One hauntingly delicious evening of Edgar Allan Poe

One hauntingly delicious evening of Edgar Allan Poe

by | Oct 13, 2026 | News

One hauntingly delicious evening of Edgar Allan Poe in Concord with theatre KAPOW at Gnomies

theatre KAPOW and Gnomies, Concord’s newest cafe and dry-bar experience, will collaborate for one night only for Masque & Macabre: An evening of Edgar Allan Poe and Exquisite Dining on October 23 at 6 pm.

Step beyond the ordinary and into the haunting world of Edgar Allan Poe while enjoying a delicious five-course meal. For one October night, guests will experience an intimate evening of candlelight, live theatre, beautiful food, and a touch of the macabre.  theatre KAPOW (tKAPOW) and the team at Gnomies are collaborating to create an unforgettable and exquisite event. Poe’s stories and poetry will unfold around the unique venue as diners experience elegant bites and botanical sips inspired by his dark and unforgettable works.

Guests are invited to come dressed for an evening out:  dark elegance, victorian touches, masks, and a little theatrical flair are welcomed, but not required. “This is not simply dinner and it is not simply theatre,” says Gnomie’s owner and head chef Susan Riedl, “It is an atmosphere and evening meant to be experienced.”

This collaboration began with a conversation back in December 2025. Brainstorming back and forth with tKAPOW founder Carey Cahoon led to the idea for an evening matching the language of Edgar Allan Poe with an immersive dining experience.  “It’s truly a perfect fit for the fall season, and the incredible new space that Susan has created at Gnomies,” said Cahoon. 

Audiences can expect truly well-crafted courses and themed sips – all non-alcoholic, of course – surrounded by the distinctive words of several of Poe’s poems and classic stories including The Tell-Tale Heart, the Masque of the Red Death, the Raven and more.  With this combination of atmosphere, actors, and shared dining experience, Riedl says to “plan for an unforgettable evening.”

The cast features tKAPOW regulars Samantha Griffin, Glenn Provost, and Nick Meunier, joined by Hannah Heckman-McKenna making their tKAPOW debut. The show is adapted and directed by company co-founder Carey Cahoon.

Masque & Macabre: An evening of Edgar Allan Poe and Exquisite Dining is Friday, October 23 at 6 pm at Gnomies Woodland Fountain in Concord, NH. Tickets are limited and advance reservations are required. 

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About Gnomies

Gnomies is a place to connect, relax, sip, eat, and play.  New Hampshire’s First Dry Bar, Café & Creative Game Lounge, Gnomies is located at 254 North State St. Unit H in Concord in the space formerly Area 23.  This community hub is all about casual, analog fun. Enjoy lite bites, dinner or even brunch; dive into our massive board game library; get creative in instructor-led art classes; or rent our whimsical event space for private gatherings. Whether you are playing games, making art, sharing a meal, or meeting friends, Gnomies is your inviting woodland escape.

The Cast of Masque and Macabre - Av Evening of Edgar Allen Poe

Meet the Cast

Samantha Griffin (she/her) is overjoyed to be spending her fall collaborating with theatre KAPOW and living out her Gilmore Girls Poe Night fantasy (S3E17, anyone?). An actor, playwright, director, intimacy choreographer, and one time published poet from Southern NH, she holds a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance with a minor in Playwriting from Columbia College Chicago. Sam most recently appeared in KAPOW’s September production of Iphigenia in Aulis; other recent credits include Enid’s Mill (Players’ Ring), Spookley The Square Pumpkin: The Musical (Firehouse Center for the Arts), and The Best We Could (a family tragedy) (theatre KAPOW). @samdgrif  

Hannah Heckman-McKenna (they/she) is an actor out of Concord, NH. After studying and performing locally, Hannah was accepted into and graduated from Circle in the Square Theatre School’s two year professional workshop.  Some of their favorite roles were Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe in the film “The Women Who Loved Poe”, Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing: Head Trick Theatre, Providence RI) and Kate Monster (Avenue Q: Top Notch Players, Haverhill, MA).  Additionally, they have attended and performed at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh as well as competed nationally in AACTFest.  When not on stage, Hannah enjoys spending time with their cats and traveling the northeast, attending various renaissance festivals. Hannah is thrilled to be making their theatre KAPOW debut in this piece centered around the brilliant works of Edgar Allan Poe! 

