®
NOV 19 - DEC 17
ROBERT & MERCEDES EICHHOLZ FOUNDATION
RONNI LACROUTE
DAVID & CHRISTINE VERNIER
THE HUMANS BY STEPHEN KARAM DIRECTED BY DÁMASO RODRÍGUEZ
Dámaso Rodríguez, Artistic Director Sarah Horton, Managing Director
CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)
Erik Blake................................................................................. Robert Pescovitz* Deirdre Blake........................................................................... Luisa Sermol* Aimee Blake............................................................................. Val Landrum^* Brigid Blake.............................................................................. Quinlan Fitzgerald + Fiona “Momo” Blake............................................................... Vana O’Brien^* Richard Saad............................................................................ John San Nicolas^*
CREATIVE TEAM
Director................................................................................... Dámaso Rodríguez~ Scenic Designer....................................................................... Megan Wilkerson^# Costume Designer................................................................... Gregory Pulver^ Lighting Designer..................................................................... Kristeen Crosser# Sound Designer....................................................................... Phil Johnson Dramaturg............................................................................... Luan Schooler Voice & Text Director............................................................... Mary McDonald-Lewis^ Wig Designer........................................................................... Diane Trapp Stage Manager........................................................................ Carol Ann Wohlmut^* Assistant Director.................................................................... Roy Arauz Production Assistant................................................................ Karen Hill + Props Master........................................................................... Katrina Lind Board Op................................................................................. Alan Cline The Original Broadway Production of The Humans was produced by Scott Rudin, Barry Diller, Roundabout Theatre Company, Fox Theatricals, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Roy Furman, Daryl Roth, Jon B. Platt, Eli Bush, Scott M. Delman, Sonia Friedman, Amanda Lipitz, Peter May, Stephanie P. McClelland, Lauren Stein, and The Shubert Organization; Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, and John Johnson, executive producers. Commissioned and Originally Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director; Harold Wolpert, Managing Director; Julia C. Levy, Executive Director; Sydney Beers, General Manager) The Humans had its World Premiere in November 2014 at American Theater Company, Chicago, Illinois (PJ Paparelli, Artistic Director). The Humans is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
TIME: NOW. SETTING: A TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY GROUND FLOOR/BASEMENT DUPLEX TENEMENT IN NEW YORK CITY’S CHINATOWN. RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes with no intermission The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.
* Member of Actors Equity Association, the union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Actors Equity Association, founded in 1913, represents more than 49,000 actors and stage managers in the U.S. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. www.actorsequity.org ^ Artists Repertory Theatre Resident Artist # The scenic, costume, lighting, projection and sound designers are represented by United Scenic Artists + Equity membership candidate ~ Stage Directors & Choreographer Society This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
LORT League of resident theatres
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A MESSAGE FROM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DÁMASO RODRÍGUEZ “IF ANYTHING, I WISH I COULD’VE KNOWN THAT MOST OF
THE STUFF I DID SPEND MY LIFE WORRYING ABOUT WASN’T SO BAD.” –MOMO, PLAYED BY ARTISTS REP CO-FOUNDER VANA O’BRIEN IN THE HUMANS. Welcome to Artists Rep and to the Portland premiere of Stephen Karam’s The Humans. If you’ve followed the New York theatre scene over the past year, you’ve likely heard of Karam’s Tony Winner and Pulitzer Finalist. Aside from its accolades, the play made news for earning an increasingly rare achievement: a long, must-see Broadway run without the benefit of a celebrity cast. Additionally, the play’s dramatic premise is simple: a middle-class family of six gathers in a modest Manhattan apartment for Thanksgiving dinner, which (per the playwright’s instructions) “takes place in one real-time scene—on a two-level set—with no blackouts. Life continues in all spaces at all times.” A Broadway hit free of spectacle? In The Humans the only spectacle is the hyper-realistic imitation of life and the playwright’s power to expose the ubiquitous anxieties of the U.S. middle class under the watchful gaze of audience members that likely see themselves within the three generations of the Blake family. This recognition of self in others takes the form of laughter for much of The Humans (a laughter of recognition vs. condescension). Despite my superficially different upbringing—Thanksgivings for me mean huge family gatherings set in Miami, Florida with a mix of Spanish and English dialogue—I see myself, my siblings, cousins, parents and grandparents very specifically represented on stage. As I watched The Humans, which I had the opportunity to experience in its 4 | Artists Repertory Theatre
