HALLOWELL — Theater at Monmouth’s David Greenham and Dennis Price brought their “Taxing Maine,” an award-winning play about the history of state taxes, to 34 sites throughout Maine in 2006. The duo is back, this time to tackle the issues of growth and development in Maine.

Their new play, “Theater of Ideas: As Maine Grows …” and discussion afterward will be presented by Johnson Hall, Gardiner Public Library and Gardiner’s Economic Development Department at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center.

The performance encourages audience members to consider how history, customs and attitudes influence the way we think about change and growth in our state. To do this, Greenham and Price use different historical characters, humor, little-known facts, thought-provoking stories and current material gathered from the general public.

“We modern Mainers like to think that we’re the first ones who have tried looking ahead to envision the future of Maine. In fact, Mainers have been passionately arguing about these issues of growth and development for about 400 years. ‘As Maine Grows’ will share some of the great stories of the past in the context of our present challenges. Can all that history be fun? You betcha!,” said Greenham.

The play and discussion will last one hour. The program is appropriate for teenagers and adults. Tickets to the performance, put on by the Maine Humanities Council, are available at no charge. Reservations are optional at the Johnson Hall performance; call 582-7144.

For more information about “As Maine Grows …,” contact the Maine Humanities Council at 773-5051 or 1-866- 637-3233, or visit www.mainehumanities.org.