Now playing

• Mad Horse Theatre Company christens the new performance space at Lucid Stage on Baxter Boulevard in Portland with a production of John Guare’s masterpiece “Six Degrees of Separation.” Director Peter Brown calls the play an “imaginative tour de force.” It’s 20 years old, but the Portland production marks the first time the play has been produced in Maine.

Additional Photos

Christine Louise Marshall, Jay Piscopo and Bill McDonough (background) in the Mad Horse Theatre production of “Six Degrees of Separation.” Courtesy Mad Horse Theatre Company

Music director Rohan Smith leads the Midcoast Symphony in its season-opening concerts. Courtesy photo

Charlotte Dobbs

Mad Horse has assembled a cast of 16, including Mad Horse artistic director Christine Louise Marshall; two of Mad Horse’s newly-inducted ensemble members, Maureen Butler and Nate Speckman; 12 local artists: Joe Bearor, Ian Carlsen, Evan Dalzell, John Hickson, Christopher Hoffman, Bill McDonough, Kat Moraros, Jay Piscopo, Jaimie Schwartz, Michael Dix Thomas, Tess Van Horn and Jordan William; and New York actor Bari Robinson, a graduate of the theater program at Bowdoin College who recently completed his master’s in acting at Columbia University.

The design team includes Mad Horse executive director Barb Truex (sound), newly-appointed company member Nicole Castro (stage management) and guest artists Stacey Koloski and Dave Seddon (scenery), David Timm (costumes) and Matt Cost (lighting).

The Lucid Stage space is the city’s newest theater, at 29 Baxter Blvd. It’s a flexible space, with seating for up to 100. Mad Horse will use a smaller configuration for “Six Degrees of Separation,” which explores the idea that we’re all connected by no more than six acquaintances.

The play begins Mad Horse’s 25th season, and it runs through Oct. 24.

Tickets cost $20 for adults, and $18 for students and seniors. Mad Horse also offers pay-what-you-can performances each Thursday during the run. Reservations are recommended. Call 730-2389 or 899-3993, or order tickets online at www.lucidstage.com.

Upcoming

www.lucidstage.com Midcoast Symphony Orchestra opens its season with a program titled “Worlds Lost and New,” with music director Rohan Smith at the podium and featuring soprano Charlotte Dobbs. The concerts will be Oct. 23 in Lewiston and Oct. 24 in Brunswick.

The program features music by Mahler, Mozart and Dvorak.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at Franco-American Heritage Center, Lewiston; and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at Crooker Theater, Brunswick High School. Crooker is a new venue for Midcoast. Previously, it performed in Topsham.

The Oct. 23 concert in Lewiston is part of a Gala Benefit. For details, call 689-2000. Tickets for the Oct. 24 concert in Brunswick cost $15 and are available at midcoastsymphony.org, by phone at 846-5378 and at Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, and Magnolia in Bath.

Related Stories