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 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.

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.

Life Sucks. But this play doesn’t.

Life Sucks. But this play doesn’t.

by | Jul 18, 2024 | News

theatre KAPOW opens its 17th season with Aaron Posner’s profoundly humane and hilariously quirky comedy Life Sucks. at BNH Stage in Concord, NH September 20 through 22.

A group of old friends, ex-lovers, estranged in-laws, and lifelong enemies gather to grapple with life’s thorniest questions—and each other. What could possibly go wrong? Incurably lustful and lonely, hapless and hopeful, these seven souls collide and hilariously stumble their way towards a new understanding that life sucks! Or does it? And how do we get through it?

Egos clash, hearts hunger, and souls cry out for meaning in this raw and cleverly funny reimagining of Anton Chekhov’s timeless classic Uncle Vanya. In Posner’s fresh take, the audience directly impacts what is happening on stage. The characters often talk to and ask questions of the audience. You might just learn something about your companion to the theater. Or you might reveal something.

The theme for tKAPOW’s 17th season is ‘conversation.’ This season emphasizes their commitment to bring stories to the stage that start conversations. Life Sucks. eliminates the wall between audience and actors and brings the two into direct dialogue about so many of the struggles and joys that we have in common.

Why this play? And, why now? Matt Cahoon, Artistic Director says: “I think that over the past several years we have all found moments to say ‘Life Sucks’ and it seems to me that in almost all cases, the way to make life suck just a little bit less is to make connections with other people. While far from being a perfect family, we do see in this play a group of people connected by a shared history, a desire for connection, and a hope that things can get better.” 

This is the second time that tKAPOW has produced one of Posner’s adaptations of Chekhov’s plays. The company’s incredibly successful 2016 production of Stupid F-ing Bird was hailed by critics as “exquisite theatre, writ large by a company at the top of their game” (Caught in the Act Blog). Actress Deirdre Bridge was in that production in the role of Emma Arkadina, and is also performing in Life Sucks. “At its core, Stupid F%cking Bird reminded us that all of our actions have repercussions for others; whether our acts are brazen or subtle, loving or hurtful, our interconnectedness is inescapable,” she said. “Aaron Posner is just so good at writing what happens between people, in the negative spaces among us.”

Seven actors return to tKAPOW again to perform in Life Sucks.: Deirdre Bridge, Emma Cahoon, Peter Josephson, Rachael Chapin Longo, Walter Maroney, Katie Proulx, and Glenn Provost. Life Sucks. is directed by Matt Cahoon and Intimacy Choreography by Samantha Griffin. Longtime tKAPOW collaborator Tayva Young will be providing the lighting design, and Barbara Holbrook the costume design.

Performances of Life Sucks. are September 20 and 21 at 7:30pm and September 22 at 2:00pm at the BNH Stage in Concord, NH. ASL Interpretation will be available at the Sunday, September 22 matinee performance at 2:00 pm at the BNH Stage in Concord, NH.  Braille programs are available at all performances. For tickets or more information, visit www.tkapow.com.

About theatre KAPOW

theatre KAPOW (www.tkapow.com) develops ensemble productions of great dramatic literature to explore the human experience and inspire and challenge both artist and audience. tKAPOW places emphasis on the importance of rigorous formal training to develop an ensemble of skilled and dedicated theatre artists.

theatre KAPOW is supported in part by a grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, and NH Dance Collaborative.

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