Snowlion Repertory Company Presents ANYTHING HELPS GOD BLESS

Panhandlers on the median strip versus the City of Portland: 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 funny, touching, and ultimately life-affirming story is told in the words of the players themselves: mayors, city councilors, advocates, lawyers, police, neighborhood association heads, the press, the public, and of course, the panhandlers themselves.

Anything Helps God Bless received an immensely successful, and for some, life-changing workshop last December with two sold-out performances. Audience response was so strong, with calls for the show to "go national," that Snowlion Rep will mount a full production of the show as the first offering of its upcoming season of plays that take place in Maine; it opens next month.

Anything Helps God Bless will have seven performances:

Friday September 29 at 7:30 pm

Saturday September 30 at 7:30 pm

Sunday October 1 at 2:00 pm

Thursday October 5 at 7:30 pm

Friday October 6 at 7:30 pm

Saturday October 7 at 7:30 pm

Sunday October 8 at 2:00 pm

Performances are at the Portland Ballet Studio Theater, 517 Forest Avenue, Portland. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.snowlionrep.org or by calling (207) 518-9305. For more information, visit www.snowlionrep.org.

The show is directed by Al D'Andrea. The production stage manager is Laurie Wila. The ensemble, who play multiple roles, is as follows:

Harlan Baker*

Cathy Counts

Tom Handel

Rene Johnson

Patricia Mew

Eric Norgaard

Bob Pettee

Mary Randall

Pat Scully

Nick Soloway

Eric Darrow Worthley

*member Actors Equity Association