Dance

Premiere

White Bird presents

Make/Believe – a new evening-length work by tEEth. Choreographed by Angelle Herbert. Composed by  Phillip Kraft

Directed by Angelle Hebert and Phillip Kraft

Venue:  Lincoln Hall, Portland State University, 1620 SW Broadway, Portland OR 97201

Festival Dates:  Jan 26-28 @ 8pm

Tickets: $30 Adult; $20 Student/Senior | www.whitebird.org or PCPA Box Office or PSU Box Office

 

Founded in Portland by choreographer Angelle Hebert and composer Phillip Kraft in 2006, tEEth most recently won the prestigious A.W.A.R.D. Show dance competition at On the Boards (Seattle) for their spellbinding Home Made. Hebert’s precise, distinctive phrases push gestural dance to its limits, while Kraft’s music merges gritty sound with hypnotic melody. White Bird is thrilled to commission Make/Believe, a new evening-length work from tEEth, embodying these artists’ singular eye for life’s beauty and dark absurdity.

 

 

Dance

Workshop Production

Oregon Ballet Theatre presents

Saint Säen’s Carnival of the Animals by Anne Mueller

Venue: Oregon Ballet Theatre Studios, 818 SE 6th, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates: Jan 29 @ 1pm & 4pm

Tickets: $5 suggested donation | www.obt.org  or 503.222.5538

 

Peek inside the choreographic process with Oregon Ballet Theatre as retired principal dancer and emerging choreographer Anne Mueller workshops her world premiere children’s ballet set to San Säen’s Carnival of the Animals. Event includes a preview of the work in progress and a discussion of the processes unique to creating world premiere ballet.

 

Dance

Premiere

Polaris Dance Theatre presents

Polaris Dance Showcase Series Groovin’ Greenhouse

Venue: Polaris Studio Theater, 1501 SW Taylor, Portland OR 97205

Festival Dates:

Jan 21, 5:30-7pm | Beat BangerZ, PDX Dance Collective, Portland Festival Ballet

Jan 27, 8-9:30pm | NW Fusion, Dance Coalition of Oregon, Polaris Dance Theatre

Jan 28, 5:30-7pm | Laura Onizuka, Agnieszka Laska Dancers, A-WOL Dance Collective

Jan 28, 8-9:30pm | Cerrin Lathrop and Carlyn Hudson with members of SubRosa Dance Collective, Polaris Dance Theatre

Jan 29, 4:30-6pm| Beat BangerZ, Jennifer Camp with members of Pacific University’s Dance Ensemble, Polaris Dance Theatre

Tickets: $15; $10 seniors/students/children under 12 | www.fertilegroundpdx.org or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)

 

NOTE: Tickets good for one Groovin’ Greenhouse showcase (three acts). When purchasing your ticket online, select the dance organization or artist you are coming to see from the drop down menu. By phone, specify the dance organization or artist.

 

 

Groovin’ Greenhouse Showcase Series | Jan 21, 5:30-7:00pm Program

 

Beat BangerZ presents:

The Rhythm - Choreography by Damon Keller

Swunk - Choreography by Damon Keller & Erin Lee

Fragile - Choreography by Shannon Wilcox

Rockin' to The Beat - Choreography by Hillary Hart & Erin Lee

Greenlight - Choreography by BBZ

 

Beat BangerZ presents a unique mix of tap styles. The pieces showcased here highlight the different ways the crew mixes classic style tap rhythms with swing and ‘70s funk. The resulting mix is something they call “Sounds of Funk Tap.”

 

PDX Dance Collective presents:

Them and Us - Choreography by Timothy M. Johnson

Givers - Choreography by Elise Ericksen

A work in progress will also be presented.

 

Them and Us + Givers are contemporary dance pieces, exploring the stresses and strains of life. Them and Us explores the pressure of living on the streets, and the struggles of dealing with addiction, survival and loneliness. Givers illustrates the slippery slope of giving too much of yourself to help those in need, and collapsing under the weight of the burden. PDX Dance Collective will also be presenting these works as part of their full concert, February 24-26 at the Headwaters Theatre, 55 NE Farragut St. #9, Portland OR 97217. Tickets $15 at www.pdxdancecollective.org or 503.512.0104.

 

Portland Festival Ballet presents:

Fluid

Choreography by Lavinia Magliocco

 

Fluid, created by Portland-based composer Susan Alexjander, was inspired by the predominant element in our bodies – water. Dancer and choreographer Lavinia Magliocco, formerly of New York’s Metropolitan Opera Ballet and currently a faculty member with Portland Festival Ballet, approaches Fluid as a metaphor for connection, time and change.

Groovin’ Greenhouse Showcase Series | Jan 27, 8-9:30pm Program

 

NW Fusion presents:

New Works from NW Fusion

Choreography by Brad Hampton, Eowyn Barrett, Erika Boudreau and Autumn Dones

 

NW Fusion will be presenting multiple works representing various styles of dance. NW Fusion is a pre-professional dance company consisting of dancers between the ages of 14 and 18 and is based out of Westside Dance Academy. Our members train in Tap, Ballet, Jazz and Contemporary and perform the works of both local and national guest choreographers. Northwest Fusion is directed by Brad Hampton. For more information please visit nwfusion.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dance Coalition of Oregon presents:

Collection of Dances

Choreography by Rachel Slater, Kristine Anderson, Agnieszka Laska and The Dolly Pops

 

