New Work is here to stay

Let me answer the question that is on ALL your minds...Yes. JAW is happening.

Just because PCS doesn't have a literary department doesn't mean that JAW is now dead too.
Au contraire mon frere. New work is still alive and well in Portland, OR.

IN FACT, Did you know that coming to Theater! Theater! this August, 7th will the be world premiere of Steven Drukman's THE BULLET ROUND. Who's excited?! I am! (mainly because I am producing and directing this little number) but also because HOW EXCITING for us Portland!

New work is all around. We have some amazing playwrights living right here creating some very exciting work, there is JAW, Fertile Ground, PCS' CRAZY ENOUGH, Third Rail's Craig Wright commission and now a world premiere of THE BULLET ROUND (and I'm sure many many more I have failed to mention & I apologize in advance for this...)

So don't loose hope PDX because after all we are pioneers.

There goes the neighborhood

As some of you know, or are finding out right this second...I have been let go, laid off, downsized (whatever. it's all the same to me) from Portland Center Stage. That's not even the worst part. There is currently no literary department at PCS. If you don't know that means the fabulous Mead Hunter (aka Dr. Phun) has also been cut. As much as this saddens me, to leave the only LORT theater in Portland, OR. I must realize that with every door closed another one opens.

I started there as an intern in 2005 back in the "Old Country," which refers to the good old days in the PCPA. I had an interview with Kelsey and Chris at the Coffee People over there, which also is no more, where they basically said, "well yeah we would love the help, but we don't know where to put you." When my mom asked me how it went, I told her I didn't think they liked me and I don't think they want me. Turns out I was wrong! And the internship began.

Because Kelsey gets to work at some ungodly hour I could come in at 3 or 4 and use his computer after he had left to go to Shaboom (where he would sing on a cruise ship or whatever). So quickly I became close with Rose Riordan because she sat across from Kelsey and stayed later than most people. When I left Kelsey and Rose gave me a cup full of chocolates (no doubt stolen from the cupbord and stuffed with candies from Lisa Sanman's desk from when she used to bring in treats). They even made a card, that I hung on my wall my last year in college. It read: "Hey You, what's your face, Kathy... you're going to miss us so much!" And it's true. I will miss them all very much, especially the family like love and bickering.

I don't know how, because Rose is really bad with names--and fully aware of this, but somehow she remebered me and asked me to come back and interview for the company manger position. I didn't get it and we both knew it wasn't really for me anyway. Luckly, JAW/West was coming up and I worked alongside the new company manger, then Dawn Young, now Dawn Sorgnard. Dawn and I quickly became close as we nagivated the round waters that is JAW/West (now know as JAW). It was at JAW where I suddenly took notice of this boy: Kristan. I guess I was so distracted by whatever else that I didn't even notice he had a girls name.

At the end of JAW I came out with two things: a job and a boyfriend. I nearly shat myself: I have a job in the theater! Everyone said that that doesn't happen. But it did to me. I was the Artistic/Literary Assitant for almost four years. While in the position, I assisted Mead with literary things, and Rose with artistic/casting things, even assistant directed and dramaturged on three shows, child wrangled, read a ton of plays for JAW and for the season, hunted for scripts for Chris, and started a monthly reading series. So much has changed since I got there and I'm sure more will change in my absence. I am amazed at what I've learned and what this all means to me. I am very blessed to have had the experience and the support I had while at PCS and I'm excited for my next adventure.

Please keep in touch: megankateward@gmail.com

Lemon Andersen: The Beautiful Struggle

Last year I saw the Suicide Kings, who were amazing, and I learned that I liked slam poets. So this year I went to see Lemon Andersen. I didn't know anything about him except that he is an urban poet. He all caught our attention when he jumped out from the audience and started rapping. This story starts at the end. Lemon tells us about winning the Tony and then takes us back to his childhood growing up on the streets of Brooklyn. He has had quite a full life: he lost both his parent at a young age to A.I.D.S, ran in a gang, sold drugs, and ended up in jail twice. After his second time out of jail he went to get his hair done at the barber shop and while he was there, he heard about a poetry reading. So instead of spending the money on the haircut he went to see the poetry reading. He was so impressed with the poets that he got carried away and asked the lady to put him name down to read. She told him they were full but if he heard his name he could come up. It was then that he realized he didn't have anything prepared. "I didn't have a poem, but I had experience" he said. And by God does he. His performance tonight was captivating.

