Farm to Stage

The Farm to Stage Series

THREE EVENINGS OF NEW WORKS BY OUR ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

HARMONIES OF DIVERSITY: NEw Works celebrating Women of Color, the LGBTQ+ Community, and French-Canada
Friday, July 7th
Grange Hall on Ram Island Farm, Cape Elizabeth ME

LATINX PERSPECTIVES IN THE PERFORMING ARTS
Sunday, July 9th
SPACE in Portland, ME

SONGS OF HEALING & CONNECTION
Wednesday, July 12th
Mallet Barn at Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture, Freeport ME

About the Series

Be the first to hear and see the emergent work of our artists-in-residence and help create a new more inclusive cannon in the performing arts!

Each artist in our flagship summer production of CarmXn (July 26-29 at Mechanics’ Hall) receives time and space during their residency to pursue their own regenerative arts projects: seeking to create new works that are regenerative to the artists themselves, their communities, and their corner of the earth.

Like the “Farm to Table” movement, the “Farm to Stage” series aims to give you the most direct access to diversity and high quality: this time to some of the most exciting, original, holistic work and artists in the performing arts today.

At each event, a few of the 2023 Hogfish artists-in-residence will share 10-30 minutes of their works in progress. Afterwards, we will invite feedback from the audience and the artists through a guided Q&A session with Hogfish directors Matt & Edwin Cahill searching for the next best steps in their work’s development. Dance, theater, and music in many artists’ individual styles will be represented. Be a part of the future of the regenerative arts!

Friday, July 7th
Grange Hall at Ram Island Farm
Cape Elizabeth, ME

Harmonies of Diversity

Hogfish presents four brand new works in progress from our artists-in-residence representing the voices of women of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and French/Canadian songwriters.

ADRIAN KRAMER

NEWLY COMPOSED FRENCH-CANADIAN SINGER/SONGWRITER TUNES INSPIRED BY MAINE & HOGFISH
Adrian grew up playing in a pop/rock/folk band with his brother in Canada. He finds it regenerative as an artist to write new songs about the places he travels to in the artistic language of his musical upbringing. Adrian will sing and accompany himself on guitar to a few tunes he has written during his artist residency, inspired by his time in Southern Maine and at Hogfish.

CYNTHIA L. DORSEY

PRESENTATION OF SCENES FROM UNTITLED: A NEW MUSICAL BY CYNTHIA L. DORSEY & VERONIQUE MCRAE
As an artist it is my goal to liberate the stories of women of color from the page. I have recently begun to include myself in that goal by intentionally creating work that I need to see to heal and grow as an artist and a woman. Having seen over 55 shows this season alone on and off Broadway I realized the stories I need to see to invoke said healing is non existent. I decided to create that work myself and having the time to do that this summer working with Hogfish will be invaluable. This piece will support my desire to merge African History and mythology into the present day, with the hopes of helping myself and audiences alike navigate holistically through the trials society throws at us.

One act. Present day. The action takes place over the course of one night in the efficiency apartment of Danai. Danai inadvertently calls upon the Spirit realm for help in a moment of heightened anxiety and distress. The Orisha gods visit with Danai to help her hash out her struggles. The gods take Danai through a spiritual whirlwind that forces her to choose her life's path moving forward.

The Orishas used to tell this story are from the Yoruba religion of West Africa.

EVAN LITTLE & AJ PARAMO

BOXES BY MADISYN FLEMING
In this ten-minute play by Madisyn Fleming, Boxes details the realistic experiences, tribulations, and culture of gay men, exploring themes of mental health, body image, and strained familial and cultural ties. However, at the center of these struggles is shared experience, and it’s through that understanding that the unconditional friendship of Easton and Nathan help them navigate these struggles together. With this special connection, will Easton and Nathan find the courage to express their inner thoughts? This touching short play is both impactful and charming, and the truth of the real life experiences thatthe play was based on shines through the dialogue, making it a piece of theatre many will connect with.

When Nathan expresses his anxiety around seeking to make connections that are unwanted, Easton relates, not able to help but feel that there is some part of him that just isn’t romantically desirable. The tender support between the two illustrates the need for community and friendship, and the playwright develops this connection in order to appeal to the experiences of many audience members. While honoring and giving voice to marginalized identities, there are also elements of this piece that are universal to all audience members.

In all, real life stories of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals are important now more than ever with constant proposals of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and the continuing hate and violence that BIPOC individuals face. To humanize these two communities in a simple but moving way is what makes Boxes by Madisyn Fleming a particularly relevant piece.

MATTHEW ANCHEL & TYSON DEATON

EXCERPTS FROM CATFISH THE MUSICAL - AN LGBTQ+ RIFF ON THE CLASSIC STORY
I have wanted to write a musical for years and have tried before, but never found the right story. Catfish The Musical is loosely based on Miklós László’s play, Parfumerie, which has been adapted before for movies (Shop Around The Corner, Good Old Summertime, You’ve Got Mail) and got the stage (She Loves Me) and I have put my own spin on it, making almost every character a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

I often find that art created about LGBTQ+ people can focus on the trauma and struggle that we go through being different. Writing a romantic comedy filled with diversity and characters that genuinely care about each other and want to do the right thing definitely falls under escapist entertainment these days, and that’s what I want this show to be. A joyful escape featuring LGBTQ+ people anf people of color to center them in stories that aren’t just about trauma. 