Dance Coalition of Oregon has brought together four choreographers with diverse choreographic voices for an exceptional evening of modern and contemporary dance.  Those choreographing for this year include: Rachel Slater, showcasing one solo out of a series of solo work; Agnieszka Laska Dancers, premiering Chopin Project; The Dolly Pops, with a new work; and Kristine Anderson, premiering a work created through intricacies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polaris Dance Theatre presents:

Dis-Cooperire

Choreography by Robert Guitron

 

Dis-Cooperire, meaning to completely uncover, is a new work exploring the arc of romantic relationships over time. A section of this piece was presented at Polaris’s fall concert iChange at the Newmark Theatre. Here Artistic Director Robert Guitron continues to build on the piece, which will be completed and performed by Polaris as part of its X-Posed concert June 6-16, 2012 at the Polaris Studio Theater. Ticket information at polarisdance.org.

 

Groovin’ Greenhouse Showcase Series | Jan 28, 5:30-7pm Program

 

Laura Onizuka with members of Portland Flamenco Events Performance Group present:

No Soy Bailarina

Choreography by Laura Onizuka

 

Ms. Onizuka will explore her ongoing struggle with viewing herself as a dancer. She will be joined by singer Diana Bright and members of Portland Flamenco Events Performance Group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agnieszka Laska Dancers present:

Broken Flowers

Choreography by Agnieszka Laska

 

Broken Flowers addresses a severe tragedy unfolding on a growing scale within our region: forced induction of young persons (some prepubescent) into bonded prostitution – literally sex-trade slavery.

 

AWOL Dance Collective presents:

Distant Points

Choreography by Jen Livengood, Alicia Doerrie, Jessica Hoage of A-WOL dance collective with guest Jenni Bregman, dancer and choreographer from San Francisco.

 

Distant Points is an exploration of floor movement and aerial work as an expression of distance. The piece works with the concept of distance both between physical dancers on the stage and our relational experience in life. It explores the overlap of experience that occurs when we are in the same space at the same time, versus the attempt to experience something together with miles between us. The choreography will be created in a variety of ways including: working in the studio together, working solo and independent of one another, and combining work that has been created completely separate of one another with no knowledge of what the other is creating. Using harnessed lines, bodies in motion and an illustrated series of lines on the floor, this athletic group of dancers will bring a new work together that pushes the boundaries of what can be experienced -- no matter the distance.

 

Groovin’ Greenhouse Showcase Series | Jan 28, 8-9:30pm Program

 

Cerrin Lathrop and Carlyn Hudson with members of SubRosa Dance Collective present:

Original Works

Choreography by: Cerrin Lathrop and Carlyn Hudson

 

Cerrin Lathrop and Carlyn Hudson together with SubRosa Dance Collective company members Jessica Evans, Kailee McMurran and Lena Traenkenschuh represent a new wave of young and ambitious choreographers and dancers here in Portland. Recent transplants, these young artists came to the Rose City eager to plug into the creative pulse and bring their varied backgrounds in life and in dance to the stages of the city. The pieces being shown are a testament to their mixed bag of experience offering contemporary movement with a tinge of theatrics that is married to classical music; balletic lines surface and dissipate with the croons of a folk song, and dynamic partnering is put to a local original score.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polaris Dance Theatre presents:

Dis-Cooperire

Choreography by Robert Guitron

 

*Please refer to earlier listing for show description

Groovin’ Greenhouse Showcase Series | Jan 29, 4:30-6pm Program

 

Beat BangerZ presents:

The Rhythm - Choreography by Damon Keller

Swunk - Choreography by Damon Keller & Erin Lee

Fragile - Choreography by Shannon Wilcox

Rockin' to The Beat - Choreography by Hillary Hart & Erin Lee

Greenlight - Choreography by BBZ

 

*Please refer to earlier listing for show description

 

Jennifer Camp with members of Pacific University’s Dance Ensemble present:

Beneath the Surface + additional works TBA

Choreography by Jennifer Camp

 

Jennifer Camp, Artistic Director of Pacific University Dance Ensemble since 2004, is a lyrically expressive Portland choreographer. Her evocative, image-driven choreography taps into the essence of human experience, deeply exploring what motivates and moves us.  Characterized by layered movement vocabulary and theatrically gestural elements, Camp’s work is always challenging and surprising. For this performance Camp presents Beneath the Surface -- an abstract work that explores feelings and experiences in dealing with the stages of grief.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Polaris Dance Theatre presents:

Dis-Cooperire

Choreography by Robert Guitron

 

*Please refer to earlier listings for show description

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

Double Feature:  Ephemory  by Miriam Feder & Dad I Hardly Know You by Gary Corbin

Venue:  Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St. Suite 104, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates:  Jan 22 @ 3pm

Tickets:  www.boxofficetickets.com

 

Ephemory by Miriam Feder:  Carole is an elderly woman with dementia. Her memory of everyday matters is fleeting, unreliable and disturbing. Yet the memories she bequeaths to her daughter from certain chapters of her life — particularly her immigration to the U.S. as a teen and her life in wartime (WWII) New York City, hoping to bring her family out of Europe — seem clear and true. This play will raise issues of the immigrant anxious to join a new culture yet concerned for the people she has left behind; the impacts of war on a civilian population far away; aging and infirmity; the loss of our stories; and handing off the family saga. Dad I Hardly Know You by Gary Corbin: Just when never-married, 40-something Victor thinks he may have talked his new girlfriend Andrea, an unemployed erotic yoga instructor, into moving in with him, his estranged father Abe barges back into his life, suitcase in hand. Abe’s obsession with his own aging body and his take-no-prisoners tendency to say whatever crosses his mind leads to confessions Vic is not ready to hear. Just when Vic thinks he’s had enough, Andrea delivers the ultimatum he fears the most—and only Abe can help him.