Broadway run, I marveled at how Karam had made a living document of our early 21st Century American experience in the same way that Clifford Odets did of the 1930s and Arthur Miller the 1940s and 1950s. I’d never seen a play that seemed to hold Shakespeare’s proverbial “mirror up to Nature” in real time, our times, and I immediately wanted to share the experience with our audiences here in Portland. I was especially eager to produce the play in Artists Rep’s intimate venue, where an audience might feel like they were inside the apartment with the Blakes, and with actors from our community playing the roles. The fact that we’re opening our production on Thanksgiving weekend was a bit of lucky timing. On behalf of all of us at Artists Rep, I want to wish you and your family a happy holiday season. As you gather around dinner tables with loved ones, I hope you’ll find comfort in the act of coming together. I look forward to welcoming you back to the theatre in the New Year! Warmly,
P.S. Receiving the rights to premiere a new production so closely on the heels of a New York run is uncommon. In fact, the Broadway production is touring other cities while our local team takes on the Portland premiere. We owe our good luck to the special approval of playwright Stephen Karam, whose early play Speech & Debate was produced by Artists Rep back in 2008 before he was the toast of New York.
PLAYWRIGHT’S BIO STEPHEN KARAM
Karam’s plays include The Humans (Tony Award, Obie Award for Playwriting), Sons of the Prophet, and Speech & Debate. His adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard premiered on Broadway as part of Roundabout’s 2016 season; his film adaptation of The Seagull starring Annette Bening will premiere in 2017. Recent honors include two Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards; Lucille Lortel Award, Drama League Award and Hull-Warriner Award. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize Finalist for The Humans and Sons of the Prophet. A graduate of Brown University, Stephen grew up in Scranton, PA.
SHOW SPONSORS:
SEASON SPONSORS:
Tom Gifford & Patti Fisher Rosalie & Ed Tank
ADDITIONAL MAJOR CORPORATE & FOUNDATION SUPPORT:
Artists Repertory Theatre receives support from the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts. Artists Repertory Theatre is a participant in the Audience (R)Evolution Cohort Grants program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the professional not-for-profit American Theatre.
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? M A E R D N A C I R E T HE A M
by Logan Starnes
The struggles of the family central to The during economic hardships. Culturally Humans might seem familiar to many these and socially this caused the system—that days, especially for middle-class families they had put so much faith in—to fail in America. Erik and Deirdre Blake face middle-class Americans. According to the economic hardships regardless of their American Dream mindset, hard work and work ethic and their daughters Aimee and perseverance lead to limitless success, while Brigid struggle despite their education and poverty is synonymous for laziness and initiative. For the Blakes, the American carelessness. Prosperity is within everyone’s Dream is not turning out as expected. grasp, and many “opportunities” are waiting The idea of the American Dream arose if you never give up. Yet, since 2007, about before the Great Depression. At that time, one-third of the American middle class has it centered on immigrants moving to a new fallen into poverty, or are one paycheck country looking for limitless opportunities, away from poverty. This has resulted in and the resulting cultural melting pot. The bitter social divides. phrase “American Dream” was first used in a 1931 study THE CONSTANT UNREALISTIC MANTRA OF on the effects of class on how Americans live and think about their lives. “YOU CAN BE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE” Idolizing the American Dream stems from the HAS MANUFACTURED A SENSE OF INADEQUACY persistence of character that working and middle-class families of the Depression AND ANXIETY IN AMERICAN LIFE. era possessed. This idea was revitalized both during and after World War II as the nation rallied to support troops fighting At its finest, the American Dream can be overseas. As the war ended and the soldiers inspirational but it’s still problematic