Nicholas Meunier (he/him) is honored to return to theatre KAPOW again. Previous credits with tKAPOW include What the Constitution Means to Me (Legionnaire), Pride & Prejudice (Wickham/Collins), Mr. Wolf (Michael), and the staged reading of I, Will (Will). He is particularly excited for this experience, as he still has a volume of Poe’s poetry on his bookshelf that he bought for himself in a gift shop somewhere (Salem?) in approximately 1990 after seeing the first Treehouse of Horror on The Simpsons. He is also a true board game geek so would take any opportunity to perform at a board game café.  

Glenn Provost (he/him) is an award-winning actor and a less distinguished director, producer, designer, improvisor, and one-time playwright, who is proud to be joining Theatre Kapow for the 10th time for this show. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Stage of Fools, a Manchester-based Shakespeare troupe. His favorite roles include M in Lungs, Vanya in Life Sucks, and both Orpheus and the Nasty, Interesting Man in two different productions of Eurydice. Glenn enjoys karaoke, cunning linguistics, and speaking about himself in the third person; he is a Capricorn.

Casting Call: Continuity play reading

Casting Call: Continuity play reading

by | Sep 22, 2026 | Blog

theatre KAPOW is seeking one Black female-presenting actor (20s) to complete the cast for a reading of Bess Wohl’s play Continuity on Sunday afternoon, November 8 at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, NH.

This reading is part of tKAPOW’s ARTiculate playreading series in conjunction with Kenneth Millington’s exhibition New Aftermaths at 3S Artspace.

Submission: Please submit a current headshot and resume.

Rehearsals: Two rehearsals prior to performance: one a read-through over zoom, and one in-person rehearsal in Manchester, NH. To be scheduled for late October/early November based on availability.

Performance: Sunday, November 8, at 2 pm at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, NH.

Role available for one non-union actress to play Lily, 22 year old Nigerian-British actress, just out of RADA. Lily plays Dr. Anna Gerber, the young climatologist in the movie being filmed in the play.

Stipend: $75. (travel reimbursement available)

Audition requirements: submissions will be accepted until the role is filled.

About the show: Bess Wohl’s startlingly funny play examines what is worth saving and what isn’t—especially when we’re facing the end of the world. A sheet of ice sits in the desert of New Mexico. A mad eco-terrorist plants a bomb in order to save humankind. A beleaguered film crew tries to get in one last shot before losing the light. In Continuity, storytelling and science collide with hilarious and devastating consequences.  The play asks, “How do we keep going when hope can seem as fictional as a Hollywood ending?” and also, “What’s for lunch?”

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Sailing to Troy in 2026

Sailing to Troy in 2026

by | Sep 12, 2026 | Blog

Join is for a special conversation after the matinee performance of Iphigenia in Aulis on Saturday, September 19 at 2:00 pm.  We’ll be talking about the resonance of ancient stories today, adaptation, and the human need for storytelling.  And yes, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey movie. Join our guests facilitators, the artists and actors of theatre KAPOW, and audience members for this discussion.

Homer composed his epic poems around the 8th or 7th century BC. Euripides’ play Iphigenia in Aulis was first produced in 405 BC. Anne Washburn adapted it in 2015. tKAPOW is performing her play in 2026.  What is it about these stories that makes us keep coming back to to them?  

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Dr. Meoghan Cronin is Professor of English and the Director of College Writing at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. She teaches Romantic and Victorian literature and advanced writing courses. Her research usually focuses on girls in nineteenth-century and twentieth-century British fiction. Her articles on these topics have appeared in Dickens Quarterly, Victorians Institute Journal, Essays in Criticism, and elsewhere, including in collections on Fathers in Victorian Fiction and Catholicism in Contemporary Literature. One of her current works-in-progress is about the American series of abridgements for children, the 1855-56 Dickens’ Little Folks, a set of pleasing but didactic stories with gender-coded messages about good and bad boys and girls.