 

Theater

Staged Reading

PlayWrite, Inc. presents

Word.Voice. written by recent PlayWrite graduates

Directed by the young PlayWrite graduates

Venue:  Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 22 @ 7:30pm

Tickets:  FREE and open to the public!

 

Word.Voice. is a showcase of character-driven plays written by courageous young writers who have recently graduated from PlayWrite’s intensive, multi-week workshop. These short works dive into the heart of conflict and emotional truth, and are the culmination of many hours of hard, creative work. Now, cast with professional actors and directed by the young writers, these amazing works are ready for an audience! Join us in celebrating their voices! Formed in 2003, PlayWrite, Inc. uses the power of performance in art to transform the lives of youth at the edge. Learn more at www.playwriteinc.org.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

Manful! by John Servilio

Venue:  Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St. Suite 104, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates:  Jan 22 @ 1pm

Tickets:  $10 | www.boxofficetickets.com

 

It’s Fight Club meets His Girl Friday meets Dashiell Hammett in Manful!, an alt-history 1940s-era screwball comedy where Manliness is the law of the land and men must remain rough, tough, and well-bearded to keep America strong in the war effort. Except very suddenly, a monstrous crime has men not feeling so manly anymore. Is it another day in America’s fight for right, or will the real answer be buried underneath all that facial hair?

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

The Pulp Stage presents

PULP DICTION III: Gift of a Thousand Tongues by Fengar Gael

Directed by Joel Patrick Durham

Venue: The Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates: Jan 22 @ 7:30pm

Tickets: $8 advance; $10 door | www.fertilegroundpdx.org or 1‐800‐494‐8497 (TIXS)

Flash Your “DIG IT” Button and Save: $1

 

Food + Beer + Pulp Fresh Off the Page = PULP DICTION! Award-winning playwright Fengar Gael pushes two sciences to their outer limits in the feature-length Gift of a Thousand Tongues. A crossbreed of Arcadia and Altered States, this bold new work centers on Fernelle, a brilliant, rebellious young linguist who must gain vital information from the “Mutagens”: A pair of genetic test subjects whose shocking transformations could hold the answers to humanity’s future. Best suited for mature audiences.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

A Simple Thread by Jenni GreenMiller

Venue:  Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St, Suite 104, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates:  Jan 22 @ 8pm

Tickets: www.boxofficetickets.com

 

Sometimes there is a thin line that holds us all together, even when it’s not wanted. Katherine is dying of cancer and chooses to keep the truth from her only son, Tommy, so that he can continue living his life. What happens when your life suddenly isn’t yours anymore? What happens when the thread is suddenly cut? Lost loves, broken promises and family secrets are revealed. A father’s love for his son, a son’s obvious desire to please, a mother’s celebration of what once was, and hopefully will be again, are all lost when the lie that keeps them together is revealed. Somewhere between hors d’oeuvres and the moon ... is the truth.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

The Waffle Tree presents

City of Roses/City of Thorns by Travis Smith and Eileen DuClos

In Other Words  14 Northeast Killingsworth Street  Portland, OR 97211

Jan 28 @ 7:30pm

Tickets:  Pay  What You Will; $10 suggested donation; No one turned away.

www.fertilegroundpdx.org or 1-800-494-8497 (TIXS)

 

A rip-roaring and honest romp through the sometimes harsh, sometimes amusing urban underworld of Portland! "City of Roses" is an hour long one-woman show that tells the personal story of one woman’s time spent homeless in the city and the emotional, economical and spiritual turmoil that manifests during and after.  It’s a piece that focuses on the day to day struggle of the casually dismissed women who live in the street and questions our socially conditioned responses to them. Local female actor Eileen DuClos hopes to dismiss the "us and them" mentality and take a look at not just her experiences coping with homelessness, but also the universal story of those women that are often ignored. This show tackles some very adult topics, so mature audience is recommended.

Theatre/Comedy

Staged Reading

Standing Gard presents

Graceland, Paraguay by Jason Rosenblatt

Directed by  Dennis Fitzpatrick

Venue:  Collective Agency, 322 NW 6th Ave. Suite 200 , Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 23 @ 7:15pm

Tickets:  $10 Suggested Donation | http://www.brownpapertickets.com or at the door

 

Worried about overpopulation, peak oil, the collapse of the dollar, the uprising of the impoverished and the fall of modern civilization?  Don’t waste your millions investing in stocks, bonds or even gold bars -- invest in your future.  Spaces are still available. Graceland : a self-sustaining city of the future designed to meet your needs and maintain the lifestyle you’ve earned, regardless of geopolitical disruption.  Stocked with all of life’s necessities, at harmony with nature and more importantly, fully secured with cutting-edge military technology.  Protect yourself and your loved ones.  Purchase the peace of mind that comes with knowing the problems of the world do not need to be fixed for you to always have the things that truly matter like food, water and…wait, what?  Uh, yes there will be home theatre systems…yes with 3D… okay what you need to keep in mind is that this is after the apocalypse so big box retail stores and fast food burger joints probably…okay, let me talk to my supervisor and get back to you. Graceland, Paraguay -- a satirical search for the essential featuring idealists, con artists, and a couple gullible billionaires. The audience is invited to stay afterward and provide feedback for the future development of this work.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

