 9? We want you astonished by the stories, not by the ticket price. Thanks to the generosity of the Maine Humanities Council, we’re able to offer a limited number of complimentary seats to anyone for whom cost is a barrier.

Email "[email protected]" to reserve your free tickets today!

📷 Jack Sullivan ()

05/04/2025

EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF STORYTELLING! 📖🔥

We’re less than a week away from DOWN EAST SPEAKS 2025 on May 9 — have you secured your tickets yet?! In the meantime, we’re revisiting a story by Torsten Magnus Peterson, a vocalist and community herbalist from Sedgwick, that first captivated audiences back in 2022.

Listen to “Otherhood” here: https://youtu.be/Qy8fKkyRAN4

📷 Emily Marie Photography (.miller.me)

05/02/2025

ONLY ONE WEEK AWAY! 🤩✨

On May 9, our five fearless storytellers will take to the stage for DOWN EAST SPEAKS 2025! Alicia Anstead and Marvin Merritt IV, the directing duo behind this annual event, cannot wait to welcome you to the Reach Performing Arts Center soon.

Reserve your tickets here: http://www.isletheater.org/shop/p/down-east-speaks-2025

📷 Jack Sullivan ()

05/01/2025

AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING RETURNS! 🪩🌙

We’re counting down the days until DOWN EAST SPEAKS 2025 on May 9 — and to celebrate, we’re revisiting a story by Ann Pollard-Ranco, a writer and creative consultant of the Penobscot Nation, that brought the house down in 2023.

Listen to “A Year of Sunshine” here: https://youtu.be/cyVi01dPyKs

📷 Jack Sullivan ()

04/28/2025

ANNOUNCING DOWN EAST SPEAKS 2025! 📣✨

We’re delighted to announce the return of DOWN EAST SPEAKS on Friday, May 9. In 2025, our five storytellers will explore the theme “Astonished” in unexpected ways.

Learn more at: www.isletheater.org/news/announcing-down-east-speaks-2025

ANNOUNCING DOWN EAST SPEAKS 2025 Apr 28 Written By MARVIN MERRITT IV Featuring Bailey Bowden, Lisa DePasqual, Alison Eaton, Abby Hafey, and Robert Shetterly. Deer Isle, Maine — ISLE Theater Company announces the highly-anticipated return of its popular storytelling event Down East Speaks to the st...

08/22/2024

AND NOW WE’LL REST! 😴💤

In our fourth season, we’re thrilled to have shared the world premiere of THEN WE’LL REST by Eliya Smith with our community. Thank you for joining us inside the historic Salt Barn at David’s Folly Farm. It has been a gift to bring everyone together over these past three weeks!

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08/15/2024

INTRODUCING MARVIN MERRITT IV! 🌟

Marvin Merritt IV (Director) is a theater professional and generational Mainer from Deer Isle. He founded and is the Artistic & Executive Director of ISLE Theater Company. He has trained internationally at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, AST National Academy of Theatre Arts, the Moscow Art Theatre School, and he graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater, Dance & Media.

📸 , courtesy of

08/14/2024

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE! 😱☝️

Whether a deer skull or burning sage, it’s the subtle details of David’s Folly Farm that make THEN WE’LL REST an unforgettable experience. You only have one weekend left to watch the world premiere of this humorously-poignant play. Purchase your tickets today!

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08/09/2024

INTRODUCING ELIYA SMITH! 🌟

Eliya Smith (Playwright) is a writer from Ohio. Her plays have appeared at the American Repertory Theater, the Cohen New Works Festival, the Harvard Playwrights’ Festival, HERE Arts Center, Ice Factory Festival, the MadLab Young Writers’ Festival, and the Tank. She has received support from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and the Phyllis Anderson Foundation, which awarded her its prize for the best play by an undergraduate or graduate student at Harvard University. She is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting as a Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.

In January 2025, she will make her Off-Broadway debut with GRIEF CAMP at Atlantic Theater Company, directed by Tony Award nominee Les Waters.

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