The BugTussle Annex in Waldoboro is a beautiful meeting space in which to explore plays together. Joseph Cote will lead just such a group of explorers on Fridays, 10 a.m. to noon, beginning April 9.

The subject of the exploration will be two sets of sisters. Cote’ says, “In the year 1900, Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov wrote the play “Three Sisters” and told the story of three sisters - Olga, Masha and Irina - living in a provincial Russian town and longing for Moscow. Almost 300 years earlier in 1605, William Shakespeare wrote a play, also about three sisters, in pre-Roman Britain. The sisters - Goneril, Regan and Cordelia - find themselves in a “love-test” as their aging father, King Lear, abruptly decides to divide his power and his land into three portions. The course will explore, compare and contrast the different worlds of the two plays. More specifically, focus will be on the reactions of each set of three sisters and the choices they make as their worlds turn.

Cote has been keenly involved in amateur and professional theater for many years as stage director, producer, and particularly as an actor. Since 2019, he has led groups of curious seniors at both the Coastal and Midcoast Senior Colleges in the exploration of all 39 of Shakespeare’s plays in introductory studies or in eight-session courses.

Go to coastalseniorcollege.org to learn more about Spring Term classes, membership and registration.