Jewish Theatre Collaborative presents

Café Baghdad adapted by Sacha Reich

Directed by Sacha Reich

Venues:

Jan 23, Someday Lounge, 125 Northwest 5th Ave, Portland OR 97209

Jan 24, Hoda’s on Belmont, 3401 SE Belmont St, Portland OR 97214

Jan 25, Smith Hall, Lewis & Clark College, 0615 SW Palatine Rd, Portland OR 97219

Jan 30, Food For Thought Café, PSU Smith Memorial Student Union (Basement) 1825 SW  Broadway, Portland OR 97201

Festival Dates:  Jan 23, 24, 25 and 30 @ 7pm

Tickets:  $10 | www.jewishtheatrecollaborative.org or 503-512-9582

Flash Your “DIG IT!” Button and Save: $2

 

Have Arab Coffee with a Jew in the New York of the Middle East. It’s 1928. Enveloped in the trappings of a Baghdad-inspired café, audiences will be drawn back in time to 1928 when Baghdad, a profoundly modern and cosmopolitan city, was one-third Jewish. Through a collage of memoir, primary sources and poetry, audiences will encounter a face of the city different from the violent and fractured Baghdad witnessed on television and in the newspaper today.  This Baghdad presents a paradigm of Jewish, Muslim and Christian coexistence reflective of trends across the Middle East and North Africa at the time. Post-performance conversations with local scholars will help the audience reflect on this experience. Jewish Theatre Collaborative (JTC) events bring together Jewish and non-Jewish audiences to explore the complex legacy of the Jewish existence in the modern world. Our performances provide an ideal environment for exploration, awakening curiosity, opening minds and challenging stereotypes.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

Dust and Dreams Ensemble presents

A Live Dress by Martha Jane Kaufman

Directed by Avital Schoenberg

Venue:  Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 26, 28 @ 7:30pm

Tickets:  $7 advance ($4 under 30); $8 door ($5 under 30) | www.alivedress.org or 503-341-2274

Flash Your “DIG IT!” Button and Save: $1

 

On a dark corner on the Lower East Side in 1923, young girls are disappearing in the night, only to have their dresses appear hanging in the air the next morning. When 16-year-old actress Sabina goes to see a play about to be shut down on obscenity charges, she is drawn into a mysterious world of performers. A Live Dress spins a tangled tale of subculture, desire and assimilation while bringing some of the Yiddish theatre’s most compelling voices center stage.

 

Theater

Staged Reading

CoHo Productions presents

A Noble Failure by Susan Mach

Directed by Erin Lucas

Venue:  CoHo Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh St, Portland OR 97210

Festival Dates:  Jan 22 @ 2pm; Jan 29 @ 7:30pm

Tickets:  Pay What You Will | www.fertilegroundpdx.org or 1-800-494-8497 (TIXS)

 

What happens when a public school gets co-opted by a private, for-profit company?  Who really benefits from standardized testing?  What does such testing actually measure?  What is the effect on actual education?  Can our education system afford to have “winners” and “losers”?  CoHo Productions presents the winner of 2011 CoHo’s NEWxNW Playwrighting Competition: A Noble Failure by Susan Mach.  Ms. Mach is an award-winning, published playwright; a literature/composition teacher at Clackamas Community College; and multiple grant recipient for writing.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

Portland Shakespeare Project presents

Lear’s Follies, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s King Lear by C.S. Whitcomb

Directed by Michael Mendelson

Venue: Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St, Portland OR 97205

Festival Dates: Jan 28 @ 11am; Jan 30 @7:30pm

Tickets:  $10 suggested donation | www.fertilegroundpdx.org or 1-800-494-8497 (TIXS)

 

Set in a Virginia tobacco empire family in 1929, Lear’s Follies explores issues of pride, greed, friendship, devotion and the choices people make in their lives that keep them shackled emotionally to their past. Tobias Andersen plays King; he is joined by David Bodin, Spencer Conway, Dana Millican, Amy Newman, Gary Norman and Danichia Sullwold. This world premiere adaptation of William Shakespeare’s King Lear is written by Portland playwright C.S. Whitcomb whose other plays include Holidazed, Book of John, and The Wilde Boy. Come and see what King Lear has to teach us in its new form … and maybe even have some fun along the way.  Who said that tragedy has to be high on body count and low on laughs?

 

Theatre/Comedy

Staged Reading

Standing Gard presents

Satanic Organics  by Jason Rosenblatt

Directed by Charles Frutos

Venue:  Collective Agency, 322 NW 6th Ave. Suite 200, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 26 @ 7:15pm

Tickets: $10 suggested donation | http://www.brownpapertickets.com or at the door

 

You’ve just had the best sex of your life.  But now she’s telling you it was all a set-up, she’s a terrorist in a war with the Devil who’s living on Earth inside the body of the Norwegian millionaire CEO who just bought your company and became your boss.  And she wants you to help her and her fellow terrorists (okay, wanna-be terrorists – they really don’t know what they’re doing) expose the Devil for what he is and prevent him from whatever dastardly plans have brought him to earth.  What do you do?

