PORTLAND, Maine —July 14, 2009 — Add Verb Productions, a downtown Portland-based nonprofit that uses live theatre for health and wellness education, announced today that an anonymous donor has pledged an unrestricted gift of $75,000 over three years.

“Add Verb is absolutely thrilled and invigorated to have this support,” said Add Verb’s executive director and playwright Cathy Plourde. “Today’s young people face increasingly complex, emotionally charged, and controversial issues that are oftentimes met with silence or indifference by their community. This gift, along with our other wonderful support, will allow us to help communities talk about and find support on issues such as dating violence and eating disorders.”

Add Verb is also supported by the Bingham Program, Maine Community Foundation, National Recreation Foundation, the van Otterloo Family Foundation, and the Robbins-DeBeaumont Foundation, among others. Each of the organization’s three nationally-touring plays help to break the ice on issues that are often difficult to discuss: eating disorders and dating/domestic violence.

The unrestricted gift, received from the donor advised fund of the Calvert Social Investment Foundation, will enable Add Verb to expand its programming across Maine, as well as move forward with plans to design a curriculum supplement that follows National Health Education Standards for use in middle and high school classrooms. A new play for high school and college audiences about substance abuse is in development and tentatively slated for preview in the fall of 2010.

About Add Verb Productions: Theatre for Health & Wellness Education
Add Verb Productions tackles difficult social issues through provocative theatre performances, thereby building stronger, healthier communities. Add Verb’s three nationally touring plays, The Thin Line, You the Man, and A Major Medical Breakthrough, address the complex issues of eating disorders, interpersonal violence, and the health care sector’s underutilized role in violence intervention, respectively. Each performance is followed by a panel discussion comprised of local advocates, counselors, and medical experts that allow audience interaction and community discussion. The productions have been presented across the country at middle schools, high schools, colleges, community centers, medical schools, military bases, and conferences.
For more information, visit www.addverbproductions.com
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