Anita Stewart

Review: Sleuthing and Secrets: DIRTY DEEDS DOWNEAST at Portland Stage
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Nov 14, 2025

Brent Askari’s new play, set on an isolated island in Maine, explores the secrets , insecurities, and yearnings of a handful of quirky characters brought together by a murder investigation.  DIRTY DEEDS DOWNEAST is an amusing and touching portrayal of small town life, the secrets the townsfolk keep, the iconoclastic barriers they erect around themselves, and the bumbling, yet uncannily accurate instincts of the island’s only policeman, who himself harbors a history of mental struggle and deep insecurity.

Review: DIRTY DEEDS DOWNEAST at Portland Stage
by Steve Feeney - Nov 3, 2025

In his well-wrought new comedy/mystery/romance, homegrown playwright Brent Askari seeks to scratch the surface and look a little deeper into the soul of a seemingly placid island community off the coast of Maine. 

Portland Stage to Present Mark St. Germain’s ELEANOR Starring Kandis Chappell
by A.A. Cristi - Sep 10, 2025

Portland Stage will open its 52nd season with Eleanor by Mark St. Germain, a powerful solo show that brings First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to life in an intimate, deeply human portrait.

Review: MURDER FOR TWO at Portland Stage
by Steve Feeney - Aug 4, 2025

The scenes may seem a little frenzied in the 2025 late-summer show at Maine’s Portland Stage.  But that’s only if you don’t surrender your imagination to a pair of high-energy performers taking on thirteen roles in the madcap mystery/musical/comedy Murder for Two.

Portland Stage Unveils All-Black Cast For WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
by Chloe Rabinowitz - May 19, 2025

Portland Stage has revealed the cast of its new production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, featuring an all-Black cast under the direction of acclaimed artist Goldie E. Patrick. Learn more!

Review: Portland Stage Presents Agatha Christie With a Comic Twist
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Feb 3, 2025

Portland Stage’s latest production, Steven Dietz’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s MURDER ON THE LINKS, aims to lighten the winter blues with a comic take on the usually formulaic murder mystery. 

Portland Stage Presents THE SNOW QUEEN
by A.A. Cristi - Nov 16, 2024

Portland Stage Company will present the timeless tale of love, friendship, and the lengths we go to to care for our loved ones, THE SNOW QUEEN.

Review: ANGELS IN AMERICA in the New Millennium at Portland Stage
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - May 13, 2024

Portland Stage joins forces with the Dramatic Repertory Company to revive Tony Kushner’s multiple award-winning 1991 drama, ANGELS IN AMERICA, in a production that Artistic Director Anita Stewart proudly calls “all Maine-made.”  The company has shouldered the huge task of presenting the sprawling seven-hour epic in two parts, the first of which “Millennium Approaches” proves its ability to create a powerful emotional impact long after its premiere.

Review: TURANDOT at Belk Theater
by Perry Tannenbaum - Apr 22, 2024

Yes, a grand opera was inserted at Belk Theater as the clock or calendar was winding down! Around the world, Callas, Nilsson, and Sutherland are among the divas who have graced the powerhouse role of TURANDOT, and Franco Zeffirelli's production at the Met is as revered for its stateliness and splendor as the Notre Dame Cathedral. Grand? Monumental.

Portland Stage to Present ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART 1- MILLENIUM APPROACHES
by A.A. Cristi - Apr 17, 2024

Catch the latest production of ANGELS IN AMERICA PT 1, presented by PORTLAND STAGE.

Portland Stage to Present THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG in February
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Jan 19, 2024

PORTLAND STAGE delivers the laughs with THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG. Learn how to purchase tickets!

Portland Stage to Present Holiday Classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL
by Chloe Rabinowitz - Nov 24, 2023

Portland Stage Company is bringing back a locally adapted holiday classic paired with a winter clothing drive to benefit Maine Needs.

BWW Review: Portland Stage Celebrates 50th Season with Monica Wood's SAINT DAD
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Oct 30, 2023

Portland Stage opens its fiftieth season with a warm, witty, insightful new play by one of Maine’s most original voices, Monica Wood, in a stylish production directed by Sally Wood. Portland Stage’s commitment to new work has been an enduring one, and surely one of the theatre’s brightest new endeavors has been to nurture the playwrighting talents of Monica Wood. Her latest work, SAINT DAD, is a polished and poignant play about the intersection of people from two very different worlds brought together by the sale of a family camp in rural Maine and the journey they take individually and collectively to reach some transformative epiphanies.

SAINT DAD By Monica Wood Comes To Portland Stage Company October 25
by A.A. Cristi - Oct 14, 2023

PORTLAND STAGE presents the world premiere of SAINT DAD, a comedic and touching exploration of Maine, class, family, and culture change by playwright Monica Wood.

Portland Stage Company Presents HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED By August Wilson
by A.A. Cristi - Feb 18, 2023

Portland Stage Company will present How I Learned What I Learned by August Wilson to Maine. Heralded as a tour de force, this one-man play tells the story of Wilson's journey from a young, struggling poet in the Hill District of Pittsburgh to becoming one of the most celebrated and respected playwrights of our time.

Review: SWEET GOATS & BLUBERRY SEÑORITAS: Poetic Sensibility & Lingering Sweetness
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Feb 2, 2023

The premiere of Richard Blanco and Vanessa Garcia’s SWEET GOATS and BLUBERRY SEÑORITAS at Portland Stage heralds the magical debut of a haunting new dramatic voice.  Poet Blanco and his collaborator Garcia have created a delicate, sad-sweet memory play, inhabited by six memorable and widely disparate characters, whose shards of reminiscence come together in the cold winter landscape of a small Maine town.

12 Days Left To Vote For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards; Maine State Music Theatre Leads Favorite Local Theatre!
by BWW - Dec 19, 2022

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

BWW Critic's Choices: Best of Maine 2022
by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold - Dec 15, 2022

After three seemingly endless years, Maine's theatrical landscape has truly begun to come to life again after the pandemic. I am thrilled to be able to pen this article, having experienced a 2022 that saw the remarkable 'comebacks' of Maine's theatres. While the year was not without continued challenges, these brave, resilient companies managed to produce first-class live theatre for grateful audiences. These are my personal choices of the best in Maine for 2022, grouped by theatre company and show.

Latest Stats Released For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards; at Maine State Music Theatre Leads Best Ensemble Performance!
by BWW - Dec 12, 2022

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Latest Standings Released For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards; Maine State Music Theatre Leads Favorite Local Theatre!
by BWW - Dec 5, 2022

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Maine Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.