No.  No.  No.  The sex was really that good!  What do you do? Okay you’re NOT hearing me.  The sex was … alright!  You know what, forget it.  Doesn’t matter what you would do.  Find out what Charles Manderhorn, all-star corporate image strategist (whatever the heck that is) does about it in the new satire …(drumroll, please). Satanic Organics –  a look at life, love, big business, public perception, celebrity, the nature of evil and above all, the law of unintended consequences. The audience is invited to stay afterward and provide feedback for the future development of this work.

 

[*Disclaimer - the staged reading does NOT involve any live sex acts and/or nudity - it’s very tastefully done, honest.]

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

Double Feature:  Triptych Americana by Karen Alexander-Brown & Skin Garden by Jeremy Benjamin

Venue:  Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St. Suite 104, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates:  Jan 29 @ 1pm

Tickets:  $8 | www.boxofficetickets.com

 

Triptych Americana by Karen Alexander-Brown: A trio of short plays ranging from the personal (a relationship on the brink), to the societal (making visible the marginalized), to the political (“collateral damage” in current wars). The stories are pertinent to our time and quintessentially American in their focus. Skin Garden by Jeremy Benjamin: In the not-too-distant future, scientists will figure out how to grow crops on the human body, the media will figure out how to make that sound appealing, and a cast of characters will make literal gardens of their skin—or so the playwright speculates in this ecological satire.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

Double Feature:  Sacagasasquatch & Spellbinders by Brad Bolchunos

Venue:  Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St. Ste 104, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates:  Jan 29 @ 3pm

Tickets:  www.boxofficetickets.com

 

Sacagasasquatch: Venturing deep into the mysterious forests of the Pacific Northwest, Lewis and Clark encounter something lurking in the darkest shadows of their fear. Communicating their mission of peace will demand all the wit, courage and grooviness they can muster. Spellbinders: Unsettling mysteries of memory drive Russian inventor Leon Theremin to explore hypnosis. Wading into the thickets of his own troubled past, he discovers Franz Anton Mesmer, a doctor whose use of hypnosis to help a young woman explodes in controversy. In this ethereal realm of questioned memory and time-hopping, two innovators teeter on the brink of reality and illusion, creativity and madness, showmanship and scandal. If memory can be mastered, the power to heal is only the beginning.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

Double Feature:  Green by Kate Belden & Fiona and the Queen of Baltimore by David Holloway

Venue:  Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St. Suite 104, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates:  Jan 29 @ 6pm

Tickets:  www.boxofficetickets.com

 

Green by Kate Belden: Zach and Sarah were attached at the hip, and the only way Sarah can explain that they aren’t still is that she killed him. But the new Doc may have a good point, and a way to save her. Fiona and the Queen of Baltimore by David Holloway: When wounded warriors die, what of their families? Margaret mourns Nathan, her father, dead years ago of a war-wound. Though dead, Nathan now ‘lives’ at home where only his wife Grace, Margaret’s mother, can see him. Grace, (oh! so very shameful and vulgar?) plots escape from her tawdry widowhood to a place where she is a real Lady, a Queen, the Queen of Baltimore, waiting with her princess-daughter ‘Fiona’ for their King to return. (“Lavender Blue, dilly, dilly ... You’ll be my king, and I’ll be your Queen.”) Must Margaret, as Fiona, sacrifice her own sanity to her mother ‘the Queen’? Tragedy threatens as a family is torn apart by sex, guilt, war and a society’s indifference — yet struggles to be reborn out of the ashes.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

The Pulp Stage presents

PULP DICTION III: Red Hands by Matt Haynes, from the screenplay by Adam Haynes

Directed by Brian Allard

Venue: The Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates: Jan 29 @ 7:30pm

Tickets: $8 advance; $10 door www.fertilegroundpdx.org or 1-800-494-8497 (TIXS)

Flash Your “DIG IT” Button and Save: $1

 

Food + Beer + Pulp Fresh Off the Page = PULP DICTION! “The Haynes Boys” follow up their 2010 hit, The Night I Died, with the feature-length ensemble caper, Red Hands. An imbalanced agent. A nosy prostitute. A mysterious follower. A pair of scheming lowlifes. One simple crime ... several deadly blind spots. Be among the first audiences ever to catch the crossfire! Best suited for mature audiences.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

Jerusalem Story by Sharon Sassone

Venue:  Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St, Suite 104, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates:  Jan 29 @ 8pm

Tickets:  www.boxofficetickets.com

 

Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. He is a Palestinian Muslim. She is an American Jew. They are in Israel, where neither is at home. Star-crossed lovers? It’s a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. Need we say more?

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

Kookaburra by Amy Doherty

Venue: Gerding Theatre at the Armory, Mezzanine, 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 20 @ Noon

Tickets:  $5 | www.boxofficetickets.com

 

The backdrop is 1991 London town and Britain has joined the U.S. in what became known as the Gulf War Crisis. Gillian Henry is lost between unrequited love for Jonathan, her best (gay) friend, and coming to terms with having zero goals. Deception knows no age boundaries and neither does Sylvia Henry, Gillian’s mother. 3-D glasses and parachutes are not required. Butter optional.

 

Theatre

Staged Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

The Widow of Tom’s Hill by Aleks Merilo

Venue:  Gerding Theatre at the Armory, Mezzanine, 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 21 @ Noon

Tickets:  $5 | www.boxofficetickets.com

 

In 1918, the worst plague in human history hit America. When a small Washington town finds itself the subject of a military quarantine, a young sailor and 19-year-old widow from opposite sides of the blockade engage in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, putting their lives, and souls, in the balance.