So I got to thinking about biography. I'm obsessed with it. I have had many discussions with my boyfriend about the importance of an artists biography. I think it informs their work. To know an artists biography gives you a deeper understanding of their work. Of course the work can be and should be appreciated separate from this knowledge. I just think it gives you a little something extra. An inside look. An intimacy with the text. And now in my cases we are seeing one's biography become their work. This season at PCS we will be producing Storm Large's one woman show about her life. I saw her performance during JAW and was also entranced by her and her amazing life. She monologues and sings beautifully; Lemon monologues and raps; Mark Bamuthi Joseph monologues and dances; playwrights dialogue, monologue, and create text. A successful playwright once told me that you write about what you know because if you do that the work will come from an honest place. What could be more honest than preforming your biography in your chosen artistic medium. I'm not sure what this all means about American Theater or public interest, but it's just something I've noticed.

JAW: If you have to ask you'll never know...

If you are not sure what JAW is please read below and/or click here. For those in the know, I think you might all agree that it is truly the most wonderful time of year. Better than Christmas! And I would hate for the rest of you to miss out on all the uber-fabulous things because you just didn't know...wake up Portland. Come! Be renewed, inspired and bask in the powerful creative rays of JAW!

JAW: A Playwrights Festival turns 10! And to celebrate we are pulling out all the stops. For two crazy weeks in July, from July 8-20, JAW: A Playwrights Festival takes over the Armory – and its environs. We will begin on the 8^th with readings of hot-off-the press new scripts by Oregon’s own:

The Cloud-Bangers
by Matthew B. Zrebski
July 8
All the clouds are cumulonimbus in this heady mix of meteorology, migraines and steamy romance. Only an air-clearing storm will reveal who’s zoomin’ whom.

Starvation Heights
by Ginny Foster
July 9
In this adaptation of the true-crime novel by New York Times best-selling author Gregg Olsen, lady doctor Linda Hazzard opens a sanitarium with some unorthodox treatments. When her clients start leaving her care feet first, a mysterious figure known as Nanny appears, determined to save two patients in particular.

Willow Jade
by Hunt Holman
July 10
Nowheresville, Washington state. Meet four aging chums with a good idea: stave off middle age by reviving their high school rock band. Bad idea: coming to terms with their past during a disastrous game of D&D – in costume.

And of course there’s more. Our You Are There (site-specific) presentations will spill into the streets. The popular Theater Fair will take on a fresh twist. Promising Playwrights will offer new works created by local high school students especially for the Festival. Three new Community Artists Labs allow you some one on one time with featured guest artists to pick their brains and practice your craft. And our anniversary kick-off event will draw on playwrights from the full span of JAW’s ten fabulous years to create a Commission!Commission! event open to all for the first time. So stop by on July 11 to see familiar faces and help us kick off the public weekend.

PLUS IT’S ALL FREE!

We are proud to announce we’ve expanded the Festival’s centerpiece readings on the main stage of the Gerding Theater this year another workshop -- a one woman musical by Portland’s very own Storm Large. JAW received a record number of submissions this year, and although this was not our intention, the festival will have all female playwrights. As a young female artist working in the theater community it is inspiring to see so many accomplished women.

Crazy Enough
by Storm Large
July 19 & 20, 2:00 pm in the Ellyn Bye Studio; seats for this events are very limited.

Drawn from Storm’s life and music, this musical one-woman show is bracingly frank and revealing in a way that only our take-no-prisoners chanteuse can deliver. Her story promises to be as rock and roll as the diva herself.