and came home, the American Dream shifted generally rooted in a falsehood. In reality, slightly. Now the focus was on obtaining American upward social mobility is among the “perfect American household,” complete the lowest in the developed world. We sell with a nice house in the suburbs, a steady ourselves as the Land of Opportunity; job, marriage, and children. In this posthowever, a child born impoverished in the war resilience and rebuilding, U.S. citizens U.S. is likely to remain in poverty more than started thinking of the future and the any other comparable nation in the world. possibilities it held. This was beneficial for In contrast, it’s estimated that 40% of the middle-class families, they worked hard billionaires in America inherited a sizable and it paid off—until the Great Recession portion of their wealth. Despite these facts, of 2007. the insistence that the U.S. is a meritocracy When the Recession hit, the idea of is so deeply ingrained within us that we have the American Dream became less viable internalized the idea that we are all exactly as Americans scrambled to stay af loat where we deserve to be. In this American
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Dream story, success is not due to privilege or luck but our own determination and hard work. For the Blakes this hits particularly hard. Erik and Deirdre have worked all their lives to provide a better future for their daughters, but have fallen short. The fact is that good jobs are progressively scarce, rent is sky high, and livable wages are decreasing to poverty levels—all of which are rooted in difficult circumstances and systemic obstacles. Yet the subtle insistence that we all should industriously reach for greatness can be mentally corrosive, and the Blakes feel completely responsible for their failings. The constant unrealistic mantra of “you can be anything you want to be” has
manufactured a sense of inadequacy and anxiety in American life. Erik and Deirdre have come to the realization that they are stuck even though they’ve done everything right, and their daughters are dealing with the disillusionment of the system as a whole. This causes arguments between them but they continue to adapt and persevere. Ultimately, regardless of everything else, they are capable of surviving—which is perhaps the newer, more viable American Dream. —Logan is an intern in Artists Rep’s Dramaturgy department.
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BLUE
COLLAR
LIF E
IN THE HUMANS, Deirdre and Erik Blake, longtime residents of Scott Township, Pennsylvania, visit their daughter Brigid in New York City for Thanksgiving. As dinner is prepared, the family—including their older daughter Aimee, Brigid’s boyfriend Richard, and Erik’s senile mother Momo—discuss their respective life choices. Deirdre and Erik struggle to understand why both of their daughters have chosen to leave northeastern Pennsylvania. As Erik says, “...yeah, well what I think’s funny is how you guys, you move to big cities and trash Scranton, when Momo [Erik’s mother] almost killed herself gettin outta New York—she didn’t have a real toilet in this city, and now her granddaughter moves right back to the place she struggled to escape…” The Blake family experience isn’t unique. High crime and decaying infrastructure made big cities unappealing to baby boomers in the 1970s and 1980s. But cities like New York have undergone major revitalization, which has led to millennials moving to cities at a higher rate and living there for longer periods of time.
Generation Breakdown
The Blakes’ hometown, Scott Township, is a rural suburb of Scranton, a city of 75,000 in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Scranton region is the location of rich deposits of anthracite coal, a particularly valuable type of coal. Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal powered much of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, and immigrants from all over Europe, including Irish Catholics like the Blakes, found work in the mines. The work was dangerous and dirty, and immigrant laborers were exploited by mine owners. In an attempt to prevent workers from organizing, mine owners encouraged ethnic tensions, and immigrants retained a strong sense of national identity. Coal production dropped steadily during the latter half of the 20th Century. While coal is no longer the area’s leading industry, the sense of ethnic solidarity and class antagonism it created remains. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton still notes the origins of some of its congregations: Italian, Slovak, German, Polish, Tyrolese, Lithuanian, and Magyar parishes all exist or existed in the region. In Momo, Erik, and Deirdre’s generations, parish membership was used to put a person in context. It revealed what
SILENT GENERATION 1927–1945
Momo
BABY BOOMERS 1946–1964
Erik, Deirdre
GEN X 1964–1982
Aimee
MILLENNIALS 1982–1994
Brigid
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BY LEAH REDDY
of American riage. Among uality should % favor sameh Richard, her on sex before s.