 

Theatre

Reading

PDX Playwrights presents

Cate Darringer by Sally Sunbear

Venue:  Gerding Theatre at the Armory, Mezzanine, 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 28 @ Noon

Tickets: www.boxofficetickets.com

 

“George, are you in some kind of trouble?” Even the plans of a clever girl can often go awry in this old- fashion comedy set in Indian Territory. Can love letters, lassos and luck save the day, and keep an innocent man from swinging from the yardarm? Come find out in this upbeat radio drama! Youngsters are encouraged to bring canned or dried foods, or warm hats and gloves to donate to Title X, Portland’s School’s program for homeless students.

 

Theatre

Reading

Third Eye Theatre presents

Copernicus Rising by Michael A. Rose

Directed by Cosette Brown

Venue:  The Masonic Lodge , 8130 N Denver Ave, Portland OR 97217

Festival Dates:  Jan 22 @ 2pm

Tickets:  $ 5 | www.thirdeyetheatre.org or 503-970-8874

Flash Your “DIG IT!” Button and Save: $2

 

Copernicus Rising opens with theorist, Nicolas Copernicus, on his death bed about to enter the coma that preceded his final rest. According to legend, he received a published copy of his On the Revolutions in a moment of lucidity just before he died. A young mathematician, George Rheticus, was largely responsible for the publication. As the play unfolds it becomes a memory play, where Copernicus looks through memories and revisits his path to the present. In his coma, he journeys into a dreamscape of the future meeting people whom his work will profoundly affect. Together they journey through space, time and the human psyche as they attempt to show Copernicus what ramifications his decision to publish will ultimately have on the world. Copernicus finds himself pursued by the Church in the past, death in the present, and his theoretical rival Tycho Brahe in the future. The characters sail through the past, present and future –with stops like the stream of consciousness, the time stream and a public debate over theory long dead – trying to help Copernicus learn of his importance before it is too late. He must accept the good with the bad and make the most difficult decision of his life. As Rheticus deals with publishing issues, Copernicus addresses metaphysical and existential ideas.

 

Theatre

Reading

Sowelu Ensemble Theater presents

Two Writers: Two Works - Comic Book City by Hunt Holman & A Boy Interrupts His Chores by Lorraine Bahr

Directed by Lorraine Bahr

Venue:  Literary Arts, 925 SW Washington, Portland OR 97205

Festival Dates:  Jan 21 @ 3pm

Tickets: $5 suggested donation | www.sowelutheater.org  or 503-568-4017

 

In Comic Book City, Drammy Award-winning playwright, Hunt Holman (Willow Jade, 2009) again plies his signature style with swift, sometimes startling, always spot-on comic dialogue to drive his characters through a journey of faded dreams, leaky loyalties, morally bankrupt motives and hopeless romanticism. Lorraine Bahr’s A Boy Interrupts His Chores presents the textual skeleton for a full-fledged movement-performance piece, layered in poetic imagery and epic adventure, featuring a Boy, His Girl, Businessmen, Grandmothers, Magpies and underwater waves.

 

Theatre

Reading

Third Eye Theatre presents

The Bag Lady’s Christmas by Sharon Sassone

Directed by Alacias Enger

Venue:  The Masonic Lodge, 8130 N. Denver Ave, Portland OR 97217

Festival Dates: Jan 29 @ 2pm 

Tickets: $5 | www.thirdeyetheatre.org; 503-970-8874 find us at thirdeyetheatre.org

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It’s that time of year when people are shopping for evergreen trees and ornaments, jewelry and toys, candies and cakes, champagne and eggnog—unless, of course, they’re homeless or unemployed, or both. And now a sub-zero freezing spell has hit the city! Joe is dressed as Santa Claus, trying to raise money for the homeless; Celeste is making one more stab at finding a job—any job—in an attempt to keep the bank from foreclosing on her house; Patricia has a cough that is getting worse and worse, and she knows she is dying but she’s trying to make the best of the situation; Caddy, Peanut Pete, Tilly, Jackpot, and Lisa—the Brethren—are trying to stay warm and hopeful out in a freezing park where the police cannot allow them to camp; Teenagers scavenge through other people’s possessions in the hope of finding something to pawn for money just to survive; Carolers sing to celebrate the holidays;

Police, just doing their jobs, have to get the homeless to an emergency shelter; Lou, who runs the shelter, tries to keep the holiday spirit while feeling unappreciated and overwhelmed.

“Merry Christmas?”

 

Theatre

Reading

Passing Fool Productions presents

Farm Story by Jacklyn Maddux

Directed by Philip Cuomo

Venue: Portland Actors Conservatory, 1436 SW Montgomery St, Portland OR 97210

Festival Dates:  Jan 22 @ 7pm

Tickets:  $5.00 | farmstory2012@gmail.com

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Farm Story is a new full-length play using multi-media and movement, along with narrative, to tell the story of three generations of one farm family.  Starting in the present and moving back to the 1930s, we trace the history of Moses, the patriarch of a family that makes the choice to stay during the Dust Bowl and ultimately face the realities of corporate farming.  It is a story of survival filled with joy, humor and heartbreak and questions how we endure and sustain ourselves.

