Bang, Bang

Portland Center Stage's

NOW HEAR THIS

invites you to a concert reading of

The Bullet Round

by Steven Drukman

Featuring the talents of
Paul Glazier, Tom Moorman, Chris Murray,
Nasir Najieb, Amy Newman & Michael Fisher Welsh

*

April 19, 2008
Noon to approximately 2 pm
@ Portland Center Stage
128 NW Eleventh Avenue (between Couch & Davis)
on the Main Stage

Admission is free, but space is limited
Please email Megan Ward at meganw@pcs.org
to reserve your seat

-----------------------------

"If you put a gun onstage in Act I, it must go off by Act III."

-- Anton Chekhov

Karma's a bitch, as the hapless inhabitants of this knockabout comedy
are about to find out. In the course of an a La Ronde chain reaction,
an aspiring white rapper gains and loses a gun that continues to
change hands, scene by scene, on its way to fulfilling an
unanticipated destiny.

Steven Drukman's play IN THIS CORNER (about legendary boxer Joe
Louis) opened in January at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre. Other
produced plays include GOING NATIVE (Long Wharf Theatre), FLATTERY
WILL GET YOU (Connecticut Rep), COLLATERAL DAMAGE (Illusion Theatre,
Minneapolis), THE SNOWMAIDEN (Bob Hope Theatre, Dallas) and ANOTHER
FINE MESS (Portland Center Stage), which was nominated for the
Pulitzer Prize. He has been developed and/or commissioned by the Mark
Taper Forum, the Intiman Theatre, South Coast Rep, New York Theatre
Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Sundance Theatre Lab and the
Williamstown Theatre Festival. Awards: Paul Green Award, Alfred P.
Sloan Award, Heinemann finalist, others. He wrote for many years for
The New York Times, was an Associate Editor of American Theatre
Magazine, and he just released his book of the edited screenplays of
Craig Lucas. He teaches playwriting at NYU.

*

Now Hear This and Portland Center Stage gratefully acknowledge the
support of the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Marjane Satrapi

Monday April 7th, Marjane Satrapi, author of "Persepolis" gave a talk as part of the Literary Arts & Lecture Series. As soon as I found out I was going I picked up a copy of her graphic novel (a title which she despises. She likes them to be called comics.) So I picked up a copy of her comic "Persepolis" so that I could know more about her life. I became fixated on how one choses to present themselves. Since the wikipedia entry is pretty slim I focused on comparing the picture at the back of the book to the self portrait she drew of herself. I had a hard time believing that they were the same woman. I couldn't find the beauty mark on the right side of her nose. I felt that this was an essential part of her face. She references to the day this mark came to live on her face in her book. The character I came to adore, was not this woman in the back of the book.

Regardless, as soon as Marjane Satrapi came on stage, I could finally see the woman in the comic. Satrapi is a wonderful speaker. She was really inspiring and is definitely not afraid to speak her mind. She is educated and ballsey. Two wonderful traits to have, especially in a woman. My mother, who was not interested in reading the comic before going to see Satrapi talk, was suddenly eager to get the book from me.

I am always amazed at how much the world knows about America, and how little the Americans know about their own country, let alone foreign nations. "Persepolis" introduced me to Iran. I know I would not have learned as much as I did if this book was not a personal story. I was attracted to the book because of who was telling the story rather than what it had to say. She truly is a remarkable women.

As the lecture came to an end the audience began asking her about her smoking habits and how she felt about the new law forbidding smoking in Paris, where she lives. She responded by saying that she didn't appreciate the government treating adults like children and telling other people what to do about their health. Then she simply added this quote from The Cure, "All great art was made by smokers." So you non-smokers should appreciate the work of smokers. And so forever more I will think of Marjane Satrapi as the woman pictured below.

