Upcoming Productions/Performances/Events

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September 2, 3, 4, 2022
New Production!
THE AHAB INSIDE ME
3 Shows on the Augusta Riverfront—Augusta, ME.
Info Coming Soon!

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August / September 2023
THE MOBY DICK BLUES
A Blues Opera on the working waterfront in New Bedford, MA.
New Production! Info Coming Soon..

PAST PRODUCTIONS AND EVENTS

​"NEVER LEAVING THIS BOAT—Fragments of a Blues Opera"
(September 11 & 12 2021)  — Rockland, Maine
Written and Directed by Michael Gorman
​Music Director: Charles Duke
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Using the power of live performance to address the opioid epidemic, this epic tale tapped into the deep ritualistic healing power of the blues and incorporated original live music and song (with a full band), spoken word, and performance— to restore connections lost or frayed by the compound crises of the opiate epidemic and COVID.  ​More...

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​"GIVE UP THE SPEAR"
(JUNE 17, 2021)  — Portland, Maine
Written by Michael Gorman
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Playwright Michael Gorman and The Forty Hour Club presented a selection of songs and scenes from their upcoming production of “Never Leaving this Boat”—(Fragments of a Blues Opera) at Cove Street Arts (gallery) in Portland.  Raw and minimally rehearsed, the performance offered a privileged first glimpse of the upcoming opera, as well as an exciting window into Forty Hour Club’s developmental process.  ​More...

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​"BIFFING MUSSELS"
(OCT 31, 2020)  — Rockland, Maine
Written by Michael Gorman. Directed by Tara Elliott
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Performed during the COVID pandemic (socially distanced, of course!), Michael Gorman's classic short absurd comedy was presented on the waterfront at The Steel House in Rockland, Maine.  The play was a welcome respite from the social isolation and uncertainty that many of us were feeling at this time, and offered everyone a good opportunity to just...laugh.  ​More...

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​"IN AHAB'S HEAD—CHASING PHANTOMS"
(Nov 1, 2019)  — Belfast, Maine
Created by Michael Gorman and the Forty Hour Club
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A collaborative community performance in association with "What’s Art Got To Do With It?"— A 3-day conference about the power of art to address our opioid epidemic. This short and powerful piece featured R.A.W. Players (Restorative Art Works) & members of the Maine Coastal Regional Re-Entry Center/Restorative Justice Program (all non-actors), in the roles of The Phantom's, and incorporated monologues about their lives and experiences dealing with addiction, incarceration, re-entry, and healing. More...

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​"THE HUNGRY GHOST"
(April 1, 2019)   
Created by Michael Gorman and the Forty Hour Club
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A community outreach event and performance/presentation at North Haven Community School & Waterman's Community Center.  Island of North Haven, Maine.  More...

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​"CHASING THE NEW WHITE WHALE"
(November 24 - December 9, 2018)   
Created by Michael Gorman and the Forty Hour Club
​Directed by Arthur Adair
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Mike Gorman's epic production uses Melville’s 19th-century monster as a metaphor for the modern plague of opioid addiction. The play premiered at The Ellen stewart Theatre at La MaMa in New York City. More...

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​"AMBERGRIS"— Mining the Net Yard for the Roots of Addiction And New Models of Sustainable Fishing--An Environmental Installation and Performance.
(October 20, 2018)   
Created by Michael Gorman and the Forty Hour Club
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​This installation & performance took place on the working waterfront at Portland's Fish Exchange/Net Yard, and explored the roots of the disease of addiction and the economic devastation being caused by the ongoing opiate epidemic within the commercial fishing community. More...

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GOIN' WEST—Staged Reading
​(April 2018)
Created by Michael Gorman
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From Gorman's original 1987 play. An abandoned school bus sets the stage for a 21st century cross-country mythical adventure of the imagination.

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A PLAYWRIGHT'S JOURNEY— Multi-Media Performance Time-Line
​(March 2018)
Created by Michael Gorman

As part of his Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Artist in Residency, Gorman presented a multi-media performance time-line of the history and development of his epic trilogy of plays "The Honor and Glory of Whaling".

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THE CHASE-Staged Reading Series
(2107)
Created by Michael Gorman

Development of the newest work by Gorman and the culmination of his trilogy of plays, "The Honor and Glory of Whaling" .

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IF COLORADO HAD AN OCEAN
(2014)
Written by Michael Gorman  |  Directed by David Bennett
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Part I (Loomings) in Gorman’s "The Honor and Glory of Whaling" trilogy about commercial fishing, opiate addiction, and Moby Dick.

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FISHING FOR PARADISE
(2014)
Multimedia installation

A deconstruction of the creative process by Mike Gorman for his trilogy of plays, “"The Honor and Glory of Whaling".

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HOW AND WHY I ROBBED MY FIRST CHEESE STORE
(2011)
Written by Michael Gorman
Directed by David Bennett  |   Installation by Gregory De La Haba

A highly humorous look at the pretentious, ego-ridden world of downtown New York City Theater.

