A Phantom Song—by Maine filmmakers and theater producers Michael Gorman and Donna Daly of Rockland-based The Forty Hour Club—combines the raw energy and emotional power of live theater and documentary film to address the plight of those living in the shadows of the opiate crisis in the State Capital of Augusta, Maine.

In the film, first-time theatrical performers from the recovery, reentry, and unhoused community in Augusta who participated in a developmental performance of an experimental blues/rock opera create an inspiring chorus of faces and voices that are often unseen and unheard to confront the bias and resistance that can lead to the destructive power of stigma.

Filmed at The Colonial Theater in Augusta, the film also serves as a companion piece to “The Moby Dick Blues”—a blues/rock opera created by The Forty Hour Club that recently had its world premiere in The Ellen Stewart Theater at the famed La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York City in June, 2025.

Both the film “A Phantom Song”, and the opera “The Moby Dick Blues” evolved from The Forty Hour Club’s on-going project “Chasing The New White Whale—Harpooning Addiction”—a performance art & advocacy model dedicated to bringing awareness to the issue of opiate addiction in the commercial fishing community of New England.

"A Phantom Song”, which premiered last year at The Maine International Film Festival and has toured to other festivals this year, will screen on Friday, September 26 at 7:00pm at SPACE—538 Congress St, Portland.  A Q&A with the filmmakers, cast, and others to follow. Runtime: 45 minutes.  Tickets and information at: www.space538.org or (207) 828-5600