Arm-of-the-Sea Theater opened its new enclosed performance space in the Tidewater Center with a new production and a planned series of Wednesday evening performances, lectures and demonstrations of the area and the Hudson River. The outdoor amphitheater on a grassy hillside has given way to a large tent in the former coalbin, with spaces for displays and education, as well as a ticket and souvenir sales section.
Every Wednesday through August 27, Arm-of-the-Sea Theater will be performing at the Tidewater Center, off East Bridge Street and adjacent to Tina Chorvas Park in Saugerties. Showtime is 6 to 8:30 p.m. The puppet production is to be preceded by a program that could include talks about the River or the history of the area or scientific facts about the surroundings.
The creation of a permanent theater does not mean the end of Arm-of-the-Sea’s traveling schedule, said theater co-founder Patrick Wadden. The group has a busy schedule of shows over the summer. Shows are scheduled for Mount Tremper, the Beacon Strawberry Festival, Peekskill, Kinderhook and Battery Park in New York City, among others.
Arm-of-the-Sea has been a touring company for the past 40 years, Wadden said, and the establishment of a theater space is something of an experiment. “We’re still a touring company, but we’re doing this as an experiment in jump-starting events — not just cultural events and live theater, but the stories of this place, the natural history and the social history of this place. The creek, the waterfalls, the mills, the town, the cosmos are all right here.” He noted that, while the conditions — the smoky air from the Canadian wildfires — were not great, “much of our work over the past 40 years has been ringing the alarm bells and calling attention to the relationship between human communities and the natural systems that support all life. That has become more acute and more necessary than ever.”
Along with the big tent, which Wadden said will seat 100 people, there are smaller tents where environmental educators Hope Nitza and Brian Reid show and discuss the native plants and animals of the area. Another tent houses a ticket and souvenir stand.
The current production tells the story of the wilderness, tamed by Indigenous people, but carefully managed to preserve its natural beauty and productivity; the coming of Europeans and the cutting of the forests and building development on the land; and finally, an introduction to the Catskill Visitors’ Center in Mount Tremper. A bear is the guide for a couple seeking an out-of-the-way place to build their home. It teaches them, and the audience, the value of protecting the environment and not overbuilding.
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