Bangor Daily News reports on ‘Transformer Tales’

The Bangor Daily News advanced performances of “Transformer Tales: Stories of the Dawnland,” a compilation of traditional stories that have been part of the Penobscot Indian Nation’s oral tradition for centuries. Margo Lukens, a University of Maine English professor, collaborated with Carol Dana and other members of the Penobscot Nation to research and bring to the stage turn-of-the-century Wabanaki stories. The stories were compiled into a script for dramatic performance including poems, music and Penobscot language, presented by Penobscot Theatre Company and performed as part of the theater’s Dramatic Academy program. The show focuses on tales of Gluskabe, the transformer who shaped the landscape and the traditions of the Wabanaki people, according to the article. “These 13 stories take him from the early, early stage of his life into his young adulthood, when he’s done what he needs to do,” Lukens said. “By the end of the play, he’s shaped the world, and his descendants are going to be OK, and he’s leaving unless they call him back.”