Play Reading to Benefit Maine Civil Rights and Immigrant Groups

When the lights go up on the stage at the Maine Irish Heritage Center, 34 Gray St., Portland on September 12 & 13, 2025 at 7:30 pm, for “It Can’t Happen Here”, a play based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis, it will be like an old time radio play, with actors in front of the microphones.   Two Maine nonprofit groups – the Maine Civil Liberties Union (https://www.aclumaine.org/) and the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (https://ilapmaine.org/) will receive a portion of the ticket revenues. Tickets will be available at the door starting at $10.

This theatrical fundraiser is helmed by USM retired theatre professor, director, actor and former state legislator, Harlan Baker. It features Alan McLucas, Ann Tracy, Barney McCellen, Charlie Cole, Craig Dorais, David Handwerker, Elizabeth Lardie, Eric Dow Worthley, Herb Adams, Howard Rosenfeld, Isis Phoenix, Kelly McDaniel, Peter Weigel, Seth Berner, Tirseh Yael, Tim Wooten, and Tristan Rolfe. This is the second time that Baker has directed this play as a staged reading. The other production was back in 2017.

“Why are we doing this show again?” Baker said. “I use the phrase back by popular demand. We’re doing it again because this administration is even worse the second time around. It’s worse than the first Trump administration because now he’s threatening to arrest opposition politicians. He’s building detention centers and arresting immigrants who are in this country legally, but are not white, without due process. The corruption of this administration clearly shows why Sinclair’s 1930’s novel and play are very relevant.”

“It Can’t Happen Here” is considered a dystopian novel published in 1935 by American journalist and author Sinclair Lewis and is set in Vermont. It follows a populist politician who quickly rises to power to become the United States first outright dictator and the courageous newspaper editor who sees the politician’s fascist policies for what they are and becomes an ardent critic. It’s compared to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Nazi Germany and some say mirrors the current political climate in the United States now.