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itage is lass, “a good nerations. , often called ons exist, he Clancy wording the the many all the money ile others use Blakes don’t
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THE HUMANS UPSTAGE GUIDE
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9
neighborhood you were from, your family’s economic or employment situation, and your ethnic background. The Catholic faith is clearly important to the elder Blakes, who sent their children to Catholic schools, volunteer with their parish, and give their daughter a statue of the Virgin Mary. While the Catholic Church’s official stance is that homosexual acts are immoral (though being homosexual is not a sin), the Blakes’ acceptance of Aimee’s sexual orientation is not unusual. Fiftyseven percent of American Catholics approve of legalizing same-sex marriage. Among Catholics aged 18–29, 85% say that homosexuality should be accepted rather than discouraged and 75% favor same-sex marriage. Brigid’s decision to move in with Richard, her boyfriend, also goes against church teachings on sex before marriage but fits into the nation’s overall trends.
In 1979, a member of the workforce aged 25–34 with a high school diploma earned, on average, the equivalent of $32,299. But in 2012, that same worker would have earned, on average, just $28,000. While they hung on to their jobs through several recessions, they’ve found themselves underpaid and overlooked in workplaces they remained loyal to for decades. The Blakes’ strong connection to their Irish heritage is apparent when the family sings The Parting Glass, “a good Irish tradition” that the family has done for generations. The song began as a Scottish or Irish folk tune, often called “Goodnight and God Be With You”. Many versions exist, but the most famous is a 1959 recording by the Clancy Brothers, an Irish folk group. Interestingly, the wording the
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Scott Township is a rural suburb of Scranton, Penn.
Blake family uses in the first verse differs from the many published versions of the song. They sing “Oh all the money that ere I had/I lost it in good company,” while others use “I spent it in good company,” hinting that the Blakes don’t feel agency over their financial lives. Each member of the Blake family struggles with money in a different way. Deirdre and Erik both went into blue collar professions right out of high school and were able to support themselves. The older Blakes’ work struggles made it important that their daughters earn college degrees. Brigid, who chose a private college rather than the state school her parents had in mind, has large student loans to pay back. In 2013, 69% of graduating seniors had student loans, and the average debt was $28,400. Compare that to 2003, when Aimee graduated. That year, 64.5% of graduating seniors had student loans, and the average debt was $18,630. Reprinted with Permission from Roundabout Theatre Company’s UPSTAGE Playgoer’s Guide.
FROM THE REHEARSAL ROOM Artists Rep staff, supporters and Guild members gathered together with the cast, design team and stage crew for a read through of The Humans.
John San Nicolas (Richard Saad)
Robert Pescovitz (Erik Blake) and Luisa Sermol (Deirdre Blake)
Quinlan Fitzgerald (Brigid Blake), Robert Pescovitz (Erik Blake), Luisa Sermol (Deirdre Blake) and Val Landrum (Aimee Blake)
Vana O’Brien (Momo)
Dámaso Rodríguez (Director)
Phil Johnson (Sound Designer)
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HUMAN LIFE, STRANGELY FAMILIAR
by Luan Schooler
S
tephen Karam set out to write a play about the existential fears that terrorize our nights, prickling our souls with questions that may never be answered. He had been thinking about the thick fear that settled over Americans after 9/11 and again after the Great Recession. With these two cataclysmic events, American life became a stew of anxieties: political, personal, cultural, and financial. With Sigmund Freud’s essay, “The Uncanny” on his mind, Karam wanted to delve into the questions of why some stories fill us with greater sense of dread and horror than others, and why sometimes things that are familiar become very unsettling and strange. Originally intending to write a thriller —similar to “Deathtrap or Dark at the Top of the Stairs”—Karam invested each of his six characters with a combination of fears, setting in motion a play fueled by dread. Yet somehow his characters developed minds of their own and they insisted that the play be instead driven by empathy, humor, and compassion. The result was The Humans, a play with a boisterous, loving heart and an uneasy soul. The gathering of the Blakes on Thanksgiving Day will be recognizable to anyone whose family celebrates holidays together: full of teasing and laughter, tender support, unwanted advice, hurt feelings, oddball traditions, and the complicated bonds of family. It could be 12 | Artists Repertory Theatre
