Portland, OR. Cast and creative crew raised their glasses to toast the launch of the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home. Portland Center Stage at The Armory’s 30thanniversary opened with the groundbreaking work described by the New York Times as, “a Beautiful Heartbreaker.” It’s based on the celebrated graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel. The Fun Home opening night party was September 22nd, and the musical will run through October 22nd on The Armory’s U.S. Bank Main Stage. At the party opening night party, “Fun Home” cast members, the three Alisons, Allison Mickelson, Aida Valentine and Sara Masterson, posed for a photo.
“Fun Home” director Chris Coleman with his husband Rodney Hicks (who recently appeared on Broadway in “Come From Away”); actor Merideth Kaye Clark (creator/performer for The Armory’s upcoming production of “Winter Song”); and “Fun Home” Stage Manager Mark Tynan.
Members of the “Fun Home” cast and creative team: Faith Sandberg (Helen Bechdel) with Stage Manager Mark Tynan and Sara Masterson (Medium Alison).
Allison Mickelson, who stars as adult Alison in “Fun Home” with Chris Porras, media director for Artslandia Magazine.
The cast of “Fun Home” with Stage Manager Mark Tynan (center).
“Fun Home” director Chris Coleman with his husband Rodney Hicks.
“The story is an emotional excavation of sorts,” said Chris Coleman of Fun Home. “I think it’s one of the smartest, freshest pieces of writing we’ve seen in the musical theater genre,” he continued. “I had a chance to see the original incarnation at the Public Theater in New York and was just knocked out by how inventive the piece was. It manages to be charming and funny and heartbreaking and haunting all within the same 90 minutes.” Portland Center Stage at The Armory is fortunate to be one of the very first regional theater companies to get the rights to produce its own version of the production, which will be presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
Based on Alison Bechdel’s witty and wistful illustrated autobiography of the same name, the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home ushers us inside Alison’s head — at three different ages — as she struggles to process the chain of childhood events that made her the adult she is today. Growing up in a funeral home as the closeted lesbian daughter of a father with secrets of his own was complicated. But by looking back on her family life, and remembering all the loving, silly, and even shameful moments, Alison learns to see her parents — and herself — for who they really are.
Theo Curl as John Bechdel, Karsten George as Christian Bechdel, Allison Mickelson as Alison, Faith Sandberg as Helen Bechdel and Aida Valentine as Small Alison in “Fun Home” at The Armory. Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv.
The cast of “Fun Home” at The Armory. Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv.
Allison Mickelson as Alison, Karsten George as Christian Bechdel, Theo Curl as John Bechdel and Aida Valentine as Small Alison in “Fun Home” at The Armory. Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv.
From Portland Center Stage:
Regular tickets for Fun Home start at $25 and are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased at www.pcs.org, 503.445.3700, or in-person from the box office (128 NW Eleventh Avenue, Portland, OR). Rush tickets are $20. Students and patrons who are 30 or younger can purchase $30 tickets in premium seating areas. $5 tickets are available for Oregon Trail Card holders through the Arts for All program. Regular tickets are 50% off for active duty or veteran military personnel and their immediate families. Discounts for groups of 10+. General performance times are Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., and Thursday matinees at noon (special exclusions apply, see below). Fun Home is recommended for ages 16+; it contains adult situations, explicit language and sexual references. More information at www.pcs.org/funhome.
THE MUSICAL
Fun Home premiered Off-Broadway at The Public in 2013 as a sell-out hit with critical acclaim. The New York Times review called it a “beautiful heartbreaker” and the production swept the Off-Broadway awards, including winning the New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Lucille Lortel and Obie awards for Best Musical. The following year, Fun Home was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. When it opened on Broadway in 2015, The Huffington Post called it a “grippingly heartwarming story mixed with some of the most smart and joyful musical numbers presently on Broadway. Seekers of provocative, invigorating and entertaining theatre will find it.” Fun Home earned 12 Tony Award nominations and won five, including Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical. It made history as the first Broadway hit written by an all-female team to win a Tony Award for Best Musical
THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
Allison Bechdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic was released in 2006 to widespread acclaim. The New York Times book review hailed it as a “pioneering work, pushing two genres (comics and memoir) in multiple new directions” and London’s The Times described it as a “profound and important book.” It was listed as one of the best books of 2006 by numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Times, New York Magazine and Publishers Weekly, and it was a finalist for the National Book Award. Bechdel, who had already gained national prominence for her countercultural comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, won the Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work for Fun Home, along with the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book and the Stonewall Book Award for Best Non-fiction, among others. Fun Home – despite controversial attempts to ban it from libraries and remove it from reading lists at universities – is now regarded as a contemporary literary classic.
