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Adventurous, thought-provoking happenings that incite spirited conversation.
 

A cultural movement to broaden awareness, encourage connection, and cultivate joy.
 

Collaborative creatives cultivating cultural currency

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OUR STORY

Where the river meets the sea, countercurrents swirl, and these seemingly opposing forces are in fact the animating spirit of a diverse, thriving ecosystem. Resistance drives creation. Divergence inspires collaboration.​

 

This idea is at the heart of counter/current. We endeavor to conjure brave spaces where we can take creative risks with each other and revel in cool, weird, occasionally uncomfortable but always captivating experiences together. And then talk about it. Preferably over tea.​

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We believe that by gathering together, with all our differences, to engage in a shared theatrical experience, we connect more deeply with each other, our awareness broadens and we cultivate joy in our community. We all move with the current, sometimes upstream and sometimes down, and when we meet in the stream it should spark joy and excitement in us, and strengthen our resilience, not pull us apart.​

 

We are John and Courtney, and counter/current:collective is our heartchild, the culminating vision of our 20-year career in collaborative performance and event production. We met in Theatre School, crawling around on the floor in the dark, pretending to be animals and vibing on the energy of the group.​In the 21 years since, we’ve pretty much been re-iterating that same exercise in all kinds of collaborative performing arts environments. We spent many years acting and teaching theatre. We’ve worked as dancers, designers, band managers, producers, directors, museum reenactors and birthday party balloon animal-making princesses. We’ve even dressed up in those big, smelly, stiflingly hot foamy character suits on a variety of occasions.​​

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We’ve teamed up with rock bands, dance companies, activist groups, hip-hop and graffiti artists, burlesque performers and all sorts of queer and BIPOC folx to make exciting, eye-opening, envelope-pushing live experiences.​

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When Covid hit, we got rid of all our stuff, moved into a Vanagon with our two kids (stop us if you’ve heard this one) and traveled all over the country for three years in search of a welcoming community of adventurous creative spirits.​ After many breakdowns (both mechanical and existential) and many false starts, the siren song of the sea beckoned. We followed the call, stepped into the current, and arrived on the shores of Belfast. Midcoast Maine is an exceptionally inspiring and supportive part of America (trust us, we’ve covered most of the map) and Belfast is poised to be its creative heart.​Audacious. Authentic. Awesome. Join us, and step into the counter/current…

WHAT WE OFFER

ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS

At counter/current, we create adventurous, thought-provoking theatre productions and collaborative happenings that incite spirited conversation and build resilience in our community by broadening our awareness, encouraging connection, and cultivating joy.

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Each year, counter/current will create a powerful season of “don’t miss” theatrical experiences that will draw people in search of cultural nourishment and stimulating conversation to the biggest little city in Maine.

CREATIVE DIRECTION

In addition to creating stellar collaborative events in the Midcoast, counter/current will attract a diverse roster of clients in search of insightful creative direction for their own work. We will specialize in supporting musicians and bands with performance direction, working with playwrights to develop new work, and consulting on immersive theatre experiences, live shows, and events around the world.

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We will grow to be a world-class theatrical production company and creative consulting firm that will enhance the cultural vibrancy of Belfast and the surrounding area, and be on the vanguard of the artistic renaissance of Midcoast Maine.

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