 

Theatre

Reading

Portland Theatre Works presents

Next of Kin by Steve Patterson and Live from Douglas by Andrew Wardenaar

Directed by Andrew Golla

Venue: University of Portland, Mago Hunt Center, 5000 N. Willamette Blvd, Portland OR 97203

Festival Dates: Jan 27, 28 @ 7:30pm

Tickets: $5 | www.ptwks.org

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Portland Theatre Works revisits Steve Patterson’s Next of Kin and Andrew Wardenaar’s Live from Douglas. After successful workshops of both plays (in 2010 and 2009) we wanted to give each playwright a chance to hear their post-workshop revisions in front of an audience, as well as reconnect with these great plays. Next of Kin tells the story of siblings Mike, Rich and Angie. Mike is a Marine Casualty Assistance Officer who informs parents and spouses their loved one has been killed. Rich is a Marine recruiter trying to fill his quotas. Angie was left at home to care for their father, a Vietnam Vet and former Marine, who now lies in a coma having attempted suicide. Reuniting over their father’s deathbed, they face the complex relationships they have with each other as they pick up the pieces their father left behind. In the comedy Live from Douglas, Douglas is a happy, hidden town. Everyone is named Doug, likes tea, and gardening, and the quiet life. The world doesn’t bother them and they don’t bother the world. Until a renegade Doug invites radio reporter Harriet Mirion to do a piece on Douglas. Will the feature she’s planning ruin their little utopia?

 

Theatre/Storytelling

Workshop

Redneck Mormon Productions presents

Redneck Mormon Thespian by Cory Huff

Venue:  The Armory, Mezzanine, 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 20 @ 10:30pm; Jan 23 @ Noon

Tickets:  $10 | mormonredneck.eventbrite.com or 801-809-0237

Flash Your “DIG IT!” Button and Save: $5

 

People never believe me when I say I grew up a redneck. I really did grow up in a series of trailer parks. At my great-grandmother’s funeral, my wife was amazed to see my family members, in their ‘dress jeans’ and denim halter tops, swapping stories about who was in jail and who wasn’t on speaking terms.

Of course, being a redneck isn’t just funny. The redneck culture has a darker side to it as well. This is my story about how I overcame abuse, drugs, and being a redneck, and about how I almost died the day before I became a full-time missionary with the Chinese immigrant community in Vancouver, Canada--and got started down my own personal path to enlightenment.

 

Theatre

Late Night/Staged Reading

The Pulp Stage presents

PULP DICTION III: The Pulp Sampler

Directed by Brian Allard, Joel Patrick Durham and Rusty Tennant

Venue: The Brody Theater, 16 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates: Jan 21,28* @10:30pm

Tickets: $8 advance; $10 door | www.fertilegroundpdx.org or 1-800-494-8497 (TIXS)

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Food + Beer + Pulp Fresh Off the Page = PULP DICTION! Hand picked from over 70 submissions these 7 sizzling shorts include: Operation Midnight Climax by Ron Burch (a “Dueling Premiere” with Third Eye Theatre!), How to Talk to Little Girls by Tina Connolly, Iced by Michael Cooper, Best Son by Paul Handley, Route Nine by Samantha Henderson, All Hallowed Puppets by Bill Ratner and The Devil Made Me Do It by Sydney Somerfield. Best suited for mature audiences.

 

*January 28 performance will be hosted by nationally renowned storyteller and voiceover artist, Bill Ratner.

 

Theatre/Musical

World Premiere

Fuse Theatre Ensemble presents

Karaoke Night! (the musical) devised  by the ensemble

Directed by Rusty Tennant

Venue: Check www.fusepdx.com for locations during the Festival!

Festival Dates: Thursday-Sunday nights during Fertile Ground @ 10-11pm

Full Run Dates: Jan 19-Feb 14

Tickets:  $5 suggested donation (plus tips for stellar performances & don’t forget to tip the KJ)

 

A site-specific expression of the guts, glory, devotion, pride, sexuality, and drinking that is...Karaoke.

...

Venue:

Thursday, Jan 19 - The Funhouse Lounge - 2432 SE 11th Ave @ Division

Friday, Jan 20 - Artists Repertory Theatre (adapted script, part of the Fertile Ground Opening night party) - 1515 SW Morrison

Saturday, Jan 21 - The Local Lounge - 3536 NE MLK @ Fremont

Sunday, Jan 22 - The Local Lounge - 3536 NE MLK @ Fremont

 

Thursday, Jan 26 -  The Funhouse Lounge - 2432 SE 11th Ave @ Division

Friday, Jan 27 - Artists Repertory Theatre  - 1515 SW Morrison

Saturday, Jan 28 - The Local Lounge - 3536 NE MLK

Sunday, Jan 29 -The Local Lounge - 3536 NE MLK @ Fremont

 

Tickets: $5 cash contributions suggested, plus tips for stellar performances! (Don't forget to tip your KJ.)

 

Flash Your Fertile Ground "DIG IT!" Button During the Festival and save an optional $2 on your base contribution.

 

About the Show: Fuse continues to plumb our mission To Dare with this tribute to one of our favorite international pastimes. Through Karaoke Night! (the musical) we celebrate the stories behind each of your favorite genuine karaoke moments. For each performance, a small cast is assembled from a larger pool of trained performers who shift roles and continuously prepare new musical numbers, so we'll never play the same show twice! Track our location (and your favorite cast members!) at http://www.fusepdx.org/ Do you drink? Do you sing? Do you dare??

 

About the Company: Fuse Theatre Ensemble Dares

Our audiences to exit their comfort zones

Our peers to collaborate before competing

Our community to manage our resources sustainably.

...Shift the Paradigm.