THE CAST
Three actors play the central character at various ages: Allison Mickelson (National Tour of Elf: The Musical and Ragtime at Surflight Theater) will play Alison as the adult cartoonist reflecting on memories of her past; Sara Masterson (The Secret Garden at Idaho Shakespeare Festival and A Christmas Carol at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park) will play Medium Alison, the college freshman discovering her sexual identity; and Aida Valentine will play Small Alison, the young daughter living with her family in the house on Maple Avenue. Robert Mammana (Les Misérables on Broadway; The Sound of Music, Show Boat and Les Misérables National Tours) will take on the role of Alison’s father, Bruce Bechdel. Alison’s mother, Helen Bechdel, will be played by Faith Sandberg (The Fourth Messenger for New York Music Festival and The Good Girl for Manhattan Musical Theatre Lab). Alison’s brothers, John and Christian, will be played by Theo Curl (James in Oregon Children’s Theatre’s James and the Giant Peach) and Karsten George (Pugsley in The Addams Family at Broadway Rose Theatre), respectively. Joe Knispel (All The Way and Ah, Wilderness at Asolo Repertory Theater) will play the roles of Roy, Mark, Pete and Bobby Jeremy. Kristen DiMercurio (Murder Ballad at D.C.’s Studio Theatre and Grease at Totem Pole Playhouse) will take on the role of Joan, Medium Allison’s college classmate. Alexa Kelly Shaheen (The Magic Flute at Portland Opera) will be the understudy for Small Alison.
THE BAND
Eric Little (The Last Five Years and Sweeney Todd at The Armory) will serve as pianist; Will Amend (Little Shop of Horrors and Ain’t Misbehavin’ at The Armory) will play bass; Dale Tolliver will play the cello (LIZZIE and Fiddler on the Roof at The Armory); Mitch Wilson (Little Shop of Horrors and One Night with Janis Joplin at The Armory) will play the drums; Eric Toner (Little Shop of Horrors and Dreamgirls at The Armory) will play guitar; Mieke Bruggeman will play reeds (Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Fiddler on the Roof at The Armory); and Tylor Neist (Fiddler/Ensemble in Fiddler on the Roof at The Armory) will play violin/viola.
tHE Creative Team
Director Chris Coleman (recently Constellations and Astoria: Part One at The Armory) leads a creative team that includes Music DirectorRick Lewis (Astoria: Part One and Little Shop of Horrors at The Armory); Scenic DesignerWilliam Bloodgood (Cyrano and Other Desert Cities at The Armory); Costume Designer Alison Heryer (Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Wild and Reckless at The Armory); Lighting DesignerWilliam Kirkham (Constellations and The Oregon Trail at The Armory); Sound DesignerAlex Hawthorn (The Armory debut; Fly By Night and The Great Immensity Off-Broadway); Stage Manager Mark Tynan; Kristen Mun (assistant stage manager) and Jordan Affeldt and Katie Nguyen (production assistants).
Ticket and Performance Information
When: September 16* – October 22, 2017
*Opening night is Friday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Showtimes: General performance times are Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m. (excluding Oct. 1, 15, 17 and 22), Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. (excluding Sep. 16, 17, 23 and Oct. 7), and Thursday matinees at noon (excluding Oct. 21).
To Purchase: Regular tickets range from $25 to $85. Rush tickets are $20. Students and patrons who are 30 or younger can purchase $30 tickets in all premium seating areas. $5 tickets are available for Oregon Trail Card holders through the Arts for All program. 50% off regular tickets for active duty or veteran military personnel and their immediate families. Discounts for groups of 10+. Prices vary by date, time, and seating area, and are subject to change.
