PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE 2009-10
Fall 2009
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Directed by William Tate
Scenic and Lighting Design by Bruce Keller
Costume Design by Margaret Chapman
Performs Friday, Nov. 20 through Saturday Nov. 28, 2009
at 7:30 p.m. on Tues - Sat. performances
and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 22
(no performance on Nov. 26)
at Artists Repertory Theatre - Morrison Stage
Part dream, part nightmare, The Tempest creates a world in which nothing can
be taken for granted, where nothing is as it seems. The play begins
with a terrifying storm, moves through acts of treachery and romance,
and ends in forgiveness and reconciliation. Or does it?
Ethereal
and earthbound at once, Prospero’s enchanted isle is a laboratory in
which the full capacity of human beings for good and ill is put under
the theatrical microscope. An exiled duke, his daughter, his servants,
a spirit and a savage slave, encounter a diverse set of castaways—among
them a king, his son, Prospero’s treacherous brother, and two lowlifes,
a drunken butler and a disreputable court jester. The island is
suspended between spirit and beast, between Ariel and Caliban, between
magic and the aspiration for freedom, on the one hand, and conspiracy
and a desire for vengeance, on the other.
The Tempest reveals a poet and theatrical giant at the height of his powers.
Winter 2010
FESTIVAL OF SHORT PLAYS
Student Projects From Directing II at Noon and 7:30 in the New Studio Theatre. Free.
WORKING A Musical
From the book by Studs Terkel
Adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso
The hopes, dreams, joys and concerns of the average working American
are the focus of this unique, extraordinary musical. That the everyday
lives of “common” men and women should be so compelling and moving will
surprise and inspire anyone who has ever punched a time clock.
Based
on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American
workers, “Working” paints a vivid portrait of the men and women the
world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the parking lot
attendant, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, the trucker, the
fireman, the housewife, just to name a few. It’s a highly original look
at the American landscape that’s simply impossible to forget.
Directed by Sarah Andrews-Colliler
Designed by Glenn Gauer
Performs Friday, Mar. 5 - Saturday, Mar. 13, 2010
at 7:30 p.m. on Tues. through Sat. performances
and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 7
at Artists Repertory Theatre - Morrison Stage
FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS
Student dramatic writing projects in day and evening workshop performances in February and May. Free.
Spring 2010
CRIMES OF THE HEART by Beth Henley
Warm-hearted,
irreverent, zany and brilliantly imaginative, BETH HENLEY’S play teems
with humanity and humor as it examines the plight of three young
Mississippi sisters betrayed by their passions. An astonishing first
play, initially presented by the Actors Theatre of Louisville, then
Off-Broadway, and then on Broadway, where it established the author as
a major voice in our theatre. "While this play overflows with
infectious high spirits, it is also, unmistakably, the tale of a very
troubled family. Such is Miss Henley's prodigious talent that she can
serve us pain as though it were a piece of cake." —NY Times. "It
has heart, wit and a surprisingly zany passion that must carry all
before it…it would certainly be a crime for anyone interested in the
theatre not to see this play." —NY Post. "From time to time a play comes along that restores one's faith in our theatre…" —NY Magazine.
Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award.
Directed by Glenn Gauer
Designed by Glenn Gauer
Performs Friday, May 28 - Saturday, June 5, 2010
at 7:30 p.m. on Tues. through Sat. performances
and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 30
at
PCPA - Winningstad Theatre - FREE for PSU Students!
FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS
Student dramatic writing projects in day and evening workshop performances in February and May. Free.
Marivaux's THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE
Directed by Karin Magaldi
Scenic Design by Bruce Keller
Costume Design by Kim Decker
Lighting Design by James Mapes
Performs Friday, Nov. 21 - Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008
at 7:30 p.m. on Tues - Sat. performances
and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23
at
Artists Repertory Theatre - Morrison Stage.
What could better ring in the holiday season than a delightfully clever comic treat?
