Looking Back to Look Forward: An Evening of Theater & Folk Music

“Looking Back to Look Forward: An Evening of Theater & Folk Music,” featuring Hermitage Fellows Talene Monahon and Tommy Lubben, Friday, November 13, 5:30pm: Hermitage Fellows Talene Monahon and Tommy Lubben are acclaimed artists in their respective fields who regularly look to history to inspire their artistic practice. Monahon, a celebrated playwright and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Meet the Cartozians, mined a lengthy 1920s trial transcript to guide the vision of the play, resulting in “the best production I’ve seen all year” according to The New York Times. Her other notable work includes The Good John Proctor, inspired by the Salem Witch Trials, and Jane Anger, which used a 1589 historical document and Shakespeare as its jumping off point. Lubben, a classically trained multi-instrumentalist who is one-third of the musical trio The Lubben Brothers, calls himself a “folk revivalist,” constructing original arrangements of archetypal American songs throughout history for his “American Storytellers” series with Sarasota’s Key Chorale. Last seen at the Hermitage in December 2025 at our culminating program for the 2025 Cross Arts Collaborative, Lubben returns with his latest exploration into the works of those who came before him. For this Hermitage program, these two artists will share their artistic practice and discuss how history informs their work, on the backdrop of the historic Hermitage Beach. Talene Monahon’s Hermitage Residency is generously sponsored by The Terrence McNally Foundation. Tommy Lubben’s Hermitage Residency is generously sponsored by Gerald & Sondra Biller. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Estimated running time: 60-70 minutes; Hermitage Beach, 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood, FL 34223