Portland Center Stage at The Armory is the largest theater company in Portland and among the top 20 regional theaters in the country. Established in 1988 as a branch of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the company became independent in 1994 and has been under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman since 2000. Around 150,000 visitors attend The Armory annually to enjoy a mix of classical, contemporary and world premiere productions, along with a variety of high quality education and community programs. 11 productions are offered each season, in addition to roughly 400 community events created — in partnership with 170+ local organizations and individuals — to serve the diverse populations in the city. As part of its dedication to new play development, the company has produced 23 world premieres and presents an annual new works festival, JAW: A Playwrights Festival. Home to two theaters, The Armory was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED Platinum rating.
THE 2017-2018 SEASON
The 2017-2018 season is funded in part by Season Superstars Tim and Mary Boyle and Lead Corporate Champion Umpqua Bank. Further support comes from Season Sponsors the Regional Arts and Culture Council, The Wallace Foundation and Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the state of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts. Support for Fun Home comes from Production Sponsors Blue Hour, The Standard, GBD Architects, Drs. Ann Smith Sehdev and Paul Sehdev, Dr. Barbara Hort, and Don and Mary Blair. Mark Spencer Hotel is the official hotel partner for the company. Portland Center Stage at The Armory was selected as a participant of the Wallace Foundation’s Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative, a four-year effort with a nationwide cohort of 26 performing arts organizations.
Portland, OR. There were big smiles at the Portland Center Stage opening night party from stars Gina Milo, who plays Audrey, and Nick Cearley, who plays Seymour. Portland Center Stage kicked off its 2016-2017 season at The Armory with the rockin’ sci-fi musical, Little Shop of Horrors which runs through October 16th.
With a score that is part rock ’n’ roll, part doo-wop and part Motown, Little Shop of Horrors is the story of the shy and love-struck florist’s assistant, Seymour, who finds fame, fortune and a whole lot more when he nurtures a strange little plant with a strong — and scary — thirst.
Based on the darkly comic 1960 Roger Corman film of the same name, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken created this unique musical in 1982. In 1986, it was made into a film directed by Frank Oz.
Lead Props Artisan and Puppet fabricator, Rachel Peterson Schmerge and Portland Center Stage Artistic Director, Chris Coleman celebrated the opening night of the PCS 10th anniversary season.
Members of the creative crew included Ava Steingrueber-Fagan, Alex Wren Meadows, Paula Buchert, Kathleen Geldard and Barbara Casement.
Musical Supervisor Rick Lewis and Choreographer Kent Zimmerman
Stan Foote is the Artistic Director of Oregon Children’s Theatre and Claudie Jean Fisher handles public relations for Portland Center Stage.
Here’s more information about the upcoming season:
Portland Center Stage’s 2016-2017 season marks the launch of the company’s Northwest Stories series and a season-long celebration for the 10th anniversary in the Gerding Theater at the Armory (and the 29th season in Portland). The Northwest Stories series – highlighting the history, culture and artists rooted in our own region – includes two world premieres: Astoria, based on the best-selling novel by Peter Stark and adapted by PCS Artistic Director Chris Coleman; and Wild and Reckless, a new musical event from local folk rockers, Blitzen Trapper. The Oregon Trail and Hold These Truths round out this season’s Northwest Stories offerings.
Kicking off the 2016-2017 season is the The Little Shop of Horrors. Other musical treats include Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, Lauren Weedman’s debut on the U.S. Bank Main Stage – backed by a rocking band – in Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, and His Eye is on the Sparrow, a musical biography of Ethel Waters.
Two love stories close the season: Mary’s Wedding celebrates the resiliency of the heart in the Ellyn Bye Studio, and Constellations raises questions between choice and destiny – featuring Silas Weir Mitchell and Bree Turner (Monroe and Rosalee on NBC’s Grimm). Rounding out the season is a special engagement of The Santaland Diaries during the holiday season.
To purchase season tickets, call 503-445-3700 or visit www.pcs.org.