Part commedia dell'arte, part feminist fairy tale, Marivaux's The Triumph of Love is as sharp as a thorn and charming as a rose. In this tale of mistaken identities, an accidental princess masquerades as a young man to woo her prince charming and precipitates the ravelling and unravelling of not one, but three amours.
The plot is both deviously simple and complicated. The feisty Princess Leonide has fallen in love, at a distance, with Agis and sets out to woo him. She has to do this in secret because her uncle usurped the throne on which she sits, and Agis would reject her outright if he knew who she was. Agis meanwhile, has been hidden at the home of the bookish siblings Hermocrates and Leontine, who raised him to despise love and hate Leonide. Leonide is accompanied by her servant, Corine also disguised as a man. Completing the cast are the commedia dell'arte inspired character Harlequin and the siblings' hapless gardener, Dimas.
In its original form, The Triumph of Love, written in 1732, is an elegant romantic comedy that cleverly sends up the pomposities of the Age of Enlightenment as it examines the follies of romantic love and the pitfalls in store for the self-satisfied man of reason. In this sparkling new translation by Stephen Wadsworth, the play is about how love transforms those who experience it. Our production, translated to the Belle Epoque, is not to be missed!
WINTER 2009
BURN THIS by Lanford Wilson
Performs January 9 - 17, 2009
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30
Sunday matinee at 2:00
in the New Studio Theater
Seating is general admission. Doors open 1/2 hour before performance.
Set in the bohemian arts world of downtown New York, this vivid and challenging drama explores the spiritual and emotional isolation of Anna and Pale, two outcasts who meet in the wake of the accidental death by drowning of a mutual friend. Their determined struggle toward emotional honesty and liberation--by no means guaranteed at the play's ambiguous end--exemplifies the strength, humor, and complexity of all of Lanford Wilson's work and confirms his standing as one of America's greatest living playwrights.
Commissioned by the Circle Repertory Company, Burn This first appeared at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1987 to near-universal praise. More recently, it had a successful revival in 2002 at the Signature Theatre Company.
"From his earliest plays to his last, Burn This, Lanford Wilson has been firmly committed to the free expression of the individual spirit, no matter how nonconformist or even prodigal that spirit may seem to be...In the sense that it deals with lonely and displaced characters, Burn This is in the Wilson tradition. Where it breaks dramatic ground for the author is in its passion...Mr. Wilson exposes deep uncauterized emotional wounds--and offers no salve."--Mel Gussow, The New York Times
"The play [Burn This] has a voracious vitality and an almost manic determination to drive right into the highest voltage that life can register."--Jack Kroll, Newsweek
A thesis project in Acting by Sarah MacGregor and William Goblirsch in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MA in Theater Arts.
FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS
Student dramatic writing projects in day and evening workshop performances in November, February and May in the New Studio Theater. Free.
FESTIVAL OF SHORT PLAYS
Student Projects From Directing II at Noon in the New Studio Theatre. Free.
Sophocles' ELECTRA
A northwest premiere of a new adaptation by Frank McGuinness
Directed by Devon Allen
Scenic and Lighting Design by Glenn Gauer
Choreography by Carolyn Holzman
Costume Design by Kim Decker
Performs Friday, Mar. 6 - Saturday, Mar. 14, 2009
at 7:30 p.m. on Tues. through Sat. performances
and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 8
at
Artists Repertory Theatre - Morrison Stage
"Shall there be killing after killing forever?"
The children in the House of Atreus, Electra and Orestes, are the offspring of King Agamemnon who, when the gods demanded human sacrifice if he was to move his stalled ships forward during his war against Troy, killed his own daughter - their sister -Iphigenia. Agamemnon was in turn murdered by his wife (and Iphigenia's mother) Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. This left the eldest, Electra, his chief mourner and sworn avenger. To insure that vengeance (the murder of mother and stepfather), Electra hid her young brother Orestes away from harm in the care of a loyal servant, to return when he was old enough to do the bloody deed. In the meantime, Electra lives as an embittered exile within the palace, baiting and battling her mother, while her sister Chrysothemis represents the conquered who is willing to compromise with the conqueror.