Dr. Roxanne Gentilcore grew up in southern Ontario and attended the University of Toronto where she majored in English and Classics. She went on to attend graduate school in Classics at Boston University where her PhD focused on the influence of the Classics in Early American literature. Roxanne taught at the Universities of New Brunswick and Toronto. After returning to the U.S., Roxanne was on the faculty at Smith College and the University of Massachusetts before taking a position at St. Anselm College in 2005. While at St. A’s she has introduced scores of students to the joys of learning Latin (and a smaller number to the wisdom of the Ancient Greeks in their own tongue.) Her publications and research interests focus on Latin literature and the influence of the Classics on later literature. She lives with her husband in Massachusetts and has two daughters.

Sailing to Troy in 2026

tKAPOW returns to Ancient Greece with Iphigenia in Aulis

by | Sep 8, 2026 | Blog

theatre KAPOW returns to the Greeks in its 19th season fall production with Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides, transadapted by Anne Washburn at the BNH Stage in Concord, NH September 18 – 20, 2026.

Live musicians perform original songs with a chorus of contemporary dancers and singers. It’s a Greek classic unlike any you’ve seen before. In this dynamic imagining of Euripides’ rarely-seen final play, playwright Anne Washburn renders an ancient story to return us to a world where a father is challenged to sacrifice his daughter to appease the gods. An angry nation seethes and a great army thirsts for blood at Troy, but their battle ships are stuck in Aulis. For General Agamemnon, there’s one way forward to glory: kill your daughter, Iphigenia. Only then will the gods be satisfied and ignite the winds. Iphigenia and her mother, Clytemnestra, arrive in Aulis to a plan already in motion – The war can’t end unless it begins.

“The world of Greek mythology and drama has always been of interest to theatre KAPOW,” said Artistic Director, Matt Cahoon. tKAPOW has produced several classic Greek plays and contemporary plays inspired them. He added, “It is exciting that the recent film version of The Odyssey has renewed interest in similar ancient stories.”

Cahoon also noted that he appreciated Hollywood’s recent purposeful turn away from CGI and other special effects in favor of types of storytelling seen in theatre for millenia. “In a world in which it is increasingly difficult to tell the difference between what is real and what is artificially generated, I think the theatre offers the opportunity to experience stories in a truly visceral way. You breathe the same air as the actors, feel the heat of the lights, and feel the vibration of powerful voices in your chest.  With a couple of flashlights, some umbrellas to project objects on, and the power of your own imagination, we can transport you to the Greek isles! That’s what I love about watching theatre and that’s also the type of theatre I love to make.” 

Collaboration is a key element in the creation of theatre KAPOW’s work.  For Iphigenia in Aulis, they have again collaborated with New Hampshire native composer and music director Jake Hudgins, and choreographer Lorraine Chapman.  Both worked on past productions with tKAPOW including The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood on 2019, and The Boyg by AJ Ditty in 2022.  

The cast features company members Peter Josephson and Rachael Chapin Longo as Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and Samantha Griffin in the title role of Iphigenia. The chorus of multi-talented performers includes Samantha Autumn, Tracey Hickey, Olivia Krick, and Alex Picard. Iphigenia in Aulis is stage-managed by company member Carey Cahoon, lighting design is by longtime collaborator Tayva Young, and costume design is by Barbara Holbrook.

There will be a post show discussion after the Saturday September 19 matinee performance focused on adaptation of classic stories in modern literature and film. ASL Interpretation will be available at the Sunday, September 20 matinee performance at 2:00 pm at the BNH Stage in Concord, NH.

Performances of Iphigenia in Aulis are September 18 at 7:30pm and September 19 and 20 at 2:00pm at the BNH Stage in Concord, NH. tKAPOW’s series sponsor is Saint Mary’s Bank.

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Vibrant abstract painting of brightly colored fish leaping from rippling water with splashes and reflections.
Photos by Matthew Lomanno.
ARTiculate play readings coming to 3S Artspace

ARTiculate play readings coming to 3S Artspace

by | Aug 7, 2026 | Blog, News

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 Ashley 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.

Abstract textured background with pink-beige horizontal lines and two wireframe egg shapes on the right, covered in small black star-like markings.

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.

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