Events 2023

UPCOMING EVENTS

MONDAY, JANUARY 8 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 14 – COHO THEATRE

SCENARIO: INTRODUCTION TO PLAYWRITING AND STAGE – presented by PDX Playwrights

In this seven-day workshop at CoHo Theater, running January 8 -14, with evening classes and staged readings on the weekend, we’ll examine the art and craft of playwriting and ask the BIG question: How does one uniquely create a compelling storytelling experience for the stage? We’ll actively explore how to build a world; develop distinct characters that change; incite a cause-and-effect story arc; and visually manifest a story with props, body gesture, and minimal lighting and sound effects, oftentimes more effective than words. Specifically we’ll focus on the script: setting, stage directions, dialog, subtext, beats, the use of symbols and motifs, rhythm and repetition, and finally, the all-important role of the audience and the theatrical context. Participants may be new to the craft, or experienced playwrights aiming to take a work-in-progress to the next level.

NOTE: This is a limited capacity event with pre-registration required.

Check out our website here or CoHo Productions: https://cohoproductions.org/scenario/ for more information.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE SOON ABOUT OUR PARTICIPATION IN FERTILE GROUND 2024!

Additional submissions are being reviewed by our team… please stay tuned!

We have some scripts under review or in the process of being scheduled or cast for our regular readings. If you have submitted a script, we thank you for your patience. That said, we continue to welcome additional script submissions to consider for our readings. If you are interested in submitting a script for consideration, whether a full-length, a one-act, or a 10-minute play, check out our guidelines: https://www.pdxplaywrights.org/faq-playwrights/ … and then send it (or questions) to submit@pdxplaywrights.org!

For most of our readings, actors have been pre-cast by the playwrights. Fellow writers, actors and listeners are warmly invited to participate and offer their reactions, insights, and feedback. We leave it up to the playwrights whether they wish to have their script available before and/or during the read. The timing of the script access, if any, is based on the playwright’s preference. If there is an advance posting of the script or other materials they will be here: https://www.pdxplaywrights.org/scripts/

ANNOUNCEMENT: CHANGE OF MEETING FREQUENCY

After the August 1 session, PDX Playwrights transitioned to one table read per month — our first Tuesdays, generally in-person gatherings — for the time being. This change is based on a number of considerations, including the fact that most of the playwrights prefer in-person sessions. We do intend to offer periodic online sessions in the future. We realize this change may limit some participation and we apologize for any inconvenience. We appreciate Portland Playhouse and its staff for their continuing support, and we hope you will all continue to join us and the talented playwrights of the Portland community.

 Please continue to monitor this site and our newsletter for details about specific sessions and locations.

More to come! 

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PAST EVENTS

 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM
BAD ASS JAPANESE PIMP – by ROB KATSUNO

Rob, a Japanese-American, struggles to overcome his habit of choking when angry or put on the spot, repeatedly derailing his life’s progress. Enter Ana, a Brazilian, into Rob’s life, igniting romantic sparks and cross-cultural hilarity. But when they marry, Rob’s susceptibility to pressure and anger returns with a vengeance. Marital tension escalates toward an explosive crisis.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM
REFUSE – by MEG WILES
During a tense and tumultuous family meal, Nobody, hidden beneath the family dining room table, questions her place as she struggles to be heard and seen amidst the chaos. As a storm rages outside, Nobody eventually reveals the unsettling family truth hidden in plain sight, leaving her family to confront their newly unearthed trauma in uncomfortable silence. The play explores themes of identity, generational trauma, and normalized familial dysfunction.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM
A QUARTET OF SHORT WORKS – by TIMOTHY KRAUSE
Although they are written by one playwright, this collection of short works offers a range of tone, interspersing poignant drama with absurdity and comedy. Collectively they pose provocative societal and psychological questions.

• TO FIND BACK – A young man experiences bittersweet hope when he reunites with his mother in a dream.
• TODAY THE WORLD STOPS – When a god-man demands attention, he realizes social media influencers have all the real power.
• INTO THIN AIR – Reality is when love’s magic disappears; so, also, may love.
• VALIDATE. REPLICATE. REPEAT. – A simple carrot quickly derails a human subject research experiment in absurd ways.

