LEWISTON — Add Verb Productions Director Cathy Plourde will be the featured speaker at the Great Falls Forum lecture series at noon Thursday, Feb. 21, in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library.

Plourde will present “Arts, Advocacy & Action: Acting as if Our Lives Depended on It.”

Plourde’s early work as an independent theatre artist led her to write “The Thin Line,” a play about understanding eating disorders. It toured nationally to rave reviews.

Her next work, “You the Man,” successfully took on dating violence prevention and led to her formation of the nonprofit Add Verb Productions, which is now a part of the University of New England.

Add Verb Productions provides health and wellness education through provocative theatre performances. Its ultimate goal is to build stronger, healthier communities, and so far it has reached more than 150,000 people in 35 states and beyond.

In her forum presentation, Plourde will illustrate Add Verb’s unique approach in using live theatre as a dynamic and engaging supplement to traditional health education. Each of its plays is a one-act performance that illustrates prevention and intervention  strategies through multiple character perspectives, constructed to capture audience attention by creating realistic connections to health issues.

Admission is free to all forum events and no reservations are required. Attendees are invited to bring brown-bag lunches, or to take advantage of the Forum’s partnership with Guthries cafe and request one of the eatery’s custom-made, gourmet sandwiches or salads to be delivered to the library in advance of the talk. Orders may be placed by calling Guthries at 376-3344.

The menu is available at www.guthriesplace.com. Coffee, tea and bottled water will be available on-site at the library.

The Great Falls Forum is co-sponsored by Bates College, Lewiston Public Library and the Sun Journal.

The library is at 200 Lisbon St. at the corner of Pine Street.

More information on Thursday’s lecture or other upcoming events in the Great Falls Forum series is available by contacting the library at 513-3135 or www.LPLonline.org.