
James McGee Herrera and Christine Louise Marshall in “A Delicate Balance” by Edward Albee at Mad Horse Theatre in South Portland. Photo by Kat Moraros Photography @katmorarosphotography
Venturing out of the house in the dead of a Maine winter can be a daunting task. But this season is perhaps the perfect time to take in a show at a local theater.
Interested in a cozy mystery? Try “Murder on the Links” at Portland Stage.
Looking for love, or maybe a laugh? Try “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at City Theater in Biddeford or “Cupid’s Arrow” at Footlights Theater in Falmouth.
Made a New Year’s Resolution to learn Italian? Test your skills (and read the subtitles) at “La bohème” by Opera Maine and the Portland Symphony Orchestra.
Singing the “Wicked” soundtrack on repeat? The Theatre Project in Brunswick is doing “The Wizard of Oz.”
Because what better diversion is there on these frigid nights but a good story? Here are some of the plays and musicals to get you through the season.
“A Delicate Balance,” Mad Horse Theatre in South Portland (Jan. 16. to Feb. 9)
Leave the house to peer into someone else’s. “A Delicate Balance” by Edward Albee enters upon the uneasy existence of an upper-middle-class household.
Agnes and Tobias find their insular life disrupted by the sudden appearance of Harry and Edna, lifelong family friends who ask to stay with them to escape an unnamed terror. Also in the mix are Claire, Agnes’ sister who she calls an alcoholic, and Julia, the couple’s daughter who returns to her parents’ home following her fourth failed marriage.
“This type of theater that Albee often writes, it’s about the emptiness in people’s lives, emotional and spiritual malaise,” director Christopher Price said. “The thing that I find fascinating about working on this kind of play is that Albee writes with great humor too.”

Marie Stewart Harmon and Lisa Muller, seated, and Janis Gardner in the foreground in Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” at Mad Horse Theatre. Photo by Kat Moraros Photography @katmorarosphotography
Albee won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, his first, for this work in 1967. (Portland Stage will present “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” also by Albee, this spring.) The writer called the play “a social comedy,” and Price agreed. He described it as witty and verbal, full of precise but relatable dialogue. He also praised the actors who will take on these roles and said he thinks the work will be “a highlight of the theater season.”
“The play, like so much of Albee’s work, is really about self preservation, navigating all those issues in life that we all deal with,” he said. “Love and jealousy and fear and loneliness and, ultimately, death.”
Mad Horse follows a pay-what-you-decide model for tickets. Find more information by visiting madhorse.com or by calling 207-747-4148.
“Every Brilliant Thing,” Public Theatre in Lewiston (Jan. 24 to Feb. 2)
Laura Kepley directed “Every Brilliant Thing” for the first time in Cleveland in 2019, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters around the world.
“During the pandemic, I thought about this play every day,” Kepley said.

Actor Tarah Flanagan runs through the theater giving high fives to the audience (not present during a rehearsal) as she rehearses a scene from “Every Brilliant Thing” at the Public Theatre in Lewiston January 16, 2025. The show involves just one actor, but the audience is partially seated on the stage and involved in the production. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald
Now, she will direct the play again, this time at the Public Theatre in Lewiston. Kepley, who works as a freelance director across the country and is based in Michigan, said the story deals with heavy themes such as depression and suicide with humor and gentleness. It begins with a 7-year-old girl whose mother tries to kill herself. Her daughter starts writing her a list of things worth living for (“No. 1: Ice cream”).
“This list becomes a lifeline for the little girl,” Kepley said. “As she grows up and faces other challenges, she continues making the list.”

Director Laura Kepley, left, talks with actor Tarah Flanagan during rehearsal for “Every Brilliant Thing” at the Public Theatre in Lewiston. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald
The script calls for only one actor (Tarah Flanagan, who worked with Kepley in 2019), but the audience also has a role. The theater will seat 24 people on the stage, and guests who want to will have the opportunity to read out loud items from the list or even join in scenes with Flanagan. Kepley said participation is entirely voluntary, but the experience mirrors an important theme of “Every Brilliant Thing.”
“When times are tough, we have to be brave, to ask for help, and help will come,” Kepley said. “We only get through it with the help and support of other people. So this play does that. We have one actor on stage, but every single audience member helps her to tell her story.”
The theater will provide information about how to access mental health support on site during the production. Seats on the stage cost $20, and general admission costs between $15 and $35. For more information, visit thepublictheatre.org or call 207-782-3200.
“Murder on the Links,” Portland Stage (Jan. 29 to Feb. 23)
Kevin R. Free has previously directed “The Play That Goes Wrong” and “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at Portland Stage. He returns this winter for “Murder on the Links,” an adaptation of a novel by the same name by Agatha Christie.
“I’m their British murder mystery comedy guy right now,” Free said with a laugh.