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​THE POET AND THE LUMBERJACK
​(2009)
Written by Michael Gorman
Directed by Michael Gorman
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A playwright and a logger share a jail cell in the North Woods of Maine.​

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THE HONOR & GLORY OF WHALING
​(2007-2008))
Written by Michael Gorman
Co-directed by Michael Gorman and Dave Bennet | ​Staged by George Ferencz

Part II (The Chase) in Gorman’s epic trilogy exploring heroin addiction and commercial fishing.

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​DEATH BY JOINERY
​(2006)
Written and directed by Michael Gorman
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Two carpenters stumble upon the occult publishing world of "how-to" books.

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COUNTING COUP
​(2002)
Written by Michael Gorman
Directed by Simon Hammerstein | Starring Jerry Thundercloud
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American Indian myth and the game of soccer form the connection between ritual and performance.

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​SINGLE ACTION SHOTGUN
​(2001)
Written by Michael Gorman
Directed by Michael Gorman and Rick Gomez​
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A beloved local swamp is threatened by a real-estate developer from Poughkeepsie.

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ULTRALIGHT
​(2000 & 2003)
Written by Michael Gorman
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Part III (Epilogue) in Gorman’s "The Honor and Glory of Whaling" trilogy, Ultralight is a mythical story about brotherhood, wilderness, and addiction. 

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BIFFING MUSSELS
​(1994)
Written by Michael Gorman

​The Fabulous Giggin’ Brothers classic short comedy 

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EARLIER PRODUCTIONS AND PERFORMANCES

A Funny Old Bird (1998)
A Funny Old Bird celebrates the survival of character, family and neighborhood in the face of the conforming forces of contemporary American culture. A Serviceman arrives at the door of the Dupelle residence to "groom" the family parakeet. It soon becomes clear, however, that the Serviceman has been sent for more serious purposes than the grooming of a small bird.

The Paradox of Professionalism (1996)
In this absurd comedy, featuring a tortuous “pant-horn”, the Chairman of The School of Landscape Architecture gives an introductory lecture on how to be a “professional”.  Arguing that it’s “appearance” not expertise that makes one a “professional”, the Professors in attendance (dressed in too-tight light blue polyester suits) nod in agreement. The goal: choose a suit that is so restrictive as to incapacitate the wearer—a suit that states unequivocally that its wearer performs a function so inconceivably important that he or she can’t be bothered with trivialities.  Herein again lies the Paradox of Professionalism: it’s not so much what you can do that matters, but what you can’t do.

An Evening of Good Clean Fun (1996)
“An Evening of Good Clean Fun” featured some of The Fabulous Giggin’ Brothers’ early comedy works, and included: the short play “The Paradox of Professionalism”; video performances “Willy Do My Pigs”, “Stalkers”, and “The Pedestrian”; and the live music of “Bush Rookie and The Plywood Bellbottom’s”. 
 
Chores, or The Big Man in the Orange Rubber Rain Suit (1994)
A series of comic turns for four "regular" folks—a one-armed mechanic, a fundamentalist cleaning lady, a thirty-five year old paperboy and a paranoid logger—whose path to salvation is through their daily chores.
"Albees wrenching "The Zoo Story," and Friedman's slapstick "The Temp" are indeed off the beaten path, but they are not even close to being as obscure as "Chores." As a result, "Chores" is the one that sticks out in the memory.  --  DAN TAPPER

NYC 123 (1994)
March 1994
Mike's NYC premier with The Fabulous Giggin' Bros' featuring two short absurd plays written by Mike, Biffing Mussels and Conversation Pieces, and a third, A Random Act of Violence, co-written with his brother.
 
A Random Act of Violence (1994)
Written by Michael Gorman & William Gorman. Two rabbits move in next door to Bob Jones, a United States Postal Service worker, whose hand has been disfigured on the job. The rabbits keep up a cynical running commentary on the depressing state of Bob's life as they follow him to work one day where he is promptly fired by his boss who gleefully claims that he "has a reputation to uphold of pushing otherwise normal people into committing unspeakable acts of desperation." Bob goes on a rampage, shooting 19 people, only to be acquitted of all charges following a brilliant courtroom argument for, and demonstration of, the randomness of Bob's actions by the rabbits, turned Defense Attorney and star witness.
 
Island Still Life (1992)
"Island Still Life" is the coming of age quest of Raven, an island native from the coast of Maine, to free herself from the desperate boredom and superficiality of the postcard her life has become with her summer friends. After a summer of constant tribute to what a beautiful place they're so blessed to be living in and what wonderful friends they have, dictated by Derrick, a sensitive sailing instructor "from away", Raven has become viciously cynical.  She is hungry for action instead of scenery and yearns for the originality of a real adventure.

Goin' West (1987)
An abandoned school bus, both real and imaginary, is at the center of a debate between the two roommates, who can't agree on whether they should recover the bus, quit college, and head west. The struggle that ensues between them is both profound and wildly comic as the mythical camp cook emerges from the celluloid past to keep the peace between the two headstrong leaders. Unearthed along the t rail, as the roommates fight to determine whether to stay or go, are the thorny issues of student debt and the value of education, literature versus storytelling, the catastrophic clash between Native American and Anglo culture, the power of dreams and the quest ion of what the ideal of  “America” really means. In the words of Langston Hughes: “Oh let America be again. The land that has never been and yet must be”.