Once again PDX Playwrights hosts the playwrighting festival within the Fertile Ground Festival. In 2013 we are offering staged readings of 19 plays by 15 playwrights. Certainly there’s something for everyone. Those hungry for locavore creativity will want a Festival Pass – please designate PDX Playwrights at the end of your transaction so we receive a funds to help support our talented members.
Plays are listed below in order of performance. The first two listings (for Jan. 25 and 26 at noon) are at the Armory, 128 NW Davis, 97209 and are free. All the remaining shows are at HipBone Studio, 1847 E Burnside. Tickets for HipBone performances are available at the door and online or by phone: 800-494-8497 (TIXS).
Jan 25 Noon at The Armory Mezzanine, 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland, 97209
Hail!—a teaser by Sally Sunbear
Free
Come get a noontime teaser of this zany off beat musical farce that explores the nature of love with refreshments. Then come see the full show Sunday Feb 3 @ 1pm at HipBone Studio.
Jan 26 Noon at The Armory Mezzanine, 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland, 97209
Intertwinings, plays by Debbie Lamedman, Kate Belden and Brad Bolchunos
Free
A short fuse can lead to explosive theatrical excitement or a scintillating simmer. A case in point is Intertwinings, three short works presented by PDX Playwrights: Just Add Love by Debbie Lamedman, Think About It by Kate Belden and a sample from Umbrella for Three, a trio of plays by Brad Bolchunos. (Brad’s play will also be presented Saturday Feb 2 @ 7pm at Hipbone Studio.)
Jan 27 1pm at HipBone Studio
March by Kate Belden
Directed by Gretchin Lair
Tickets: $10 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
“She lacked the pressure valve. In this one connection, this one tiny spot, due to a genetic deformation, she didn’t have one. So the blood? Tore the connection and hemorrhaged into her brain. This is not good.” Margery Dawson is a neuroanatomist, a PhD in how the brain works. But hers isn’t. Hers is having a stroke. And though she’s too busy to have one, and certainly too busy for history, family, or a relationship, all of them are happening. Right here, right now. “But, Margery know that you are amazing. In every immeasurable sense of the word. You, as the universe, are unquantifiable. Because you are the universe, my Margery, all of us are.” Described as fugue for three voices, March is a play that looks at an experience as the brain does. Seemingly disjointed but ultimately deeply connected to what’s really happening to the person inside. March was accepted as M.A.T.T.’s highlighted workshop production last summer. Kate spent the time working with the director and actors, culminating with a reading and talkback with the audience. With notes taken, and lessons learned, this is another forward step for a play about stepping forward and making a shift.
Jan 27 3pm at HipBone Studio
Lying in Judgment and The Exes by Gary Corbin
Tickets: $10 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
Lying in Judgment-Peter Robertson serves on the jury of a murder trial—the murder that he committed! …or did he? As the jurors debate the evidence, Peter lets things slip that only the killer should know, but even he doesn’t know all of the key facts. The Exes– Two divorced couples criss-cross their romantic paths and hook up with each others’ exes without realizing it until it’s too late and wedding bells start to chime.
Jan 27 6pm at HipBone Studio
Ladies Room and Where Are We Going? by Susan Faust; Fortune Cookies by Donna Barrow-Green; Oh, Heritage Tree! By Heather Thiel
Tickets: $10 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
Ladies Room – The never-ending line for a stall in a public ladies room at a performing arts center is peopled by a motley group of women. Mindless chatter, insinuation, even yelling takes place, but amidst it all, one woman stands alone, living her own personal crisis. Will anyone take notice? Does anyone care? Intermission is almost over… Where Are We Going? – A man and woman meet in a room with nothing but a single rope dangling from the ceiling. Why are they there, where are they going, and finally, will they go together? Fortune Cookies – Gretchen and Alexander work together. They don’t know that they are in love with each other. Well, they do know that they are in love with each but not exactly. Gretchen tries to fix Alexander up with a girl on Craigslist; but then Alexander hints at his feelings one night after drinking a bit too much. Thank goodness Gretchen can rely on the wisdom of fortune cookies to guide her through this one-act romantic comedy. Oh, Heritage Tree! – Betsy Keller’s sister has died while trekking in Nepal. She’s left Betsy her SE Portland home and her adolescent daughter, Cat. The house is beautiful and the neighborhood has a strong community vibe, but what’s all this about her pregnancy being foretold and the odd vortex created by the Heritage Tree in her yard? And, what has happened to Betsy’s cherished fainting couch? No! It was not meant to be in a “free” pile! Join Betsy as she tries to carve out a new life for herself and Cat despite runaway urban goats, an uber-lactating neighbor, and a Shamanic healer/housewife, who may or may not have a claim to the Heritage Tree in her front yard.