As adapted in 1997 by Irish playwright Frank McGuinness, Sophocles' s 2000-plus-year-old story of revenge is grounded in the world of ancient Greece and our modern day war-torn counterparts, and stripped down to a bare-bones ninety minutes. Accessible to mature audiences of any stripe, the tale of this most dysfunctional of all families plays out to a bitter end - justice, as Electra sees it, must be done.
SPRING 2009
Tom Donaghy's MINUTES FROM THE BLUE ROUTE
Performs April 10 - 18, 2009
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30
Sunday matinee at 2:00
in the New Studio Theater
Seating is general admission.
Doors open 1/2 hour before performance
An
atmosphere of panic, deprivation, mortality, and loneliness saturates
Minutes from the Blue Route like the smell of mothballs. The story
unfolds over one weekend as this sad, funny family packs and unpacks
their home. They fill the silences with mundane chatter about weddings,
microwaved meals, and childhood memories as the family members wrestle
with their fears and defend their definition of home.
NY
Times’ Ben Brantley praises Tom Donaghy’s skillful use of language,
calling it “naturalisitic,” but also “a collision course of evasions,
non sequiturs and spastic monologues that only occasionally connect in
ways an outsider would perceive as rational conversation.” Minutes from
the Blue Route will strike a chord in all people who have sought solace
but found desperation in the most intimate of institutions: the family.
Directed by Joshua Spencer, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MS in Theater Arts
Moliere's THE IMAGINARY INVALID
In a New Translation by Constance Congdon
Directed by Glenn Gauer
Scenic Design by Glenn Gauer
Lighting Design by Bruce Keller
Costume Design by Kim Decker
Performs Saturday, May 30 - Saturday, June 6, 2009
at 7:30 p.m. on Tues. through Sat. performances
and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 31
at the Winningstad Theatre, PCPA
DANCE AND MOVEMENT PERFORMANCES
METAMORPHOSES by Mary Zimmerman
June 6 & 7, Saturday at 2:00 pm & Sunday at 7:00 pm
New Studio Theater. $4.00 tickets at the door.
A project of the Spring 2009 class, TA 399 Movement Performance.
STUDENT CHOREOGRAPHY PROJECTS
in day and evening performance, June 5, 6, 7. Free.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE 2007-08
FALL 2007
THE ROPE by Albert Camus
Translated and directed by Nico Izambard.
Sept 28, 29, and Oct 4, 5, 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee on Sept 30 at 2:00 p.m.
Studio Theater, LH 115
Admission $5.00; students $3.00 at the door
Les Justes tells the true story of a group of terrorists in 1905 Russia, their attempt and success in killing the Grand Duke Serge and the consequences of their actions, along with the forbidden love story between main characters Yanek and Dora. Camus explores the motivations behind killing people in the name of revolution and the debate on how to eradicate misery. Albert Camus received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.
Izambard, who is French, is a graduate International Student at PSU. His translation and direction of THE ROPE is in partial fulfillment of his candidacy for the Master of Arts in Theater Arts.
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS by David Mamet
Director: Devon Allen
Designers: Glenn Gauer . Bruce Keller . Sandra Zodnik
Preview: Thursday, Nov 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Performances: Friday - Sunday Nov 9-11, Fri-Sat at 7:30
p.m., Sun. at 2:00 p.m.; Wednesday - Saturday, Nov 14-17 at
7:30 p.m., Lincoln Performance Hall
*David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy exposes a dog-eat-dog world, where a few small-time, ruthless, real-estate salesmen scramble for their fair share of the American Dream. At once hilarious and disturbing, the play presents a Darwinian battle between men who scheme, cheat, curse, plead, steal, despair and connive in an attempt to get "on the board", each revealing a seamy side of human nature. The board is the office chart that marks who is ahead in the sales race, peddling vacation property. Number one gets a Cadillac, and someone might get the ax. Glengarry Glen Ross is a mix of hilarity and fury. Filled with shocking twists and turns, this cold-blooded drama is guaranteed to keep audiences breathless and on the edge of their seats. Originally performed in London, it was the winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and 4 Tony Awards, and in 2005, it won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
"Wonderfully funny...A play to see, remember and cherish." - N.Y. Post.
