UMaine helps bring 'Transformer Tales' to the stage - UMaine News

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

UMaine helps bring ‘Transformer Tales’ to the stage

August 8, 2016 Northeastern Americas: Humanities Research and Education, Outreach, Signature and Emerging Areas

For the past year, Professor of English Margo Lukens has collaborated with Carol Dana and other members of the Penobscot Nation to research and bring to the stage turn-of-the-century Wabanaki stories. Those stories have been compiled into a script for dramatic performance including poems, music and Penobscot language, presented by Penobscot Theatre Company, Aug. 11–14.

“Transformer Tales: Stories of the Dawnland,” conceived by local Penobscot artists, will be performed at 6 p.m. Aug. 11 at Indian Island School; 7 p.m. Aug. 12–13 at Bangor Opera House; and 3 p.m. performance Aug. 14 at Blackwoods Amphitheater, Acadia National Park. Ticket information is online.

The performances, part of the National Park Service’s Centennial Celebration, are supported by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and local sponsors, including the University of Maine Humanities Center.

Lukens’ research interests include Wabanaki literary and storytelling history, and Native American and First Nations plays and playwrights. She teaches Native American literature, and has produced and directed Native plays.

In conjunction with “Transformer Tales,” Lukens led a July 18 forum at Penobscot Theatre to promote community conversation around Native stories of the past, present and future. Joining her in the discussion were Assiniboine playwright William S. Yellow Robe Jr., UMaine’s fall 2016 Visiting Libra Professor in English and Theatre; and Carol Dana and Donna Loring of the Penobscot Nation.