The rain outside trickled down the windows of Howes House in West Tisbury last Tuesday morning as Jeanne Hewett began reading a piece written by fellow Howes House writer Charles Blank, who could not attend the event. The story included images of playtime for a little boy, with games of war and pirates using twigs and branches as weapons.

“What is it about males that they always played war?” asked Brigitta Lent at the end of the reading. “Even a gentle soul like Charles?”

Richard Paradise glides around the nearly constructed building on the corner of Tisbury Marketplace, walking quickly to show off the next feature, spreading his arms wide as he elaborates on what is to come. “So just like in a new theater on the mainland, it’s gonna have stadium seating where every seat is a great seat,” he says while standing on the wooden platform.