That Time of the Month

Portland Center Stage’s

NOW HEAR THIS

invites you to a concert reading of

The Evildoers

A new play by David Adjmi

performed by

Ted deChatelet, Stephanie Gaslin, Val Landrum, Tom Moorman & Leif Norby

*

March 29, 2008

Noon to approximately 2 pm

@ Portland Center Stage

128 NW Eleventh Avenue (between Couch & Davis)

in the Studio Theater

Admission is free, but RSVPs are appreciated

Please call Megan Ward at (503) 445-3845 or e-mail meganw@pcs.org

to reserve your seat

-----------------------------

Described by one critic as "a culmination of the last four centuries of theater," The Evildoers runs the gamut of theatrical forms from Jacobean tragedy to drawing-room comedy. Not for the faint of heart, Adjmi's Carol and Jerry and Martin and Judy make Albee's George and Martha look like Sunday School teachers. Be forewarned: the only thing nastier than their tart tongues and their violent actions is their politics.

DAVID ADJMI’s plays include Strange Attractors, The Evildoers, Elective Affinities, Marie Antoinette and Caligula. David’s work has been developed and produced at the Sundance Theatre Lab, Manhattan Theatre Club, NYTW, Lincoln Center and Portland Center Stage’s JAW Festival, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including a McKnight Fellowship, the Marian Seldes-Garson Kanin Award, a Jerome Fellowship, a Helen Merrill Award, an Ovid Grant for New Writing, a Lecomte du Nouy Award, a Cherry Lane Theatre Fellowship, as well as multiple fellowships from The MacDowell Colony and Ucross Foundation.

SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION

Today was the first rehearsal for the World Premiere of "Sometimes A Great Notion" adapted & directed by Aaron Posner at Portland Center Stage. It was a truly inspiring first read through. This script came to us a couple of years ago and I first encountered it at our first workshop reading. I immediately fell in love with Kesey's characters and felt a sense of new found pride for Oregon. This is a great work of fiction and Posner has perfectly captured Kesey's world in this adaptation. I am pleased to have been a part of this process and am so glad that the work will have its premiere at our theater in its home state. This script reminded me today why I love love LOVE theater and I highly recommend coming to see the show. It opens April 4th on the Main Stage. Click Here to find out more.

Addictions

Below are some addictions that I refuse to give up for Lent. Sadly I had to be reminded that Lent was even happening.

I am in love with Guitar Hero. Yes Yes it's true. Even my boyfriend has a hard time pulling me away. I get so into it I can't stop. I swear at the T.V. and of course blame them for my mistakes. I turn into a three year old child who hasn't learned to share and hates being forced to by others. Most mornings I wake up with a Guitar Hero song stuck in my head. If you have yet to get hip to this groove train I definitely suggest it. But be careful. You've been warned.

Project Runway. I may not have cable but I am able to follow the fierceness via the BravoTV website and talking to co-workers about what I missed. I'm so excited to find out who wins and judging along with the judges about which outfits are the best.

Buying trashy magazines. I'm sorry but if it says Britney and Crazy I'm buying. Nothing makes me feel better about my life then seeing the terrible decline of the princess of pop. And I feel bad for her. I bet if she had known this was going to happen she might not have signed up for the Mickey Mouse Club.

Oregon Humane Society Website. My apartment doesn't allow me to have pets. But I want a dog so bad, so I go to the Oregon Humane Society website and shop dogs that I can't have. It only makes me sad, but I love imaging that I could have one.

Sleeping. Can't get enough of this. Seriously it's almost frightening how much I love it. And as a result...Viso the Portland owned energy drink that is full of vitamins and other goodies. I can't make it through a day without my Viso Vigor. It's packed with 300mg of caffeine. Yes folks, that's approx. 3 cups of coffee. They should contact me to be there spokesperson. My desk at work is littered with them.

