Abby Paige’s Piecework /Travail a la pièce, two plays, is published this month by University of Maine Press.
Abby Paige is a storyteller whose characters use laughter to break audience’s hearts. These two powerful poetic pieces capture the Franco-American experience and the long, often invisible history of the borderlands between francophone Canada and northern New England. How do the descendants of French-Canadian migrants understand their past? How do their stories echo those of other Americans, other immigrant communities, other descendants of colonizers? Hilarious and haunting, these plays ask urgent questions about identity, memory, and belonging, and remind us of theater’s capacity to transcend borders.
In the coming months, book launches will be held around New England, featuring music, readings, and performances. For information about launches in all locations, please visit the publisher’s website. Here are the Vermont locations for April (Montpelier is coming in May):
Vermont Locations:
Burlington, VT
Date and time: Thursday, April 17, 7pm
Place: OFF Center for Dramatic Arts, 1127 North Avenue, Burlington
Admission: free
Derby Line, VT / Stanstead, QC
Date and time: April 26, 4pm
Place: Haskell Free Library and Opera House
Address: 93 Caswell Avenue, Derby Line VT 05830 USA
1 Church Street, Stanstead QC J0B 3E2 Canada
Admission: By donation, benefiting the Haskell
More info: here
Says the Haskell: “Une célébration entièrement bilingue avec des ami.e.s et cousin.e.s des deux côtés de la frontiere! A completely bilingual celebration with friends from both sides of the border. (Please check the Haskell’s website for the latest border guidance.)“
Montpelier, VT
Date and time: Thursday, May 15, 7pm
Place: Lost Nation Theater (Note: Due to flooding in Montpelier, this venue has no elevator and therefore is currently inaccessible to some patrons.)
Note: The Montpelier launch will celebrate both Piecework by Abby Paige and Judevine by David Budbill, in a new edition from Montpelier’s own Rootstock Publishing.