 

Theatre

Workshop Production

PDX Playwrights presents

Three Short Plays:  A Pretty Girl with Cancer by Dave Chapman, This is Temporary by Debbie

Lamedman & Scrooge and Marley Have Dinner in Hell by Dave Chapman

Venue:  Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St, Suite 104, Portland OR 97214

Festival Dates:  Jan 22 @ 6pm

Tickets:  pay-what-you-will | at the door, cash only

 

A Pretty Girl with Cancer by Dave Chapman: Popular student Vicki has been away from her high school for several months while receiving treatments for cervical cancer. Now, a new school year is beginning and Vicki tries to reintegrate into school, recover friendships, and ignore the judgment of those who don’t understand what she has gone through. This is Temporary by Debbie Lamedman: Is Jennifer a kleptomaniac, a squatter, or simply a confused woman running away from a life of mediocrity? Along with her newly acquired bohemian roommates, Maggie and Kat, the three women are living on the fringe and preparing for a birthday party in a large, empty house using items retrieved from their daily dumpster diving. Without warning, Jennifer’s past catches up with her in the form of Daniel who suddenly arrives to confront her. Torn between the life she knows and the adventure she longs for, Jennifer must decide on what side of the fence she truly belongs. Scrooge and Marley Have Dinner in Hell by Dave Chapman: We find that after delivering his warning to Ebenezer Scrooge on that fateful Christmas Eve, Jacob Marley has spent the better part of a century tormented in the underworld. But on this Christmas, his old friend Scrooge pays a visit and brings along a surprising gift.

 

 

Theatre

Workshop

Olio Productions Presents

Trifecta: Blanche by Sascha Blocker, Voicemail devised by ensemble & 400,000 Letters by Sarah Soards Directed by Nathan Crosby

Venue:  Performance Works NorthWest, 4625 SE 67th Ave, Portland OR 97206

Festival Dates:  Jan 23, 24, 25 @ 7:30; Jan 28 & 2pm

Tickets:  $9 | 503- 819-8972 reservations; cash only at the door

 

Three short works by two Olio Productions members. Blanche, conceived by Sascha Blocker, is a mask-movement piece inspired by the monologues of Tennessee Williams’ famous character Blanche DuBois. Blocker uses Blanche’s memories as a starting point for exploring desire and where it can take us. 400,000 Letters, written by Sarah Soards, follows two brothers through the chaos of World War II. One brother is fighting in England, while the other remains at home writing letters to the families who have lost their sons in battle. When familial tragedy strikes, it is up to one brother to decide whether honor or truth is more important. Voicemail, conceived by Sascha Blocker, exposes two individuals manipulating reality in order to obtain the relationship they want.  A vicious cycle of desperation drives these characters to the point where the line between reality and fantasy is no longer discernible.

 

 

Theatre/Storytelling

Workshop

Redneck Mormon Productions presents

Redneck Mormon Thespian by Cory Huff

Venue:  The Armory, Mezzanine, 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland OR 97209

Festival Dates:  Jan 20 @ 10:30pm; Jan 23 @ Noon

Tickets:  $10 | mormonredneck.eventbrite.com or 801-809-0237

Flash Your “DIG IT!” Button and Save: $5

 

People never believe me when I say I grew up a redneck. I really did grow up in a series of trailer parks. At my great-grandmother’s funeral, my wife was amazed to see my family members, in their ‘dress jeans’ and denim halter tops, swapping stories about who was in jail and who wasn’t on speaking terms.

Of course, being a redneck isn’t just funny. The redneck culture has a darker side to it as well. This is my story about how I overcame abuse, drugs, and being a redneck, and about how I almost died the day before I became a full-time missionary with the Chinese immigrant community in Vancouver, Canada--and got started down my own personal path to enlightenment.

 

Theatre

Workshop

Readers Theatre Repertory presents

The Penguins of Ithaca by David Berkson

Directed by David Berkson

Venue: Northwest Academy Blue Box Theatre, 1130 SW Main St, Portland OR 97205

Festival Dates:   January 27, 28, 29 @ 7:30pm

Tickets:  $10 advance/$12 door |www.fertilegroundpdx.org or 1-800-494-8497 (TIXS)

Flash Your “DIG IT!” Button and Save: $2

 

Meet EJ: a neurotic and hyper-intellectual underachiever. While volunteering at a children’s cancer ward he meets Carl, a 10-year prodigy obsessed with Homer, Shakespeare, chess and apocalyptic science fiction Christmas pageants. The two form an unlikely friendship while Carl is in remission from leukemia. But before EJ can truly mentor the young boy through the ups and downs of terminal illness, he must first confront a variety of his own bizarre internal demons, including: a contagious bout of Tourette’s Syndrome, a band of vigilante eco-terrorist assassins, a seductive, septuagenarian 7th grade English teacher, and God.  One part realism and one part Theatre of the Absurd, The Penguins of Ithaca draws on an unlikely range of influences, from Homer and Dostoyevsky to Woody Allen, Maurice Sendak and Monty Python.  The Penguins of Ithaca has been described as a “wild ride through the torn up road of the psyche,” and “a modern, de-constructed ‘everyman odyssey’ that is both abstract and rooted, serious and comical, cynical and touching.” The Penguins of Ithaca received a staged reading at Readers Theatre Repertory in October of 2010. The Fertile Ground workshop features Jason Maniccia, Jamie M. Rea, Jonah Weston and Dylan Earhart. Mary McDonald-Lewis will facilitate a post-performance discussion.