Men’s Lives is adapted by Joe Pintauro from Peter Matthiessen’s 1986 nonfiction book about the disappearing culture of Long Island baymen. Set in Springs and the East End, the play examines environmental decline, overdevelopment, and tensions between working fishermen and wealthy seasonal residents—exploring themes of class, tradition, and survival. It premiered at Bay Street Theater in 1992 and was revived there in 2012, but has never been staged in Springs.
Presented as a Live Radio Play, actors perform at microphones with scripts in hand. An immersive sound design weaves crashing waves, boats creaking, shoreline activity, putting the audience directly in the world of the fishermen. The central design element is live foley, where sound artists create all effects in real time using everyday objects; from footsteps and crashing waves to boat creaks and shoreline activity, immersing the audience directly in the world of the fishermen and making them feel as if they are part of the moment.
Alex Mattheissen has granted permission to stage the play. The project would be presented as a collaboration with the Matthiessen Center. The Center will use the production as a focal point to build support for The Peter Matthiessen Center’s Literary Prize, which encourages and honors fiction and nonfiction writers producing eloquent, powerful work.
Directed by Meg Gibson (director of I Am A Ship at Duck Creek, 2024), this Live Radio Play emphasizes sound and imagination over traditional staging, bringing the story home to its setting while celebrating Matthiessen’s literary legacy.