Portland, OR. Three scripts have been selected from more than 175 submissions to be featured in Portland Center Stage’s 18th annual festival for new work development, JAW: A Playwrights Festival. One performance will be a new musical event from Blitzen Trapper: Wild and Reckless. Playwright Kevin Artigue will develop The Forcings, a magic realism-infused play that stares unflinchingly at a family in crisis and a civilization barreling toward extinction; Mia Chung will develop Catch as Catch Can, a story exploring the shifting roles we play in the presence of family; and Nathan Dame will develop The Saints, a funny and poignant journey of a young woman making her way back to hope. To add to the excitement of this year’s JAW festivities, PCS will also workshop two of the world premiere productions that are slated for its 2016-2017 season: Wild and Reckless and Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore by Lauren Weedman (The People’s Republic of Portland, 2013 and 2015).
The playwrights will gather at PCS for two weeks of script development with directors, actors and dramaturgs, concluding with public readings of their scripts. Free JAW public readings will be presented on Saturday, July 30 (12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.) and Sunday, July 31 (4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.). A JAW Kickoff event will be held on Friday, July 29 at 8:00pm, featuring staged readings from Promising Playwrights, the six Portland-area high school students selected from PCS’s Visions and Voices playwriting program. Throughout the festival, Press Play performance pieces will be presented before and after the readings, along with a selection of Community Artists Labs. A full schedule will be announced at a later date. All of the staged readings are free, no reservations necessary. Attendance for the labs is limited and determined by lottery. Find more information at www.pcs.org/jaw.
ABOUT JAW: A PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
Since launching in 1999, JAW (short for Just Add Water) has created a space for playwrights to have complete creative control and the resources to work on whatever they want to develop in their scripts. Each year, playwrights are chosen from nearly 200 submissions nationwide to collaborate with directors, dramaturgs, actors and other theater professionals from across the United States. Of the 60+ plays that have received workshops at the festival, more than 50% have received world premiere productions at a regional theater, ranging from the NY Theater Workshop to Steppenwolf Theatre, to Berkeley Repertory Theatre to Portland’s own Third Rail Repertory Theater. Fourteen JAW plays have received fully staged productions at PCS, giving Portland a strong national reputation for not only incubating new work, but helping to see that work to successful fruition.
JAW COMPANY
The JAW Festival Director is PCS Associate Artistic Director Rose Riordan, and her JAW team at PCS includes: JAW Festival Co-Producer Kelsey Tyler; JAW Festival Co-Producer Brandon Woolley; JAW Festival Company Manager Don Kenneth Mason; JAW Literary Manager Benjamin Fainstein; JAW Literary Associate Mary Blair; and countless hardworking PCS staff and volunteers that bring their talents and energies to JAW each year.
2016 JAW FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS
THE FORCINGS BY KEVIN ARTIGUE
Nobody knows what happened to “The 17,” a group of environmental activists whose disappearance from an anti-Exxon protest site in Mexico sparked international outrage. Ernie Ledezma, the public face of Exxon’s operations, navigated the corporation through the scandal, and now, on the eve of his retirement, his loved ones have gathered to celebrate. But the ghosts that haunt his achievements cast a shadow over the festivities, and the appearance of a mysterious stranger triggers a deluge of secrets to slip through his fingers. Rife with magic realism, The Forcings is a dynamic new play that stares unflinchingly at a family in crisis and a civilization barreling toward extinction.
KEVIN ARTIGUE is a playwright and filmmaker born and raised in Southern California and based in New York City. He’s currently a member of the 2016 Interstate 73 Writers Group, and formerly part of The Public Theater’s 2014-2015 Emerging Writers Group. His play The Most Dangerous Highway in the World premiered in San Francisco in May, produced by Golden Thread and directed by Evren Odcikin. His plays have been presented and developed with The Public Theater, National New Play Network, New York Theater Workshop, Theatre of NOTE, Playwrights Foundation, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Yale Cabaret, Iowa New Play Festival, Golden Thread and the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. A graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Kevin was awarded a Provost’s Visiting Writer Fellowship at the University of Iowa, where he taught creative writing.
CATCH AS CATCH CAN BY MIA CHUNG
The Phelans and the Lavecchias grew up in each other’s homes, sharing the good times and the bad in their tight-knit middle class community. But when Tim Phelan moves back home with unexpected news, the members of this extended family find their bonds and very identities put to the test. Catch as Catch Can makes unconventional use of theatrical conventions to explore the shifting roles we play in the presence of family.