Timothy Krause’s piece Salmon Pink appeared in our Epic Shorts production earlier this year.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 1. 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM
ONE STONE – by KATHLEEN CAHILL
A love story expressing the power dynamics between two brilliant scientists—Albert Einstein and his first wife, Mileva Marić. She was an exceptional physicist and mathematician, a determined but shy girl from Serbia, who was the only female in the physics department at the polytechnic when she met the great mind who had the ego of Apollo. He made his greatest contributions to our understanding of the universe during the years they were living together. An imaginative exploration of a relationship all but unknown to the rest of the world.

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM
BENJAMIN’S BIG FAT GAY BIRTHDAY – by GLASGOW LYMAN
Hours before his birthday, Benjamin is forced to look back at the twisted path that got him to be a single gay man in his 40s celebrating his birthday with his mother. This comedy explores the darker side of youth, early adulthood, and queerness in modern America. The cast includes Ajai Tripathi, Karyn O’Bryant, Dresden de Vera and Jenny Tien.

TUESDAY, JUNE 20 – ONLINE
BARREN LANDSCAPE  by STEVE GOLD and THE MAESTRO  by KEN HENRY

Short works sometimes pack dramatic intensity. Please join us online for such a duet!

• BARREN LANDSCAPE – by STEVE GOLD
  A woman struggles with her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease.

   

• THE MAESTRO – by KEN HENRY
  The conductor of the New York Philharmonic lives in the worlds of Bach, Mozart, Handel, Brahms and Modest Mussorgsky. While preparing to conduct Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Leo is haunted by a reoccurring dream of his first violinist shooting him in the middle of a performance.
  CONTENT ADVISORY: This play contains a scene involving gun violence.

TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE AUDITORIUM
HOW (NOT) TO OFFEND A PARTISAN – by EKATERINA WAGNER
This short satirical play, partly based on real events (the trial of Alexey Navalny in 2021), is a collective portrait of contemporary Russian society embroiled in a vicious cycle of lawlessness and absurdity. The main character seems, at first sight, to be confronted by an irrational and absolute evil, but on closer inspection, each of the villains, from the court clerk to the president, turns out to be a battered and frightened “little man” who struggles to survive in the inhuman reality created by the combined efforts of others like him.

MONDAY, MAY 29, 2023 – ROSE CITY BOOK PUB
PLAYWRIGHT MEET & GREET
Northwest Theatre Workshop and PDX Playwrights are joining forces to help playwrights reconnect, make new friends, and learn more about new play development opportunities available locally in our community. Attendees will include representatives from the Dramatists Guild, Portland Area Theatre Alliance, the Fertile Ground Festival, and other local theatre organizations who will talk briefly about the opportunities they offer and answer any questions playwrights might have. Let’s raise a glass to building a more inclusive and aspirational new works community!

The event is free, but space is limited and we encourage you to make a reservation for Playwright Meet & Greet!

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM
FUREVER – by BILL LYNCH
and WOKE, THE HUMANS: A FABLE – by KATHLEEN TOMKO

Plays including one-act and a 10-minute piece take us in fanciful directions:

• FUREVER – by BILL LYNCH
  Mount St. Helens is about to blow its top, but Truman, the feisty owner of a resort at the foot of the mountain, refuses to leave. An old friend shows up, accompanied by a shady companion, to convince Truman to evacuate. Truman promises to think it over if they will spend the night. The drinks flow, the mountain rumbles, and the fate of all three hangs in the balance.
• WOKE, THE HUMANS: A FABLE – by KATHLEEN TOMKO
  Mother Nature prepares to bestow an award to Pretty Blue Heron and the incorrigible Buffy Beaver for helping to awaken Humans about climate change … but do Pretty Blue and Buffy deserve it?

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2023 – ONLINE
BY THE SEA – by TOM COCKLIN
and ASHES 2 ASHES – by MONICA DAILEY

Short and sweet … and slightly spooky. Two short plays offer an evening of fun to polish off tax day:

• BY THE SEA – by TOM COCKLIN
  Did you hear the one about the race between the sand and the sea? They tide. But seriously, when a relentless comedian, a distraught wanderer and a perceptive emergency medical technician walk onto a beach, they just might make waves.
• ASHES 2 ASHES – by MONICA DAILEY
  In a nod to their past, longtime friends Jackie and James create a picnic tea party under a blood red moon at a graveyard. But Jackie wants to shake things up a bit.

TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM
FREEDOM: THE UNTOLD STORY OF MOSES – by CHARI SMITH

A musical that pushes past the biblical version of Moses, and delves into his emotional journey of love, loss, hope, and the desire for justice. This story sheds new light on who Moses was and the barriers he overcame to become free.

TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2023 – ONLINE
GETTING BY – by NANCY MOSS
and A WHOLE NEW LIFE – by KATINA ANDONIADIS
A one-act and a 10-minute play set the stage for a dynamic evening:

• GETTING BY – by NANCY MOSS
  A comedy about a retirement home threatened by a corporate raider.

• A WHOLE NEW LIFE – by KATINA ANDONIADIS
  An automobile presents a chance to embark on a brand new adventure, or to take a different turn.
  • CONTENT ADVISORY: This play includes adult content and a character who is homophobic.

TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2023 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE COMMUNITY ROOM
SMART AS THE DEVIL – by ANTHONY GRAY FINOCCHIARO
and EVERYTHING MUST GO – by MAX TAPOGNA
A duet of new one-acts offers comedy and drama with a slightly eerie edge:

• SMART AS THE DEVIL – by ANTHONY GRAY FINOCCHIARO
  A comedy with drama unfolds when a middle-aged cop tries to reconcile his life through an unexpected source. (This play was rescheduled from February 7).

• EVERYTHING MUST GO – by MAX TAPOGNA
  A suburban estate sale entices love-struck college graduates, but their experience on this crossroads of old and new raises more than a few questions about the future.

NOTE: Because of EPIC SHORTS event below, as well as scheduling issues, we did not schedule readings on January 17, January 31, or February 21.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7 – PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE
COMMUNITY ROOM
MY TSUNAMI – by KEN HENRY
While living in a tsunami zone along the Oregon coast, a family struggles with another kind of tsunami. This “tsunami” is personal and tragic. It confronts and confounds those who imagine a life without hardship and grief. In the Old Testament scriptures, some might call this play the story of Job. My Tsunami weaves together two themes: environmental myths and legends which explain the whims and violence of the natural world, and the story of how one young woman struggles to find hope when people she loves are swept away. 

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2023 – LIVE PERFORMANCE
EPIC SHORTS: SEA CHANGE– Produced by PDX PLAYWRIGHTS
Directed by Karen Polinsky, the production will debut 10-minute works written to the theme “Sea Change” by playwrights Valerie Asbell, Nancy Campbell, Tim Krause, John McDonald, Raven Thornton, Scott Stolnack, and Mia Tierney. Featuring everything from four strangers lost at sea to displaced mermen to a tree in need of a vacation, these whimsical, topical plays examine how to find a future in our ever-changing world.

The ensemble cast features Erin Jackson, Eleanor Herreid O’Neill, Chris Palodichuk, Ava Rose, and Brave Sohacki.

• PERFORMANCES: 2 PM and 7:30 PM
• LOCATION: CoHo Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh St, Portland
• TICKETS AND INFORMATION: $15.00 – https://www.eventcreate.com/e/epic-shorts-sea-change

TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2023 – LIVE READING
SOLSTICE MOON – by BILL LYNCH
Owen arrives by cross-country ski at his recently-deceased father’s cabin in the Oregon Cascades. He’s come to spread Owen Sr.’s ashes. Along to assist and bear witness are Jessie, Owen’s young son with cerebral palsy, and Taylor, Owen’s lifelong friend, Iraq war veteran and Jessie’s former teacher. Snowbound in the cabin after an overnight storm, Owen is forced to confront difficult truths about his reclusive father, his son’s disabilities, and his own mortality. The Winter Solstice, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and a set of tarot cards all play a hand in unraveling the mystery of Owen Sr.’s death.

NOTE: LIVE EVENT. This session was scheduled for 7 pm in the Community Room of Portland Playhouse, 602 NE Prescott St.

For additional past events, please see the previous calendar year or our arch