
My Story is Gluskabe
adapted by Carol Dana
and other story-keepers of the Penobscot Nation

Produced by Penobscot Theatre Company
March 2024
Bangor, ME
About the show:
In the earliest days, a boy called Gluskabe ventures into the world. With the wisdom and guidance of his Grandmother Woodchuck, the young Gluskabe discovers and shapes the Wabanaki landscape and brings balance to all elements that affect human life: the land, water and sky – the animals and the environment.
Through a series of remarkable adventures, Gluskabe grows into the Penobscot Nation’s cultural hero, still remembered and revered today. With music, dance and theatrical spectacle we reimagine a production first produced in our DA program as Transformer Tales. We are thrilled to bring these stories to our mainstage series, partnering with the remarkable young people from our DA program and citizens of the Wabanaki nations to bring these stories to brilliant theatrical life.
"The resulting production, which opened Thursday and runs through March 17, is immersive in nearly every way — visually, sonically, and emotionally. For the show’s 90-minute run time, you are swept into a world where time stops, and humanity is brought into balance with nature."
- Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News
"Director Jorden Charley-Whatley, a New York City-based member of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, weaves a stunning visual and aural tapestry that enchanted the audience Saturday night at the Bangor Opera House. He creates a tight ensemble with every performer but Cross expertly portraying multiple characters, including animals."
- Judy Harrison, Bangor Daily News
Cast
Matt Cross*- Gluskabe
Kaili Y. Turner*- Grandmother Woodchuck, Ensemble
Lilah Akins- Lead Ensemble
George Loring- Lead Ensemble
Vero Villalobos- Lead Ensemble
Dramatic Academy Youth Ensembles
Nsáwαkan (eagle) Cast
Sophie Robinson
Kaia
Hayden Crane
Miles Green-Hamann
Derrick Johnson
Caleb
Nadia Rodriguez
Adrian Sockalexis
Áwehsohs (bear) Cast
Maia Johnson
Kira Hendrickson
Monika Vijay
Quin Byrne
Jackson Woodworth
Aiden Byrne
Fiona Rigler
Adrian Sockalexis
Creative
Lighting Designer
Isaac C. Anderson
Projection Designer
Arturo Camacho
Scenic Designer
Nathan Ynacay
Prop Designer
Reed Davis
Puppet Designer
Gwen Elise Higgins
Costume Designer
Grace Wylie
Assistant Costume Designer
Emmett Sockalexis
Stage Manager
Reed Davis*
Sound Designer, Composer
Firefly
Sound Engineer
Neil E Graham
Choreographer
Donna Brown
Co-Choreographer/ DA Instructor
Danielle Barrett
Fight & Intimacy Director
Angela Bonacasa
Dramaturg
Margo Lukens
Cultural Consultant
Sage Neptune
Production Photography
Bill Kuykendall
* denotes a member of Actor's Equity Association