Charting Maine’s Future

Last year, we had a discussion over lunch with David Greenham of the Theater at Monmouth to talk about some of the issues raised in our 2006 “Charting Maine’s Future” report. Greenham had helped produce the 2006 play Taxing Maine, a short play about taxes that became especially relevant on the eve of the first TABOR referendum, and was working on a new project that would put a theatrical spin on growth and development in our state.

The new play, titled As Maine Grows, had its first performances this summer, and is gearing up for a statewide tour this fall. Here’s a description from the Maine Humanities Council, which is helping produce the play:

Maine is changing so rapidly and in so many ways, it’s almost impossible to keep up with it all. There is population growth in some areas and decline in others, new business clusters springing up in some places, dying in others. Maine’s governor wants us to become a leader in wind technology; the proposed school consolidation is intended to provide better education for less money. Meanwhile, there is always lots of conversation around land use: do we want to turn traditional timberlands into resorts, houses and golf courses or leave them as open space? What about public access? How well do we actually do this planning business? How well has Maine ever done it? As Maine Grows brings you some of the stories of past efforts at planning and growth. Silly? Outrageous? Depressing? Insane? It depends on your perspective.

As Maine Grows doesn’t touch on every issue of development, but we think it will help to start a conversation in your community about the important issues we’re facing and how we might want to address them.

So if the GrowSmart-Brookings report was too wonky for you to read without falling asleep - we won’t take it personally - this sounds like an entertaining way to think about the same issues. Here’s where you can see As Maine Grows this fall:

Thanks to Belinda Stewart at the Freeport Library for putting these performances on our radar - you can watch “As Maine Grows” at her library in downtown Freeport on Saturday September 19th at 7 PM.

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