A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits
by Colin Denby Swanson
July 19, 4:oo pm on the Main Stage
Coming up with names is a problem for Mare when she starts giving birth to an endless stream of bunnies. But that’s only the start of her problems, as a whole family of guilty consciences comes to the fore. Who can she turn to? Enter The Stork: raconteur, impresario and OB-GYN, all rolled into one.
Promising Playwright Curtain Raiser by Phillip A. Schallberger

Paradise Street
by Constance Congdon
July 19, 8:00 pm on the Main Stage

Jane arrives at her new university post ready to set academic feminism on its head. But when her mind goes wandering, everyone has to improvise, which brings her doddering mother out of semi-senility and inspires an uneducated drifter to impersonate Jane on the lecture circuit. Along the way they all discover that contrary to popular belief, parallel lines do sometimes meet.
Promising Playwright Curtain Raiser by Jordan Beck

Pony
by Sally Oswald
July 20, 4:00 pm on the Main Stage

On the other side of the woods from Woyzeck, Pony lives in a queer microcosm. Marie conjures a killer, Stell wants Heath’s transgendered body, and Cav is forever on the border looking in. Sexual boundaries merge, twist and double back in this tale of five souls in search of identity.
Promising Playwright Curtain Raiser by Blue S. Dieter

Enchantment
by Carson Kreitzer
July 20, 8:00 pm on the Mainstage

Meet Temple Grandin, engineer and high-functioning autistic, working to make the slaughter of cattle more humane; and Bruno Bettelheim, ruining lives with his theory that the “cold mother” is the cause of autism. They lived and live on, but this is no mere documentary; as their lives interweave to create a disturbing and effecting dramatic narrative, you may never think of life and its consequences the same way again.
Promising Playwright Curtain Raiser by Daniel Felder

, , ,
* Promising Playwrights are four exceptionally talented young writers, drawn from our Visions & Voices programs at Cleveland, Lincoln, Wilson and Alliance High School’s FOCUS program. These writers spend all 10 days of the festival working alongside professional actors, directors and dramaturgs, who show them the inside workings of the theater.

JAW is truly my favorite time of year and the 2008 outing is really a must-see, as the art and creation will be exploding out the building. I hope to see you all there!

NEW WORK IS WHERE IT’S AT!

JAW: A Playwrights Festival turns 10! And to celebrate we are pulling out all the stops. For two crazy weeks in July, from July 8-20, JAW: A Playwrights Festival takes over the Armory – and its environs. We will begin on the 8^th with readings of hot-off-the press new scripts by Oregon’s own:

Cloud Bangers

by Matthew B. Zrebski

July 8

All the clouds are cumulonimbus in this heady mix of meteorology, migraines and steamy romance. Only an air-clearing storm will reveal who’s zoomin’ whom.

Starvation Heights

by Ginny Foster

July 9

On a lake near Seattle a century ago, lady doctor Linda Hazzard opens a sanitarium with some “advanced” ideas about treatment. When her clients start leaving her care feet first, a mysterious figure known only as Nanny arrives, determined to save two particular patients.

Willow Jade

by Hunt Holman

July 10

Nowheresville, Washington state. Four aging chums attempt to stave off incipient middle age by reviving their high school rock band. That is, if they can keep from killing each other during a disastrous game of D&D – in costume.

And of course there’s more. Our You Are There (site-specific) presentations will spill into the streets. The popular Theater Fair will take on a fresh twist. Promising Playwrights will offer new works created by local high school students especially for the Festival. Three new Community Artists Labs allow you some one on one time with featured guest artists to pick their brains and practice your craft. And our anniversary kick-off event will draw on playwrights from the full span of JAW’s ten fabulous years to create a Commission!Commission! event open to all for the first time. So stop by on July 11 to see familiar faces and help us kick off the public weekend.

PLUS IT’S ALL FREE!