Director Kevin R. Free, member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, and costume shop manager Susan Thomas look at costume sketches for “Murder on the Links” at Portland Stage. In the foreground is actor Ross Cowan, a member of the Actors’ Equity Association. Photo by Aressa Goodrich
A good guy to be, especially when Hercule Poirot is involved. While the character is a classic, Free said this play hasn’t had many productions, so Portland Stage got to consult with the writer to develop the piece further. Free said he felt inspired by a line by Christie in the start of the novel: “If it is necessary for a criminal to be a consummate actress, then by all means, assume her to be one.”
The play is set in the 1920s. A man writes to the detective for help, and Poirot arrives to find the man is dead. The story follows Poirot and his famous mustache as he tries to uncover the killer. The story that ensues is one of lies, mistaken identity and madcap fun. Six actors play more than two dozen roles. (The man was in the midst of building a golf course on his estate, hence the name of the play. “There is a golf course on stage,” Free said. “I’m not going to tell you how we did it.” Another mystery to be solved.)
“I feel like the best time for comedy is when it’s cold,” Free said. “You get to be in a room with other people laughing, and it’s like a nice cup of tea on a cold day. It’s really delightful.”
Tickets cost between $15 and $78. For more details, visit portlandstage.org or call 207-774-0465.

Tom Ford, center, will play the iconic detective Hercule Poirot, and Lauren Karaman, left, will play his right hand, Captain Hastings, in “Murder on the Links” at Portland Stage. Both are members of the Actors’ Equity Association. Photo by Aressa Goodrich
More theater on stage this winter:
“The Breasts of Tiresias” by Guillaume Apollinaire, staged readings at Mad Horse Theatre Company in South Portland (Jan. 22 and 29). Tickets are pay-what-you-decide. madhorse.com or 207-747-4148
“How May I Help You” at Footlights Theater in Falmouth (Jan. 23 to Feb. 2). Tickets are $20. thefootlightstheatre.com or 207-747-5434
“La bohème” by Opera Maine and the Portland Symphony Orchestra at Merrill Auditorium in Portland (Jan. 24 and 26). Tickets are $15 to $96. porttix.com or 207-842-0800
“Pining for You” by Opera in the Pines at Maine Beer Company in Freeport (Feb. 13). Tickets cost $35 to $75. 207tix.com or 207-594-9544
“Cupid’s Arrow” at Footlights Theatre in Falmouth (Feb. 13 to 22). Tickets are $20. thefootlightstheatre.com or 207-747-5434
“We’re Sending You to the Nuns: A Campy Comedy Thriller” at Footlights Theatre in Falmouth (Feb. 27 to March 15). Tickets are $20. thefootlightstheatre.com or 207-747-5434
“Charlotte’s Web: The Musical” by the Royal River Community Players at The Playhouse in Yarmouth (Feb. 28 to March 9). Tickets are $22. RRCP.me or 207-847-8172
“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” at Portland Players in South Portland (Feb. 28 to March 16). Tickets cost $20 to $25. portlandplayers.org or 207-799-7337
“Madeleines” at Portland Stage (March 5 to 23). Tickets are $20 to $73. portlandstage.org or 207-774-0465
“Women Laughing Alone With Salad” at Mad Horse Theatre in South Portland (March 6 to 30). Tickets are pay-what-you-decide. madhorse.com or 207-747-4148
“Halfway There” at the Public Theatre in Lewiston (March 14 to 23). Tickets cost $15 to $35. thepublictheatre.org or call 207-782-3200
“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at City Theatre in Biddeford (March 14 to 30). Tickets are $30. citytheater.org or 207-282-0849
Nickelodeon’s “The SpongeBob Musical” at Lyric Music Theater in South Portland (March 21 to April 6). Tickets cost $25 to $30. lyricmusictheater.org or 207-799-1421
“The Wizard of Oz” at the Theater Project in Brunswick (March 28 to April 6). Tickets are pay-what-you-want. theaterproject.com or 207-729-8584
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