That Time of the Month

Portland Center Stage’s
NOW HEAR THIS

invites you to a concert reading of

All Hail Hurricane Gordo
a new play
by Carly Mensch

*
February 23, 2008
Noon to approximately 2 pm
@ Portland Center Stage
128 NW Eleventh Avenue (between Couch & Davis)
in the Rehearsal Room

Admission is free, but space is limited
Please email Megan Ward at meganw@pcs.org
to reserve your seat
-----------------------------

Two brothers’ tenuous hold on stability gets blown apart when they take in a plucky young houseguest with a secret. While India is running away from her relatively normal family, Chaz struggles to find normalcy in the one he already has. Is it possible to be your brother’s keeper and have your own life, too?


Carly Mensch is currently a fellow at The Juilliard School's Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrights Program and the playwright-in-residence at Ars Nova. All Hail Hurricane Gordo was developed at Ars Nova's Out Loud Series, the Kennedy Center's University Playwrights Festival and Marin Theatre Company. It will premiere at the Humana Festival this March. Other plays include Len, Asleep in Vinyl (Juilliard), The Delicate Business of Boy and Miss Girl (2006 New York International Fringe Festival) and Bradshaw (Lorring Dodd Drama Prize).

Our outstanding cast includes:
Mario Calcagno, Drew Danhorn, Michael O'Connell, and Ana Reiselman

Oops! I Did It Again...

I am so sorry to you my devoted readers (KXS and Dr. Phun) that I have not written a blog posting in forEVER...omg I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Work (which is also bleeding into my social life, but so it goes in theater) has been busy busy and of course I'm not one to slow down.

NOW HEAR THIS
I totally missed the opportunity to blog about MEASURE FOR PLEASURE by David Grimm, which took place last month on the main stage. The play fit in nicely with our current main stage shows: THE BEARD OF AVON by Amy Freed and TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare, because it was also a contemporary restoration piece and it was a huge hit. People laughed hard and loud. Even though it lasted longer than we anticipated people were loving it.

February 23rd we will be reading ALL HAIL HURRICANE GORDO by Carly Mensch. It will premiering at the Humana Festival March 13-30th. I'm really excited to read this play because I think it will be a change of pace from our other readings. It is a beautifully intimate piece. Carly is someone who I have just discovered and I look forward to finding out more.

HOLY OPENINGS BATMAN!!
We had three opening nights right on top of each other...THE BEARD OF AVON by Amy Freed, directed by Chris Coleman and then the following weekend we had TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare, directed by Jane Jones. Both had wonderful openings and are very popular. I would recommend however, seeing BEARD before TWELFTH NIGHT because I think when you see BEARD first it illuminates things you might not have paid attention to before in TWELFTH NIGHT...but this might just be me. Both are strong solid productions.

Then we had our FADE TO BLACK night, geared at getting younger audiences to the theater, the Tuesday after opening for TWELFTH NIGHT. It was amazing because we played Guitar Hero all night. I'm pretty much obsessed with the game. It's a sick sick addiction and I love it.

A few weeks later we had A FEMININE ENDING opening. This production was a part of co-production with South Coast Rep. I am proud that the production is returning home. As you may or may not know, A FEMININE ENDING by Sarah Treem was part of JAW 2006. It certainly captured the hearts of the audience then and it continues to do so now. I highly recommend seeing this show. And check out more of Sarah's writing on HBO's new night series IN TREATMENT. She writes the script for the character Sophie.

COMMUNITY ARTISTS LABS
Sarah Treem and Amy Freed both came to PCS. During their time here they were able to host playwriting workshops. I attended both of them and even though I am not a playwright. They were very inspiring and both had different things to say. Sarah's workshop was about finding inspiration and your voice as a playwright. Amy's was more about how to "unstuck" or "unblock" yourself when you get blocked. My respect for playwrights grew immensely after attending these workshops.

MEANWHILE ON PLANET MEGAN...
I spend my weekends reading JAW scripts, scripts for the reading series, catching up on sleep, seeing shows and grocery shopping for the week. It's pretty pathetic but it's also so me and what I enjoy. Don't worry about me though, because I get my movie and guitar hero time in and keep up on my project runway and Britney gossip. I hope my friends forgive me for the lack of time I spend with them...I do worry about my room...does anyone want to come and clean if for me?

thanks kxs!