Digging deeper into Artistic Ideas: theatre KAPOW brings ARTiculate play readings to 3S Artspace starting in August
Hear the Play. See the Art. Talk about it.
That’s what theatre KAPOW and 3S Artspace are offering audiences three times this season, starting on August 30. “Pairing plays with visual art and then having great conversations with audience members is what makes the ARTiculate play reading among my favorite things that we do,” said Carey Cahoon, co-founder of tKAPOW. The company has been presenting programs like this one for more than 10 years, first at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, and now also at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth. “The exhibitions and the artists that 3S is bringing in are exploring so many of the same issues and ideas that contemporary playwrights are,” Cahoon explains, “so the art and the play together become a great launching point for very timely discussion.”
The ARTiculate Playreading Series kicks off on August 30 at 2:00 pm with anthropology by award-winning playwright Lauren Gunderson. When a tech prodigy loses her sister, she does the unthinkable: she builds an AI trained on voice notes, texts and posts to bring her back – only for the algorithm to start revealing secrets the family never dared to ask. As the code processes more and more, so unfolds a gripping investigation of grief, memory and the stories we upload to survive. A moving exploration of the intersection of family, technology, and legacy, anthropology asks: if a machine can finish our sentences, who owns the ending?
The reading of anthropology will be followed by a tour of the Gallery exhibitions, Between lines and breath (works by Mina Kim), and the drop falls (works by Elsie Kagan). These exhibitions spark conversation about technology, AI, and the enduring value of touch and process.
As visitors move between Kagan’s fluid, AI-informed landscapes and Kim’s tactile, hand-wrought forms, they are immersed in two very different but complementary perspectives on process, perception, and transformation. The work invites viewers to consider how meaning accumulates through repetition, uncertainty, and sustained attention.
“We’re thrilled to launch the ARTiculate series in collaboration with theatre KAPOW. At 3S, we’re always seeking out new channels to deepen visitor engagement with our artists and exhibitions, and this series is a natural fit, bringing the community together to experience a play, explore the Gallery, and stay to participate in conversation. It’s an opportunity to connect artistic disciplines and also contemporary topics in a way that feels immediate and alive,” said Sara O’Reilly, Director of Marketing and Sales at 3S Artspace.
Additional planned readings include the play Continuity by Pulitzer-prize winner Bess Wohl on Sunday, November 8 in conjunction with the exhibition New Aftermaths by artist Kenneth Millington; and the play Birds of North America by Anna Ouyang Moench will be read Sunday, January 25 paired with the exhibition Carried by the Wind by artists Kristy Cavaretta and Alicia Ethridge.
The cast of anthropology features Deirdre Hickok Bridge, Emma Cahoon, Kyrie Ellison, and Ashely Risteen, directed by Carey Cahoon. theatre KAPOW’s staged reading of anthropology is Sunday, August 30 at 2:00pm at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, NH. Tickets are $15 and include the reading, discussion, and a gallery tour. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit 3Sarts.org or tkapow.com.
About 3S Artspace
3S Artspace, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is an essential contributor to the New Hampshire Seacoast’s contemporary arts and entertainment scene as a hub for emerging artists to showcase their work, take the stage, and bring community together. We believe that by creating a space for the intersection of art and contemporary issues, we can inspire each other to stay curious, foster empathy, and fuel creativity.
The Gallery at 3S Artspace is an incubator of ideas, facilitator of original content, and is committed to presenting a diverse representation of contemporary visual artists. Each year the Gallery presents exhibitions that highlight unprecedented innovation across disciplines, celebrate artistic excellence, encourage lively discourse, and foster an unwavering appreciation for the vital role that art plays in our community. 3sarts.org
Elsie Kagan, goes without saying, 2026, Flashe, acrylic, and tinted plaster on panel, 18″ x 18″. On view in “the drop falls” August 7 – September 27, 2026 at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, NH.
Mina Kim, Untitled, 2025, Oil on linen, steel wire, 48” x 60”. On view in “Between lines and breath” August 7 – September 27, 2026 at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, NH.
