Director and actor Edwin Cahill, born and raised in the Portland area, had stints on Broadway and Tony award-winning national tours before his return to his roots in Maine. Nonetheless, coming back to his home state has “been just a magical transformation.”
Matt and Edwin Cahill are the married team behind Hogfish, a theater organization in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
Courtesy of Hogfish
Cahill co-runs Hogfish, a regenerative arts production company with an artist residency at the historic Beckett Castle in Cape Elizabeth, with his husband Matt Cahill. The company’s performances this year include a double billing at the Aura nightclub in Portland. The first half of the evening features Francis Poulenc and Guillaume Apollinaire’s Breasts of Tiresias, a musical-meets-opera that dives into themes of feminism, surrealism, and gender expansion. Then, the show turns into the interactive electronica dance party that is Teresa’s Tatas!, focused on engendering feelings of love, transcendence, joy, and authenticity.
“There is so much to experience in Maine, and this includes the vibrant performing arts and music scene throughout the state, as well as the museums and special exhibits,” he says. In particular, the director says the the Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts Spring in Acadia National Park “is not to be missed,” citing its dedication to telling Indigenous stories and history.
Cahill finds that the spirit of the Maine environment helps rekindle inspiration for artists like himself. “I think part of that [inspiration] is a return to nature for some people who had been away in urban environments for so long,” Cahill says. “I had forgotten about my connection to the natural world.”
Bar Harbor, ME
Courtesy of the Maine Office of Tourism
Canoeing in Scarborough Marsh
Now, Cahill finds himself out in nature as much as possible. One place he often returns to is the Scarborough Marsh, the largest salt marsh in the state, and the Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center. He notes that the marsh was where the Indigenous people of the region, the Wabanaki nations, would once gather sweetgrass for basket-weaving and medicinal purposes.
“There’s something sacred for me about places where water and land meet, where salt and freshwater meet, transitional spaces where the veil is thin and where you can really understand your humanity,” the director says. “The marsh is one of those places, whether you have your own canoe or you rent one from Audubon Society.” Part of why he enjoys canoeing in Scarborough Marsh is because of the clarity of thought and focus the peaceful waters lend him.
“Time is one of the greatest colonizers [of our world],” says Cahill. “There’s something really beautiful about going out on the water, being at a natural pace—not with a motor—that forces you to propel yourself with a paddle and go at the pace you can go and be aware of the tides and wind. It’s an instant invitation to find oneness.”
Hiking the Robinson Woods Preserve
Less than half an hour away, Cahill also enjoys traipsing with his dog through the Robinson Woods Preserve in Cape Elizabeth, where more than four miles of walking, biking, and snowshoeing trails guide you through 145 acres of fields, ponds, and centuries-old woodlands. Vernal pools come alive with “a whole microcosm of creatures,” he says, and he finds himself drawn there all year long.
“Summer is absolutely beautiful, but I think the magic of winter and fall are equally wonderful,” Cahill says. “Getting to know the forest at different times is magical. It has a different body in the snow without a lot of the foliage, even though the park is mostly conifers and other evergreens.”
Eat at Portland’s restaurants
Portland, ME
Courtesy of the Maine Office of Tourism
After a long day enjoying the environs of southern Maine, Cahill likes to eat at Portland’s Công Tử Bột, for “some of the best phở and Vietnamese fare” he’s ever had. Head to the restaurant, a James Beard Award nominee and finalist, for a round of chicken phở, shrimp-fried rice, and twice-fried pork riblets, but don’t forget about the rest of the neighborhood. Diverse dining and drinking options surround Công Tử Bột, like the moody Basque cider bar Anoche and the lively, dog-friendly Oxbow Blending & Bottling beer hall.