Sunday, July 9th
SPACE
Portland, ME

LATINX PERSPECTIVES IN THE PERFOMING ARTS

Hogfish & SPACE present three dynamic, next-generation Latinx performers who share their perspective on the Latinx experience in America today through poetry, song, and dance.

RACHEL HURTADO DUNBAR

A TRAVÉS DE ESTOS OJOS - LA FRONTERA THROUGH MY EYES
A reading of poems on life in the borderland. 

CYNTHIA LÓPEZ-PÉREZ WITH FELIX JARRAR

CANCIONES DE MI TIERRA
“Canciones de mi tierra” showcases the song cycle “Cuatro Canciones en Nahuatl” by Salvador Moreno. Nahuatl is an Indigenous language that has been spoken in Mexico since at least the seventh century, prior to colonization. There are many words in Spanish spoken in Mexico that are heavily influenced by Nahuatl, and many famous cities and landmarks still keep their native names such as Xochimilco or Chapultepec. The language is beautiful and sacred to Cynthia’s own Indigenous ancestry and identity. This project aims to amplify works that focus on Indigenous languages and their preservation.

AMELIA ROSE-ESTRADA

COMO LAS HORTENSIAS (LIKE THE HYDRANGEA FLOWERS)
“Como Las Hortensias” (Like the Hydrangea Flowers) explores themes of Dominicanidad, intergenerational relationality, and the laboring Caribbean woman through the story of Amelia’s grandmother, Minica’s life. Minica grew up in Bonao, a small city in the Cibao region of the Dominican Republic. Throughout her childhood and teenage years, she lived with her aunts and worked as a maid in return for room and board. When she immigrated to the U.S., she worked as a seamstress in New York, married in her early twenties, and had five children. She navigated the complicated realities of being an immigrant, non-English speaking, Caribbean woman living in the U.S. This performance work considers how gender-based labor and violence often intersect in the body. Critically, Amelia inserts pleasure and desire into the work to reintroduce agency and joy into histories marked by trauma, capitalism, and coloniality. She is interested in how the body in motion can ask questions about labor, sexuality, immigration, and how systems like capitalism, racism, and patriarchy impact Latina women in the diaspora. 

Wednesday, July 12th
Mallet Barn
Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture
Freeport, ME

Songs of Healing & CONNECTIOn

Hogfish presents our artists-in-residence in an evening of songs dedicated to healing and connection to ancestors and the natural world.

Melisa Bonetti with Felix Jarrar

RELEASE
Release is a space we come into as musicians and audience goers, where we utilize standard repertoire as a tunnel for inner discovery and fearless emotional expression. In my experience as an opera singer, many of us love what we do because opera embodies ultimate feeling, but this is executed after rigorous practice, which often comes with an unattainable pressure of perfection. During “Release” we will present repertoire as written, and then we will break past the confines of perfection, using structures and themes from these pieces to feed and morph improvisational ideas that coincide with our most profound truths. “Release” is an invitation to trust in our creative ideas, which ties into validating our own thoughts, with the goal of releasing into a deeper state of feeling that is free from perfection, and more reflective of what is going on in the mind of an artist and/or someone in the audience.

Maria Brea

A SONG TO MY ANCESTORS | UNA CANCIÓN A MIS ANCESTRES

A Song to My Ancestors | Una Canción a mis Ancestres is a musical exploration of songs and nature from Venezuelan traditional music of indigenous, african and iberian influece. The concert will feature the Cuatro (Venezuelan traditional instrument), voice, and other traditional instruments.

Tyson Deaton with Bryan Murray, Rachel Dunbar Hurtado, & Gabriel Hernandez

THE FORGOTTEN SONGS OF JOSEPH BOLOGNE DE SAINT-GEORGES
In 2021, I began an unexpected musicological journey with a practical origin. Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges, a French military official of African descent, master fencer, violinist and composer, was reported to have over 100 solo vocal works which only existed in manuscript form. Eager to include a few on a future program, I was able to locate, obtain, and begin editing a few of the songs. These 'few' quickly increased to encompass Bologne's entire body of vocal works, revealing much about his circle of influence, the company he kept, and his own personal political and artistic interests.  This collection has been an opportunity for me to rediscover the essential elements of my own philosophy of musicmaking, albeit through the lens of an underrepresented composer. It has also been envigorating as a performer for listeners to appreciate the beauty and charm of his music, as well as to reaffirm a connection of Bologne's music to a contemporary audience. 

FELIX JARRAR with Cynthia López-Pérez & Maria Brea

CONFLICT, PASSION, & REFLECTION
Conflict, Passion, and Reflection is a program that explores my own process of healing. The singers featured on this program, Cynthia López-Pérez and Maria Brea, as well as librettist Bea Goodwin, have been a huge part of my growth as a musician and person. In response to both the trauma of the pandemic and the prejudices I have faced as a queer POC, I have created my own safe space to share my art and emotions. Works featured include “I, the dead sea”, “The Dreamer” from the cycle Eclipse (text by Goodwin) and “Amethyst’ from my Symphony no. 1, “Banishing Grief.” I wrote these at crucial points in my career, when I was facing highly emotional obstacles. “Maria la O” by Ernesto Lecuona will also be featured as a meaningful and cathartic contrast to my work.