PORTLAND, Maine — The Beautiful Blackbird Children's Book Festival (BBCBF) kicks off Saturday with a variety of events for families to celebrate Black culture in Maine and beyond.
The statewide festival was founded in 2019 and was created to honor the award-winning picture book "Beautiful Blackbird" by Ashley Bryan.
This year, the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine is turning the book into an interactive theater production for children ages five and under. The play debuts Saturday at the museum, which is also offering $1 admission to the museum and $1 tickets to the show.
René Goddess, the director of the show, is making her return to theater directing after a nearly seven-year hiatus for personal reasons. She said this show is about identity and self-confidence, which she feels is especially important for Black people and people of color.
"There is an immense amount of inequity in traditional theater spaces and organizations here on Wabanaki Territory. This collaboration with CMTM is an opportunity to have an honest conversation about how historically disenfranchised communities need to be seen and elevated in theater and theater education," Goddess said. "Hearing from teachers that Black and brown students felt seen, felt heard, and even changed some of their future dreams because they saw someone that looked like them create something so magical and so beautiful was overwhelming."
"Building a strong identity is a difficult thing to do no matter where in the world you grow up," Goddess added. "Blackbird teaches us that others around us can shape identity, so it is important to understand your own worth for yourself."
For Nathan Lapointe, this is his first opportunity to be a musical director for a show. He has previously presented "Blackbird Beats," another BBCBF-inspired musical performance.
"The people in this show, from the actors to the director to backstage, everybody just has such beautiful life and support and energy for each other. And you see a smile on everyone's face," Lapointe said. "It just brings me complete joy to be able to do this and to be able to continue that legacy and in my own kind of way."
The show will run weekends through Oct. 11 and then tour to locations across Maine from Oct. 14-Nov. 26. In November, Portland Ovations will present a concert adaptation, "Beautiful Blackbird Live!", offering another family-friendly theatrical interpretation of the story.
Over the past four years, the festival has distributed more than 12,500 BBCBF-featured books to Maine’s youth, welcomed over 4,600 attendees to in-person events, and reached more than 150,000 audience members across 123 countries, according to staff at the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine, which is one of the eight community partners organizing the event.
This year, the festival will feature live events across Portland, Lewiston, Hallowell, and Rockland from Sept. 27 through Nov. 23.
