Time Ago is an original play based on the work of Mary Ellen Chase written by Bundy Boit.  This project is a collaboration between the Blue Hill Historical Society and the New Surry Theater commissioned by Word and supported by the Maine Arts Commission through a bicentennial grant.

Mary Ellen Chase, author and teacher, possessed a keen memory of her childhood days in the house on Union Street, Blue Hill. The play captures the simple life adventures that she and her three siblings experienced as they were growing up. From gypsies to organ grinder’s monkey, to picking blueberries on Blue Hill Mountain, these first four of eight Chase children reveled gleefully in rural life. Perhaps Chase’s love of storytelling came from her grandmother Eliza Ann Chase who fulfilled her dream of walking on an iceberg while seafaring with Chase’s grandfather, Melatiah Chase. Time Ago gives a glimpse into material Chase incorporated into her novels, centered on Maine life more than a century ago