MIA CHUNG is the author of You for Me for You, This Exquisite Corpse and Skin in the Game. You for Me for You had its UK premiere at The Royal Court Theatre in London (December, 2015) and is published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. The play premiered at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, D.C., in association with Ma-Yi Theater Company and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, 2012) and has also been produced by Company One Theatre, Portland Playhouse and Mu Performing Arts/Guthrie Theater. Mia’s work has been supported by awards, fellowships, and workshops, including the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Civilians’ R&D Group, Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, Inkwell Theatre, LAByrinth, Playwrights Realm, RISCA, Southern Rep Theatre, Stella Adler Studio and TCG. She is a member of New Dramatists, a Huntington Playwright Fellow, and an emeritus member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab.
THE SAINTS BY NATHAN DAME
As a child, Madison always felt adrift. She was shuffled around from foster home to foster home, and things haven’t gone much more smoothly in adulthood. Just when her struggle for stability threatens to consume her, a chance encounter with a pair of young missionaries challenges Madison to put her past to rest and determine who she wants to become. Over the course of one gritty January in New York, The Saints chronicles the stingingly funny and poignant journey of a young woman making her way back to hope.
NATHAN DAME has had original plays and musicals developed by Roundabout Theatre Company, The New Group, Barrow Street Theatre, Woodshed Collective, In Absentia Productions and New York Theatre Experiment. He was a writer on The New Ensemble’s Experiment America, produced by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and A.R.T. He was also a writer on Woodshed Collective’s The Office Project. He is represented by Ross Weiner at ICM Partners.
WORLD PREMIERE WORKSHOPS
WILD AND RECKLESS:
A NEW MUSICAL EVENT FROM BLITZEN TRAPPER
Portland folk rockers Blitzen Trapper refuse to be pinned down and boxed in. The acclaimed band has mixed genre after genre into their musical arsenal over the fifteen years of playing together. Now they’re unleashing their sound — and knack for lyrical storytelling — on the PCS stage. They’ve mined their Oregonian roots to create a show that asks: What’s the sound of a life falling through the cracks? Fusing the energy of a rock concert with the imaginative possibility of the theater, Blitzen Trapper and PCS join forces in this new project, tracing the unforgettable stories of ordinary Americans caught in an extraordinary struggle to not get left behind. The world premiere production of Wild and Reckless will run March 16 through April 30, 2017, on Portland Center Stage’s U.S. Bank Main Stage.
LAUREN WEEDMAN DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
BY LAUREN WEEDMAN
Lauren’s current obsessions: love and heartbreak; big hair and tight jeans; Loretta Lynn and John Prine — or songs she thinks make her look skinny and appropriately tragic. The hilarious and versatile Lauren Weedman (Bust, The People’s Republic of Portland) knows a thing or two about love gone wrong, and she’s ready to sing her heart out about it (Yes! Lauren sings!) and tell you a few tall tales, too. Lauren will be joined by a band of fine musicians; and we’re pretty sure her hair will be bigger than ever. The world premiere production of Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore will run March 17 through April 30, 2017, on Portland Center Stage’s U.S. Bank Main Stage.
LOCATION: All JAW events happen at Portland Center Stage’s home, the Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW Eleventh Ave., Portland, Ore., 97209
ACCESSIBILITY: PCS is committed to making our performances and facilities accessible to all of our patrons. Learn more at http://www.pcs.org/access/.
AGE RECOMMENDATION: Recommended for high school age and up. Children under 6 are not permitted.
JAW: A Playwrights Festival is supported in part by The Kinsman Foundation, Don and Mary Blair, Ronni Lacroute, WillaKenzie Estate, and a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust: Oregonians sustaining, developing and participating in our arts, heritage and humanities. Additional support is provided by the Regional Arts & Culture Council/Work for Art and the Oregon Arts Commission. Portland Center Stage’s 2015-2016 season is funded in part by Season Superstars Tim and Mary Boyle and Lead Corporate Champion Umpqua Bank; Supporting Season Sponsors the Regional Arts and Culture Council, The Wallace Foundation, Work for Art and KINK FM. The official hotel partner for PCS is the Mark Spencer Hotel. PCS is a participant in the Wallace Foundation’s Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative, a four-year effort with a nationwide cohort of 26 performing arts organizations.
