Storytelling production retells life of Celia Thaxter

Celia Thaxter in her early 20s. (Courtesy photo)

Imagine being four years old and sailing off with your family to live at a lighthouse out in the ocean! It sounds like the stuff of fiction, yet this is exactly what happens in the unique story of Celia Laighton Thaxter, the wild and free child of the Isles of Shoals who became a famous poet, painter, and folklorist.

You are invited to explore "The Remarkable Life of Celia Thaxter" in a presentation by actor Stephanie Voss Nugent on Saturday, October 25 at Hobbs House Community Center, 200 High Street, Hampton. The doors open at 6:30pm, and refreshments will be served; the presentation begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10; students 18 and under are $5. Trinity Church in Hampton and Christ Episcopal Church in Portsmouth are the co-sponsors of the event.

"The Remarkable Life of Celia Thaxter" is a slide presentation in which Nugent, an actor and researcher, invites participants to join her "backstage," as she transforms historical research into performance, tracing Celia's life from her childhood on White Island Light to her unexpected fame as a writer.

Using archival photography and performing extended passages from Celia's prose and poetry, Nugent explore the forces that shaped Thaxter's work, and we are introduced to some of the writers, musicians, and artists who followed Celia to her beloved island home each summer. This hour-long presentation is perfect for audiences 8 to 108.

Stephanie Voss Nugent is a professional actor, director, producer, and founding Executive Director of ACT ONE, Artists' Collaborative Theatre Of New England. Stephanie was fortunate to be a part of the professional company at Theatre By The Sea in Portsmouth, playing such roles as Emilia in Othello, Lizzie in The Rainmaker, Sonya in Uncle Vanya, and Agnes in Shadowbox. In 1981 she began studying the Isles of Shoals and Celia Thaxter, and in 1999 she toured an original, multi-media theatre presentation, Of Pirates & Poets - A Visit to The Isles of Shoals with Celia Thaxter, to nine theatres and opera houses across New Hampshire.

For more information or to reserve your tickets, please call 603.926.5688. Tickets may be purchased at the door (cash or check only please).