Papermaker

“You set foot over that picket line, your grandfathers can feel your boot on their crumbling bones.”
–Ernie Donahue, in Papermaker

Abbott Falls, Maine. 1989. A bitter strike at the paper mill has everyone on edge. Ernie Donahue, the union VP, is building an ark for his dying wife as his son contemplates crossing the picket line. Back in New York City, Henry McCoy, CEO of Atlantic Paper Company, discovers that his most formidable opponent is not the Abbott Falls union but his daughter, who chooses this pressure-cooker moment to address his fatherly failures. After a road trip goes alarmingly awry, these two wounded families collide in the shadow of Ernie's ark. Told with compassion, warmth, and humor, Papermaker has resonated profoundly with audiences who have felt the sting of industrial change, and asks every audience to reconsider what we mean when we say “us” and “them.
The world-premiere production at Portland stage broke attendance records and attracted a blue-collar demographic new to the theater.

Executive and Artistic Director: Anita Stewart.
Director: Sally Wood.
Stage Manager: Myles Hatch

Cast:

Ernie Donahue: Daniel Noel
Marie Donahue: Lisa Stathoplos
Jake Donahue: Peter Albrink
Henry John McCoy: Tom Bloom
Emily McCoy: Tom Bloom
Nancy Letourneau: Moira Driscoll
 
Other productions of Papermaker:

Dionysus Theater, Vernon, CT. Directed by Gabbi Mendolsohn.
Footlights Theatre, Falmouth, Maine. Directed by Lindsay Higgins
New Surry Theater, Blue Hill, Maine. Director: Johannah Blackman.
OHPAA, Norway, Maine. Director: Julie Middleton.
Shadowland Stages, Ellenville, NY. Director: Brendan Burke.
Chenango River Theatre, Greene, NY. Director: Bill Lelbach.
M&D Playhouse, North Conway, New Hampshire. Director: Richard Russo.
Penobscot Theatre Company, Bangor, Maine. Director: Daniel Burson.

 

REVIEWS:

Arts Fuse (Boston): "A moving and thoughtful play. …

Times Record (Ellenville, NY): A timely, absorbing play that places the audience in the midst of a struggle that makes you take sides while learning to listen to all sides.

Broadway World:  A work with universal resonance that sees the heroic in the mundane and probes the crises of conscience that confront all human beings.

Meet Me in the Green Room (Ellenville, NY): The mark of a good play is when a playwright creates the illusion of high dramatic complication by portraying credible characters who appear to be just sort of “normal.” These well-known elements of well-constructed drama are perfectly blended in this riveting production.

Portland Phoenix: Empathetic and entertaining storytelling, rich in humanity and complexity, as it makes no one hero or villain.  

Portland Press Herald: What is extraordinary about Wood's work here is how sharp and lean her language is. Above all, Wood is a storyteller, but she doesn't shirk her task as an entertainer.  

Waterville Morning Sentinel: "The best play we've ever seen at Portland Stage. Papermaker is sensational, thought-provoking, something you will never forget.

Conway Daily Sun (NH): Papermaker looks at the complexities of a paper mill strike, and in the process tells a deeply human story.

Ellsworth American: Tense, honest, heartbreaking and surprisingly funny ... Non-stop, edge-of-your-seat action throughout.

Two middle-aged men with serious expressions facing each other on a dimly lit stage.
Four actors perform on a stage set like a living room. An older woman and a young man are in the foreground, holding each other. A young woman sits on a sofa behind them, while a man stands nearby, observing.
A woman with brown hair, wearing a checkered blazer, is sitting and talking animatedly, holding a small object in her right hand, while a man with gray hair, wearing a suit, is sitting with his hands on a steering wheel, looking serious. They are ill
Two women sitting on a bench, engaged in conversation. The woman on the left has red hair tied with a colorful scrunchie and is wearing a denim jacket. The woman on the right has short hair, a pink headscarf, and is holding a notepad and a pen, with
Three actors on stage during a theater performance, with construction materials and furniture around them, under stage lighting.
Two men stand facing each other on a theater stage, with a wooden ship structure and a decorative wrought iron chair in the background, under stage lighting.