An annual feature of the Plein Air Competition and Arts Festival has been a theatrical performance from Easton’s own Factory Arts Project, a nonprofit community workshop for the performing arts.
From Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams, productions by the project have been some of the most anticipated and appreciated highlights of the festival.
But this has been a tough year for the troupe. A December fire at its Brooklets Building headquarters displaced the community and damaged its extensive collection of costumes and sets.
Despite the setback, the workshop’s Creative Director Cecile Davis was nonetheless determined to maintain its annual contribution to Plein Air, so she proposed to the sponsoring Avalon Foundation the idea of a radio play as less complicated alternative.
Davis said she had a backlog of scripts available, but at a planning session with the Avalon Foundation Marketing Director Tim Weigand suggested she consider an original work sent unsolicited by a Maryland author and Plein Air fan R.A. Pauli – about the festival itself.
“[Pauli’s] been attending the festival for years, and was inspired by it,” Davis said. “And it shows in the script. He really had insight into the experience.”
“Picture This” features four vignettes inspired by the spirit of the Plein Air competition. One is about the artists, others about the natural scenes they paint, and finally a couple’s journey to buy their favorite piece.
Players from the Factory Arts Project including creative director Cecile Davis (center) perform the radio play “Picture This” at Easton’s 2025 Plein Air festival.
“We were disappointed not being able to stage a full production again, but we thought at least we can do a radio play,” Davis remembers. “But then we got thinking, how can we make the radio play more meaningful?”
In keeping with the spirit of The Factory’s inclusive and collaborative approach, inspired by a painting by artist John Singer Sargent, during a two-hour paint-by-numbers event one afternoon.
The workshop recorded the audio before the festival started, then filmed a live performance at the festival’s kickoff on July 11.
“That we were doing the recording during the festival itself opened us up to the artists, who were all painting us while we were recording it. And you could tell they were loving it. There was tremendous crossover.”
This resulting video synchs the initial recorded audio with the Friday performance, creating work that will serve as a mini-documentary that to help promote the nonprofit mission of both the Factory Arts and the Avalon Foundation.
A Plein Air competitor paints the broadcast of “Picture This.”
Now in the process of relocating to Mill Place near the Avalon Theater, The Factory known for its costume shop, prop house, and support for local artists, and partners with organizations like WHCP radio to amplify community voices.
As Factory Arts prepares for a merger with the Cambridge-based Groove Theater and its first major fundraiser, the video presents a vivid snapshot into the workshop’s deep ties to Talbot County and its commitment to local art.
For more, visit The Factory’s web site or the Avalon Foundation.
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