Saint Dad

“Damn good payday, but you just sold your memories and your own dog won’t look you in the face.”
– Chummy O'Brien from Saint Dad

After yet another round of layoffs at the paper mill, Denise, Bud, and Suzanne sold their childhood cottage on Greany Lake out from under their dying father, "a flatulent drunk who hates kids." Now the lake has been discovered by other wealthy buyers, starting a property grab that threatens to change the local culture for good. When dear old Dad recovers—either a miracle from God, or rotten luck, depending on which sibling you ask—the sibs scramble to hide their transgression by asking Leona, the new owner, to pose as the renter until they can safely break the news. Leona, a corporate exec used to running the show, gets more than she can manage when her 18-year-old daughter bursts in as the siblings are making their case. Over the course of a few hours, both the locals and the outsiders reckon with their mistakes, memories, and shared humanity. Saint Dad is a warmhearted, serious comedy about family, class, gentrification, and belonging.

The world premiere production of Saint Dad at Portland Stage was one of the top-selling plays in the company’s 50-year history.

Artistic Director: Anita Stewart
Managing Director: Martin Lodish
Director: Sally Wood
Stage Manager: Meg Lydon

Cast (pictured below):

Denise Thibodeau: Moira Driscoll
Bud Casey: Liam Craig
Suzanne Casey: Jenny Woodward
Leona Williams: Pilar Witherspoon
Thomasina Williams: Emily Upton
Chummy O’Brien: Patrick Thomas O’Brien

Other productions:

2024: Meetinghouse Theatre Lab, Winter Harbor, ME. Director: Shari John
2025: Lincoln Theater, Damariscotta, ME. Director: John MulCahy

REVIEWS:

Broadway World: Warm, witty, insightful play about the intersection of people from two very different worlds brought together by the sale of a family camp. When the company speaks of a miracle in the closing moments of the show , one cannot help but feel that that miracle has already transpired over the course of the play’s afternoon and evening. ]Monica Wood’s] plays are gifts to Maine’s contributions to American theatre.

Portland Press Herald: Warm and funny with the hint of an edge . . . The impact of economic change drives much of the action in Saint Dad as a well-to-do buyer “from away” comes face to face with local skeptics whose memories and values appear to be in the process of being boarded over. The audience is taken both a laugh-filled and sensitively told journey.

Ellsworth American: Deeply relatable … a heartwarming, insightful and poignant exploration of the complexities of the human condition within a rapidly changing cultural landscape. Cultural classes, gentrification, generational divides, love, loss, religion, and hope are all woven into this timely story. Witty, sensitive, and empathetic.

A man holding a moose head with large antlers on his shoulders, standing at a doorway in a cozy wooden interior, with a woman holding a glass of wine facing him.

A man with a beard and a woman with her arms crossed, standing close together indoors at night. The man is wearing a green t-shirt and a cap, and the woman is wearing a purple shirt. They are sharing a tender moment, with the woman leaning her head o

A theatrical scene with four actors in a rustic cabin setting. One man is reaching up toward a mounted bear head on the wall, while two women are reacting with surprise and concern. A woman in a red sweater looks at her phone, and another woman in a

Group of five people sitting and standing on a couch, looking at a photo or document, smiling and pointing, in a cozy indoor setting. One woman holds a stuffed rabbit.

Two women are sitting on chairs, facing each other, holding hands, and making eye contact in a warm emotional moment, with a rustic wooden interior background.

A woman in a red top is providing emergency first aid to a young woman in a yellow sweater who is sitting on the floor, appearing unresponsive. The scene suggests a medical emergency training or response.