*Mature language.
FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS
A staged reading of NOBIS by Josh Gross.
Monday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Studio Theater. Free.
Choreography Showcase
Lincoln Performance Hall
Monday, December 3, 2007
7:30 p..m. FREE
Choreographers:
Courtney Catelli
Lauren Edison
Celine Geday
Rose Kness
Katelyn Kollinzas
Bruce Leomiti
Shauna Marx
Ara Nelson
Chris Rivera
Nicole Sherrell
WINTER 2008
SAVAGE IN LIMBO by John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Georgette Dashiell
Scenic Design by Laura Rogers
January 11 - 12, and 17 - 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee on Sunday, January 13 at 2:00 p.m.
Studio Theater, LH 115
Admission $5.00; students $3.00 at the door
"Savage in Limbo" is a smart, witty look at the lives of five Irish and Italian Americans who grew up in the Bronx, and their search to break free of the limitations of their respective cultures and upbringings. A virgin, a promiscuous mother, and an alcoholic would-be nun collide with an "Italian stallion" who wants to date ugly women, and a man named Murk in a world that is ready to burst open at the seams. Famous for his 1987 Academy Award winning screenplay "Moonstruck" and his 2005 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Doubt," John Patrick Shanley delves deep into the hopes, desires, and disappointments of life in the Bronx.
Georgette Dashiell's direction of Savage in Limbo is in partial fulfillment of her candidacy for the Master of Arts in Theater Arts.
HAROUN & THE SEA OF STORIES by Salman Rushdie
Director: Karin Magaldi
Designers: Glenn Gauer . Bruce Keller . Sandra Zodnik
Movement Director/Choreography: Carolyn Holzman
Puppet Design: Shae Uisna
Music: Sylvia Hackathorn
Preview: Thursday, February 21, at 7:30 p.m.
Performances: Friday - Sunday; February 22-23 Fri-Sat at 7:30
p.m., Sun. at 2:00 p.m.; Wednesday - Saturday, February 27 -
March 1 at 7:30 p.m., Lincoln Performance Hall
The stage version of Salman Rushdie's acclaimed novel is an absorbing theatrical experience that will entertain and enchant. Rushdie, in hiding and with writer’s block after a fatwah was placed upon him, started writing Haroun and the Sea of Stories as a bedtime story for his 10 year-old son, but in doing so he created a stunning allegory for story lovers of all ages. As Rushdie explains it: "A terrible thing happens to a father, the child blames himself and wishes to rescue the father." Set in 'a city so ruinously sad that it had forgotten its name', it is the magical tale of a master storyteller who loses the ability to tell stories and whose son, Haroun, embarks on extraordinary adventures to restore his father's special talent. Adapted by Tim Supple and David Tushingham for the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain in 1998. Photo: ©Royal National Theatre.
FESTIVAL OF SHORT PLAYS
Student Projects From Directing II (Free) at Noon in the Studio Theatre (LH115)
Monday, February 25th - Thursday, March 6th
"Abortive" by Caryl Churchill, directed by Bekki Rasmussen
"Mountain Language" by Harold Pinter directed by Dug Martell
"After" by Carol K. Mack and "After You" by Steven Dietz, directed by Rebecca Swearingen
"The Wedding Story" by Julianne Homokay, directed by Tyler Brackhan
"Naomi in the Living Room" by Christopher Durang, directed by Dallas Bryant
"Listeners" by Jane Martin, directed by Anna Zimmerman
"Throwing Your Voice" by Craig Lucas, directed by Alanna Newman
"Let's Go Out Into the Starry Night" by John Patrick Shanley, directed by Patricia Duffin
FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS
Student dramatic writing projects in day and evening workshop performances, November, February and May in the Studio Theater, 7:30 p.m., FREE
SPRING 2008
MEMORY HOUSE by Kathleen Tolan
Director: Julie Akers
Scenic Designer: Laura Rogers
Lighting Designer: Jason Stanley
Studio Theater - LH 115
April 11-12 and 17-19 at 7:30 p.m.
