Rockland, ME, May 19, 2017 —The Center for Maine Contemporary Art will host a staged reading of The Honor and Glory of Whaling, Part II: The Chase, by playwright Michael Gorman, on Saturday, June 10 at 7pm. Tickets are by suggested donation: $10 for CMCA members, $15 for non-members, and may be purchased online at cmcanow.org or at the door.

An epic tale that follows the fate of legendary New England fishing captain Robby Foerster and his boat, The Northern Star, The Honor and Glory of Whaling is the title play in a three-part series that deals with the issue of addiction and recovery in New England’s commercial fishing industry. In approaching the subject, Gorman drew upon his own observations and experiences while living and working on the island of Vinalhaven in Penobscot Bay. He now splits his time between Maine and New York City, where he is the newly appointed playwright in residence at the world-renowned La MaMa Theater.

After a fatal first encounter with heroin—the “Great White Whale” of the modern commercial fishing community—Robby falls deeply into addiction. The past becomes the present, and in a delusion, Robby and his boat become Ahab and the Pequot and lead the audience on a thrilling chase to kill the white whale and rid the town of the drugs that are threatening to destroy it.

The trilogy, for which The Honor and Glory of Whaling is the second in the series, includes Ultralight and If Colorado had an Ocean, all of which have been published by Indie Theater Now and produced independently in New York at La MaMa.

Gorman began his playwriting career at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he graduated with Honors and received a degree in Literature (1988). His other productions include How and Why I Robbed My First Cheese-Store (2011), The Poet and the Lumberjack (2009), Death by Joinery (2006), Counting Coup (2002), Single Action Shotgun (2001), and A Funny Old Bird (1998). He is founder and director of The Forty Hour Club—a theatrical production company.