Portland Center Stage inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways. Established in 1988 as a branch of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCS became an independent theater in 1994 and has been under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman since May 2000. The company presents a blend of classic, contemporary and original productions in a conscious effort to appeal to the eclectic palate of theatergoers in Portland. PCS also offers a variety of education and outreach programs for curious minds from six to 106, including discussions, classes, workshops and partnerships with organizations throughout the Portland metro area.
The Gerding Theater at the Armory houses the 590-seat U.S. Main Stage and the 190-seat black box Ellyn Bye Studio. It was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public on Oct. 1, 2006. The capital campaign to fund the renovation of this hub for community artistic activity continues.
Portland, OR. Three scripts have been selected from more than 175 submissions to be featured in Portland Center Stage’s 18th annual festival for new work development, JAW: A Playwrights Festival. One performance will be a new musical event from Blitzen Trapper: Wild and Reckless. Playwright Kevin Artigue will develop The Forcings, a magic realism-infused play that stares unflinchingly at a family in crisis and a civilization barreling toward extinction; Mia Chung will develop Catch as Catch Can, a story exploring the shifting roles we play in the presence of family; and Nathan Dame will develop The Saints, a funny and poignant journey of a young woman making her way back to hope. To add to the excitement of this year’s JAW festivities, PCS will also workshop two of the world premiere productions that are slated for its 2016-2017 season: Wild and Reckless and Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore by Lauren Weedman (The People’s Republic of Portland, 2013 and 2015).
The playwrights will gather at PCS for two weeks of script development with directors, actors and dramaturgs, concluding with public readings of their scripts. Free JAW public readings will be presented on Saturday, July 30 (12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.) and Sunday, July 31 (4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.). A JAW Kickoff event will be held on Friday, July 29 at 8:00pm, featuring staged readings from Promising Playwrights, the six Portland-area high school students selected from PCS’s Visions and Voices playwriting program. Throughout the festival, Press Play performance pieces will be presented before and after the readings, along with a selection of Community Artists Labs. A full schedule will be announced at a later date. All of the staged readings are free, no reservations necessary. Attendance for the labs is limited and determined by lottery. Find more information at www.pcs.org/jaw.
ABOUT JAW: A PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
Since launching in 1999, JAW (short for Just Add Water) has created a space for playwrights to have complete creative control and the resources to work on whatever they want to develop in their scripts. Each year, playwrights are chosen from nearly 200 submissions nationwide to collaborate with directors, dramaturgs, actors and other theater professionals from across the United States. Of the 60+ plays that have received workshops at the festival, more than 50% have received world premiere productions at a regional theater, ranging from the NY Theater Workshop to Steppenwolf Theatre, to Berkeley Repertory Theatre to Portland’s own Third Rail Repertory Theater. Fourteen JAW plays have received fully staged productions at PCS, giving Portland a strong national reputation for not only incubating new work, but helping to see that work to successful fruition.
JAW COMPANY
The JAW Festival Director is PCS Associate Artistic Director Rose Riordan, and her JAW team at PCS includes: JAW Festival Co-Producer Kelsey Tyler; JAW Festival Co-Producer Brandon Woolley; JAW Festival Company Manager Don Kenneth Mason; JAW Literary Manager Benjamin Fainstein; JAW Literary Associate Mary Blair; and countless hardworking PCS staff and volunteers that bring their talents and energies to JAW each year.
2016 JAW FEATURED PLAYWRIGHTS
THE FORCINGS BY KEVIN ARTIGUE
Nobody knows what happened to “The 17,” a group of environmental activists whose disappearance from an anti-Exxon protest site in Mexico sparked international outrage. Ernie Ledezma, the public face of Exxon’s operations, navigated the corporation through the scandal, and now, on the eve of his retirement, his loved ones have gathered to celebrate. But the ghosts that haunt his achievements cast a shadow over the festivities, and the appearance of a mysterious stranger triggers a deluge of secrets to slip through his fingers. Rife with magic realism, The Forcings is a dynamic new play that stares unflinchingly at a family in crisis and a civilization barreling toward extinction.
