PORTLAND, Maine — “I and You,” the play now being presented by Portland Stage Company, features just two characters, one of whom is portrayed by Sarah Lord. Having grown up in South Portland, she has a bit of acting history in the area.
“I started at Children’s Theatre of Maine when I was ten,” she recalled, ticking off the places where she performed. “Then I did some stuff at Mad Horse [Theatre], and I think I did some stuff at Portland Players like summer camps. And then Portland Stage starting when I was in middle school.”
Her co-star in “I and You,” Pascal Arquimedes, did not have the good fortune to grow up in Maine. He grew up around Kissimmee, Florida. “But I’m not complaining,” he said with a smile.
When Sarah came to the studio for this interview, it was not her first time here. As a child, something she’d accomplished brought her onto our newsroom’s radar back in the 1990s.
“When I was 10, my parents paid me two dollars a day to not watch TV, and it got a little bit of attention,” she said. “I got to meet the governor, and it was a lot of fun, and you interviewed me for that.”
I did indeed. I confess that I don’t remember how the conversation went, but I recall the little girl who earned $730 — big money in the 1990s — for abstaining from television. The irony that I interviewed her on TV about that feat was not lost on us.
It’s an unlikely story, probably too far-fetched to make for a good play. But in this case, it’s true.