Snow Lion Rep Presents ANYTHING HELPS GOD BLESS, a New Play about Panhandlers in Portland's Median Strips

The conscience of a community is tested when Portland must come to grips with conflicted feelings about homelessness, giving, and individual freedom, as the proposal of a simple public safety ordinance unleashes a torrent of passionate, sometimes outrageous response from all sides that ultimately leads to a heated court battle over Constitutional rights!

Anything Helps God Bless is a one-of-a-kind collaborative theater piece by writers Al D'Andrea and MK Wolfe, with contributions by the ensemble of actors, all of whom did research and conducted interviews of the major players in the 2012 to 2015 median strip controversy that made waves in the Portland political and cultural scene, which are still being felt today. The story is told in the words of the players themselves: mayors, city councilors, advocates, lawyers, police, neighborhood association heads, the press, and of course, the panhandlers themselves.

Anything Helps God Bless will have two performances. An audience talk-back follows each show: Saturday December 10 at 7:30 pm Sunday December 11 at 2:00 pm Performances are at the Portland Ballet Studio Theater, 517 Forest Avenue, Portland. There is a suggested donation of $10 and reservations are highly recommended. Reservations can be made by calling (207) 518-9305. The show is directed by Al D'Andrea. The production stage manager is Danny Gay. The ensemble, who play multiple roles, is as follows: Harlan Baker, Samuel Carlson. Cathy Counts, Callie J. Cox, Tom Handel, Patricia Mew, Chris Newcomb, Bob Pettee, Natasha Salvo, Pat Scully, and Eric Darrow Worthley.

This workshop production is supported in part by a grant from the Maine Humanities Council.