The storyteller’s play revolves around a retired Franco-American mill worker.

The one-man play “One More Thing” by Michael Parent – who has ties to Lewiston and an international reputation as a storyteller and singer, as well as an actor and playwright – will be presented Tuesday, March 21, at Lewiston-Auburn College.

In “One More Thing,” Parent portrays Jean-Paul Boisvert, a retired Franco-American mill worker who is trying to get “back into the ballgame” of his life after the death of his beloved wife. Now, on his 67th birthday, Monsieur Boisvert watches sports on TV, colorfully berating his beloved Red Sox and Bruins. He sings old French songs, fields phone calls from his children and other family members, and ponders his fragile health and mortality. He also tells stories – some funny, others poignant – as he struggles to resolve a major piece of unfinished emotional business.

“One More Thing” addresses various issues, including aging, grief and loss, class consciousness, generational conflicts, the connection between work and self-worth, and Franco-American culture and identity.

The play, directed by David Kaye, is suitable for adults and young people of high-school age and older.

“One More Thing” premiered in March 2004 at the Pontine Theater in Portsmouth, N.H., and has since been performed at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston, the Univeristy of Maine at Orono, The Theater Project in Brunswick, the Norlands Annual Conference, the South Portland Public Library, the MacArthur Library in Biddeford, the St. Lawrence Arts & Community Center in Portland, and the Amazing Things Art Center in Framingham, Mass.

Parent has told stories in theatrical and nontheatrical settings since 1977. He grew up in Lewiston, and later lived in Virginia for many years. While in Virginia, he co-founded and frequently performed at Live Arts, a thriving alternative theater in Charlottesville. Parent returned to Maine in 1998, and now lives in Portland. He received the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence Award in 1999, and was a keynote speaker at the 2001 National Storytelling Conference in Providence, R.I.

He has been featured at many storytelling events throughout the United States, as well as international events in Canada, France, Ireland, England, Poland, and New Zealand. Besides his performances for a wide range of audiences, including schools, libraries, theaters and festivals, Parent also leads storytelling, story-writing and performance workshops.

“One More Thing” is being presented courtesy of the Franco-American Collection at L-A College. The collection is the largest repository of Franco-American archival material in the state, with material on history, politics, religion, education, industry, business and the arts. It includes a state-of-the-art archival storage unit designed to preserve the large collection of documents, news clippings, photographs and artifacts about Franco-American history and culture. In addition, the collection houses the Madeleine Giguere Reading Room, which includes a large selection of books concerning the French presence in North America.

The collection is open to the public 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, call 753-6545 or go online to www.usm.maine.edu/lac/franco.