KEVIN ARTIGUE is a playwright and filmmaker born and raised in Southern California and based in New York City. He’s currently a member of the 2016 Interstate 73 Writers Group, and formerly part of The Public Theater’s 2014-2015 Emerging Writers Group. His play The Most Dangerous Highway in the World premiered in San Francisco in May, produced by Golden Thread and directed by Evren Odcikin. His plays have been presented and developed with The Public Theater, National New Play Network, New York Theater Workshop, Theatre of NOTE, Playwrights Foundation, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Yale Cabaret, Iowa New Play Festival, Golden Thread and the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. A graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Kevin was awarded a Provost’s Visiting Writer Fellowship at the University of Iowa, where he taught creative writing.
CATCH AS CATCH CAN BY MIA CHUNG
The Phelans and the Lavecchias grew up in each other’s homes, sharing the good times and the bad in their tight-knit middle class community. But when Tim Phelan moves back home with unexpected news, the members of this extended family find their bonds and very identities put to the test. Catch as Catch Can makes unconventional use of theatrical conventions to explore the shifting roles we play in the presence of family.
MIA CHUNG is the author of You for Me for You, This Exquisite Corpse and Skin in the Game. You for Me for You had its UK premiere at The Royal Court Theatre in London (December, 2015) and is published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. The play premiered at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, D.C., in association with Ma-Yi Theater Company and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, 2012) and has also been produced by Company One Theatre, Portland Playhouse and Mu Performing Arts/Guthrie Theater. Mia’s work has been supported by awards, fellowships, and workshops, including the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Civilians’ R&D Group, Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, Inkwell Theatre, LAByrinth, Playwrights Realm, RISCA, Southern Rep Theatre, Stella Adler Studio and TCG. She is a member of New Dramatists, a Huntington Playwright Fellow, and an emeritus member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab.
THE SAINTS BY NATHAN DAME
As a child, Madison always felt adrift. She was shuffled around from foster home to foster home, and things haven’t gone much more smoothly in adulthood. Just when her struggle for stability threatens to consume her, a chance encounter with a pair of young missionaries challenges Madison to put her past to rest and determine who she wants to become. Over the course of one gritty January in New York, The Saints chronicles the stingingly funny and poignant journey of a young woman making her way back to hope.
NATHAN DAME has had original plays and musicals developed by Roundabout Theatre Company, The New Group, Barrow Street Theatre, Woodshed Collective, In Absentia Productions and New York Theatre Experiment. He was a writer on The New Ensemble’s Experiment America, produced by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and A.R.T. He was also a writer on Woodshed Collective’s The Office Project. He is represented by Ross Weiner at ICM Partners.
WORLD PREMIERE WORKSHOPS
WILD AND RECKLESS:
A NEW MUSICAL EVENT FROM BLITZEN TRAPPER
Portland folk rockers Blitzen Trapper refuse to be pinned down and boxed in. The acclaimed band has mixed genre after genre into their musical arsenal over the fifteen years of playing together. Now they’re unleashing their sound — and knack for lyrical storytelling — on the PCS stage. They’ve mined their Oregonian roots to create a show that asks: What’s the sound of a life falling through the cracks? Fusing the energy of a rock concert with the imaginative possibility of the theater, Blitzen Trapper and PCS join forces in this new project, tracing the unforgettable stories of ordinary Americans caught in an extraordinary struggle to not get left behind. The world premiere production of Wild and Reckless will run March 16 through April 30, 2017, on Portland Center Stage’s U.S. Bank Main Stage.
LAUREN WEEDMAN DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
BY LAUREN WEEDMAN
Lauren’s current obsessions: love and heartbreak; big hair and tight jeans; Loretta Lynn and John Prine — or songs she thinks make her look skinny and appropriately tragic. The hilarious and versatile Lauren Weedman (Bust, The People’s Republic of Portland) knows a thing or two about love gone wrong, and she’s ready to sing her heart out about it (Yes! Lauren sings!) and tell you a few tall tales, too. Lauren will be joined by a band of fine musicians; and we’re pretty sure her hair will be bigger than ever. The world premiere production of Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore will run March 17 through April 30, 2017, on Portland Center Stage’s U.S. Bank Main Stage.
LOCATION: All JAW events happen at Portland Center Stage’s home, the Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW Eleventh Ave., Portland, Ore., 97209
ACCESSIBILITY: PCS is committed to making our performances and facilities accessible to all of our patrons. Learn more at http://www.pcs.org/access/.