Jan 27 8pm at HipBone Studio
The Godmother by Sandra deHelen
Directed by Patric Callahan
Tickets: $15 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
Tomboy McCorkle is a young Butch lesbian assuming the responsibility for her crime family upon the death of her brother Bobby after his murder. Her men don’t look forward to being led by a woman, let alone a lesbian; she hasn’t yet found love at the age of 33; her family is in conflict with the di Mayos over rum-running, and she has a younger brother to take care of. Things get worse when her sister-in-law turns up asking for help, and she learns that the family consigliere not only disappeared but has probably killed her brother. Tomboy has to take control and fast.
Feb 2 7pm at HipBone Studio
Umbrella for Three by Brad Bolchunos, Good Ones by David Wester and Going On by Kristin Olson-Huddle
Tickets: $10 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
Dodge doldrums under Umbrella for Three, a trio of bold, tightly-packed plays. Cranial Camaraderie-Arguments about mind over matter reach new heights for a band of psychic warriors low on coffee. Liquid Rock– A married couple struggles to restore lost connection even as their new counselor adds interference. Death Wears Fishnets– When a hard-boiled but slightly cracked private detective ruminates about death, trouble signs in triplicate. An acclaimed part of Fertile Ground 2010 as a reading on the Pulp Stage, this production sweeps the words into action. Good Ones– Jake relates the good jokes he got off at a recent party to his friend, Edgar. As he does so, he inadvertently unearths some of the resentments and competitive impulses between the two men. Going On– is a solo show about the journey of grieving and overcoming grief.
Feb 3 1pm at HipBone Studio
Hail! by Sally Sunbear
Tickets: $15 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
With the very gods meddling, is there any hope true love can survive? Just how important is it to solve the cube root of seventeen? Is Greek tea really a panacea, or are there greater forces involved? Come enjoy an early Valentine’s date with this zany off beat musical farce that explores the nature of love.
Feb 3 3pm at HipBone Studio
Crosswords Morning by Maggie McOmie and An Island by Jenni GreenMiller
Tickets: $10 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
Crosswords Morning– Peggy and Fred, a retired couple, together for who knows how long are as familiar with each other as a pair of old socks. They begin their morning over coffee, breakfast, and the daily newspaper. As they work the crossword puzzle they grouse about the state of the world and gently needle one another. An Island-In 1949, seeking isolation from the rest of the world, Arthur and Nan Kellam purchased a 550 acre island off the coast of Maine. Arthur, an engineer for Lockheed Martin, rumored to have built the Atomic bomb, and Nan, an economist, were conservationists before their time; dedicated to not only the preservation of their land but also privatizing an island they felt could only be appreciated by its true inhabitants. The Kellams lived on Placentia Island for nearly 40 years, essentially cut off from the rest of the world. They created a fragmented, self-made language; a personal and idiosyncratic vocabulary, which the couple developed over time. They-named one another “Bear” and ‘Beum” and often went for days without talking but rather leaving notes for one another on tree bark or written in stones in the sand; an eccentric couple that became icons of change to the surrounding mainland. The play is a portrait of a devoted relationship that endured, even prospered, in isolation.
Feb 3 6pm at HipBone Studio
Night Breezes and the Ballerina by Heath Hyun Houghton
Directed by Emily Gregory
Choreographer: Caitlin Fisher Draeger
Tickets: $13 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
An exploration of memory through dialogue and movement. On an autumn night, as the Santa Ana winds blow towards the coast, a family is thrust into a an intense period of uncertainty as they wait for news of a member who has been abducted while on a research expedition.
Feb 3 8pm at HipBone Studio
Whipping Cream and Freudian Dreams by Kate Knab-Horn and Oh F*ck! Oh Sh*t! it’s Love! The Musical By Sam Dinkowitz
Tickets: $10 | Online or 800-494-8497 (TIXS)
Whipping Cream and Freudian Dreams-Three female baristas just want to get through the dreary afternoon thick with customers, innuendos and mechanical smiles. But nothing can prepare them for the ultimate—a Freudian psychoanalyst bent on evaluating them while they work. Oh F*ck! Oh Sh*t! it’s Love! The Musical– A hyper-vulgar examination of relationships couched in the optimistic tone of musical theatre. Like the strange love-child of Mamet and Sondheim, this edgy piece pokes fun at everything, including itself.
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Top: Donna Barrow Green, Maggie McOmie, Sandra de Helen, Heath Hyun Houghton. Middle: Kristin Olson, Susan Faust, Kate Belden, Sam Dinkowitz. Bottom: Brad Bolchunos, Debbie Lamedman, Gary Corbin, Heather Tiel.