April 13 at 2:00 p.m.
One winter night a mother bakes a pie as her daughter tries to finish her college essay. As the deadline looms, unexamined issues of the daughter's adoption from Russia, the rupture of her parents' divorce, and the fear of leaving home break through the surface as her mother cajoles, deflects, and maneuvers around her own feelings of sadness and loss. Unfolding in real time, Memory House is about a young and an older woman who are forced to grapple with the past as they face an uncertain future. A funny and moving story about the complexity of living in the world today.
Admission: $5.00; students $3.00 at the door
FESTIVAL OF NEW WORKS
Student dramatic writing projects in day and evening workshop performances, November, February and May in the Studio Theater, 7:30 p.m., FREE
PLAYWRITING COMPETITION
June 8 at 7:30 in the Studio Theater
FREE
On Sunday, June 8th, in the Lincoln Hall Studio Theater, there will be a reading of four new plays by Portland area university students from Reed College and Portland State University. The four, Dominic Finocchiro, Kendra Tuthill, Duncan Tyrell Sandlin and Andrew Wardenaar, are winners of the Second Annual Playwriting Competition co-sponsored by Portland State University and Portland Theatre Works. They will be part of a workshop process with professional actors during the day and their plays will be presented in an open reading to the general public that evening. A team comprised of faculty from several Portland area colleges and universities and invited judges from the Portland professional theater selected the winners.
DANCING AT LUGHNASA by Brian Friel
Director: William Tate
Scenic Designer: Glenn Gauer
Costume Designer: Sandra Zodnik
Preview: Thursday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Performances: Friday-Sunday, May 23-25;
Fri-Sat at 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2:00 p.m.; Wednesday
- Saturday, May 28-31 at 7:30 p.m., Lincoln
Performance Hall
In the turbulent times of 1936, the five unmarried Mundy sisters live on a rugged farm outside a small town in Donegal, their lives revolving around Michael, the 8-year old love child of the youngest sister, and the music emanating from their first radio. Dancing at Lughnasa is told from Michael's memories, summoning us back to the summer eve of celebration to the pagan harvest deity Lugh, god of music and light, as the sisters reacquaint themselves with their older brother, Jack, a priest returning home from 25 years as a missionary in Africa. The male presence is compounded when Michael's father unexpectedly arrives for a short sojourn before joining the International Brigade against Franco. In the brief interlude, father forges an awkward bond with son, the hidden wisdom of Jack is revealed, and events spark a celebration of life before it is irrevocably changed forever. This haunting play is Friel¹s tribute to the spirit and valor of the past and its people.
Winner in 1992 of the Tony Award for Best Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Play, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Chosen by Time magazine as one of the ten best plays for 1991, the citation called it is the "most elegant and rueful memory play since The Glass Menagerie."
"...this play does exactly what theater was born to do, carrying both its characters and audience aloft on those waves of distant music and ecstatic release that, in defiance of all language and logic, let us dance and dream..." - New York Times
Dance and Movement Performances
SCAPIN by Bill Irwin and Mark O'Donnell
Moliere's comedic masterpiece is brought up to the millenium, in this retelling of the classic Scapino story. Presented by the Spring 2008 Movement Performance Class (TA399) under the direction of Carolyn Holzman. Mike Van Liew, well-known composer and arranger for theater will perform with the class as guest artist.
Studio Theater, 7:30 p.m. June 6 and 7.
FREE
Ticket Information
PSU BOX OFFICE: 503-725-3307
Ticket Prices for Mainstage Productions:
PSU Students: $8.00 ($5.00 tickets available for Tuesday, Wednesday nights ONLY)
*Students/Seniors/PSU Staff: $8.00
*Adults: $10.00
*Groups of 15 or more: $7.00
(*Includes Service Charge)
Parking free in PSU Lots after 7 p.m. and on Sundays
Festival of Short Plays, Festival of New Works, and Dance/Movement Performances Series: Free of Charge