We are proud to announce we’ve expanded the Festival’s centerpiece readings on the main stage of the Gerding Theater this year another workshop -- a one woman musical by Portland’s very own Storm Large. JAW received a record number of submissions this year, and although this was not our intention, the festival will have all female playwrights. As a young female artist working in the theater community it is inspiring to see so many accomplished women.

Paradise Street
by Constance Congdon
Jane arrives at her new university post ready to set academic feminism on its head. But when her mind goes wandering, everyone has to improvise, which brings her doddering mother out of semi-senility and inspires an uneducated drifter to impersonate Jane on the lecture circuit. Along the way they all discover that contrary to popular belief, parallel lines do sometimes meet.

Enchantment
by Carson Kreizer

Meet Temple Grandin, engineer and high-functioning autistic, and Bruno Bettelheim, whose book The Uses of Enchantment is notorious for its penetrating analyses of fairy tales. They lived and live on, but this is no mere documentary; as their lives interweave to create a startling, disturbing and effecting dramatic narrative, you may never think of life and its consequences quite the same way again.

Crazy Enough

by Storm Large

Drawn from Storm’s life and music, this musical one-woman show is bracingly frank and revealing in a way that only our take-no-prisoners chanteuse can deliver. Her story promises to be as rock and roll as the diva herself.

Pony
by Sally Oswald
You’ve seen these people on the streets and wondered who they were. Now meet them face to face, before they shape-shift. Gender lines merge, twist and double back in this tale of six souls in search of identify that starts where Woyzeck left off.

A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits
by Colin Denby Swanson
Coming up with names is a problem for Mare when she starts giving birth to an endless stream of bunnies. But that’s only the start of her problems, as a whole family of guilty consciences comes to the fore. Who can she turn to? Enter The Stork: raconteur, impresario and OB-GYN, all rolled into one.

JAW is truly my favorite time of year and the 2008 outing is really a must-see, as the art and creation will be exploding out the building. I hope to see you all there!

What I did for JAW

JAW, Just Add Water: A Playwrights Festival has long passed, but I find myself thinking about it today as we prepare for our artistic retreat. It is my favorite time of year and we are already brainstorming to make it better than ever again this year.

My job is organizing all the scripts that are submitted to the festival. I make sure the reading committee is on task and up to date on all the new scripts. This year we had 116 scripts submitted to the festival and from that we narrowed it down to 4 main stage and 3 for the studio. Once the festival starts, I am in charge of making sure everyone has a copy of the script and getting any re-writes to the appropriate people. Copying is what I’m all about. In fact, for our Commission! Commission! Fundraising event I was affectionately named “The Copy Queen”. For that speedy event, I stood at the copy machine all night and copied the scripts. I then had my helpers get them to the actors, directors and stage managers. Once that was complete, I had to copy the evening’s program. This year it was all drama drama drama because the copy machine decided to stop working just as I had received the program from the graphic designer. I was seriously sweating bullets. I had 25 people around the copy machine all staring at me as I scanned one page at a time of the single sided program trying to make it double sided and so it would fold correctly. I figured it out just in time and had the 25 on lookers fold the programs and pass them out to our audience, who was waiting for the show to start.

Among my other jobs for the week, I was the child wrangler for the young actor in Marie Antoinette, Troy. I was responsible for his whereabouts while he was at the theater and answering any questions he might have with the script and the process. Troy, is a fabulous young actor. I was so impressed that this was his first professional theater job. He was always on time, was actively listening during rehearsal and felt comfortable asking questions and offering suggestions to the group. He’s one of the most grown up 10 year old I know! In fact, we were so impressed with him; he is going to be in our upcoming production of A Christmas Carol.

This year we also had fabulous new t-shirts and I ordered them and coordinated selling them during our Theatre Fair. Dawn was also a big help with this. And when Dawn or Kelsey needed help I was there to lend a helping hand. JAW is my favorite time of the year, not only because of its artistic importance, but also because of how it brings the strengths of our artistic department together. We work hard and it is well worth the lack of sleep.