AGE RECOMMENDATION: Recommended for high school age and up. Children under 6 are not permitted.
JAW: A Playwrights Festival is supported in part by The Kinsman Foundation, Don and Mary Blair, Ronni Lacroute, WillaKenzie Estate, and a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust: Oregonians sustaining, developing and participating in our arts, heritage and humanities. Additional support is provided by the Regional Arts & Culture Council/Work for Art and the Oregon Arts Commission. Portland Center Stage’s 2015-2016 season is funded in part by Season Superstars Tim and Mary Boyle and Lead Corporate Champion Umpqua Bank; Supporting Season Sponsors the Regional Arts and Culture Council, The Wallace Foundation, Work for Art and KINK FM. The official hotel partner for PCS is the Mark Spencer Hotel. PCS is a participant in the Wallace Foundation’s Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative, a four-year effort with a nationwide cohort of 26 performing arts organizations.
Portland Center Stage inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways. Established in 1988 as a branch of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCS became an independent theater in 1994 and has been under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman since May 2000. The company presents a blend of classic, contemporary and original productions in a conscious effort to appeal to the eclectic palate of theatergoers in Portland. PCS also offers a variety of education and outreach programs for curious minds from six to 106, including discussions, classes, workshops and partnerships with organizations throughout the Portland metro area.
The Gerding Theater at the Armory houses the 590-seat U.S. Main Stage and the 190-seat black box Ellyn Bye Studio. It was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public on Oct. 1, 2006. The capital campaign to fund the renovation of this hub for community artistic activity continues.
Portland, September 10th, 2015. If you couldn’t join the thousands who flocked to Pioneer Courthouse Square for The Standard’s Annual Volunteer Expo, you’re in luck. We’ve got all the information and website links to explore over 125 local nonprofits that could use your time.
A full list of links of nonprofits is at the bottom of our story.
R. Richard Crockett, (left) is the Program Operations Director & Volunteer Coordinator at Chess for Success.
Classroom Law Project is a non-profit organization of individuals, educators, lawyers, and civic leaders building strong communities by teaching students to become active citizens.
The Standard’s Volunteer Expo has repeat participants year after year, here’s a look at some nonprofits which continue to recruit volunteers:
Jenny Bedell-Stiles and Andy Meeks from Friends of Trees
talks with Casey Rhodes and Clark Hays.
Jenny Chu from Literary Arts
New Avenues For Youth volunteers are a hit every year because they dish out the free Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream!
Rachel Randles from Oregon Historical Society
The Volunteers of America recruited some new volunteers!
Special Olympics Oregon has room for coaches and event volunteers.
Newspace Center for Photography promoted its multidimensional photography resource center and community hub for students, working artists, professional photographers, educators, and photo-enthusiasts of all types.
Latino Network’s Edgar Ortega
Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metro Area had a colorful display.
The Work for Art’s Community Fund and Arts Education Fund support more than 80 arts and culture organizations every year—encompassing dance, visual arts, music, literary arts, media arts, theater, cultural arts, and arts education.
IMPACT NW drew prospective volunteers who learned that each year over 60,000 low-income children, youth, families, seniors, and adults with disabilities participate in Impact NW’s comprehensive anti-poverty programs.
The YMCA was handing out information about programs.
People who stopped by The Q Center booth were met with a friendly smile.
National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Oregon Chapter staffers promoted their many volunteer options.
Reps from the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon explained their work on behalf of local cats and kittens.
American Red Cross volunteer recruiters had the trademark red vests!
The mission of the Make-A-Wish Oreogn Foundation® is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.
Northwest Pilot Project began in 1969 as an all volunteer agency to provide basic supports for seniors at risk of losing their ability to live independently.
Miracle Theatre Group is The Northwest’s premiere Latino arts and culture organization.
Camp Fire offers opportunities for volunteers who like to work with kids.
Bridge Meadows is a multi-generation housing community serving Oregon’s vulnerable populations; foster youth, adoptive parents and elders (55+).
Here’s a list of links to charities at the The Standard’s Volunteer Expo. Please consider donating your time, and tell them PortlandSocietyPage.com sent you!
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