any American home movie. The Blakes clearly love each other deeply and will always have each other’s back, but that doesn’t mean they can resist the urge to be cruel. Joe Mantello, who directed the premiere at New York’s Roundabout Theatre Company in 2015, said of The Humans, “This is what love looks like: tender, vicious, hopeful, kind.” The Blakes gather in youngest daughter Brigid’s and her boyfriend Richard’s asyet unfurnished new apartment. Brigid’s parents Erik and Deirdre, along with her sister Aimee, and their dementiaridden grandmother Momo, have come to celebrate the holiday on folding chairs and paper plates. Not yet a home, the apartment isn’t really comfortable for anyone—there aren’t many places to sit, necessities and comforts are still in packing boxes, light bulbs seem to have a mind of their own. Just outside the
apartment walls, unseen things thud and creak, and strange shadows flicker past the windows. It’s probably just the neighbors, and yet… The idea of the uncanny has been explored by many psychologists, including Ernst Jentsch, who wrote in 1906 about fears that create “doubts [of] an apparently animate being is really alive; or conversely, whether a lifeless object might be, in fact, animate.” Freud’s ideas of it focused in part on the uneasiness experienced when something very familiar—such as a light bulb burning out—seems to have a hidden meaning. For Erik Blake especially, the strange animation of Brigid’s new apartment is distressing. It is clear from the beginning that he is under secret stresses; snatches of overheard conversations with Deirdre hint at something urgent that he must reveal to his daughters today; he confides in Richard a recurring nightmare about a faceless woman. Are the strange disturbances of the apartment somehow expressions of his personal turmoil? The thumping from upstairs, the burnt out light bulb, and the rumbling of the trash compactor are all normal occurrences—especially for a New York apartment—but they rise and fall through the play in just eerie enough ways that they seem unnatural. The strange disturbances are only minutely off: natural but unnatural at the same time. Compounded with Erik’s own inner turmoil they become uncanny expressions of human life in ways we are intimately familiar with. In The Humans, Stephen Karam offers a tender, funny examination of a middle-class American family. Although each one wrestles with personal fears and struggles to be happy with a not-quite-successful life, they have each other to lean on for comfort and confidence. Even when the mysterious, inchoate world threatens, as Erik says, “The Blakes bounce back, that’s what we do.”
“There are six basic fears, with some combination of which every human suffers at one time or another... THE FEAR OF POVERTY THE FEAR OF CRITICISM THE FEAR OF ILL HEALTH THE FEAR OF LOSS OF LOVE OF SOMEONE THE FEAR OF OLD AGE THE FEAR OF DEATH” –Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich, 1937
‘uncanny’... “The subject of the terrible–to all belongs to all that is d creeping horror... that arouses dread an r ‘uncanny’], The German word [fo usly the opposite unheimlich, is obvio ‘familiar,’ of heimlich, meaning to the home’; and ‘native,’ ‘belonging conclude that what we are tempted to ning precisely is ‘uncanny’ is frighte own and familiar... because it is not kn ent shades of [But] among its differ imlich exhibits meaning the word he l with its opposite, one which is identica one hand, it means unheimlich... on the d r and congenial, an that which is familia ich is concealed on the other, that wh ” and kept out of sight… ” –From “The Uncanny,
Sigmund Freud, 1919
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STAY IN THE WORLD OF
THE HUMANS READING LIST THE DINNER BY HERMAN KOCH THE SMITTEN KITCHEN COOKBOOK BY DEB PERELMAN LAROSE BY LOUISE ERDRICH COMMONWEALTH BY ANN PATCHETT THE NIX BY NATHAN HILL TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT BY MARIA SEMPLE
MOVIE LIST PIECES OF APRIL (2003) HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (1995) HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986)
PLAYLIST UNDER PRESSURE, DAVID BOWIE STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, PAUL SIMON HOLD ON, HOLD ON, NEKO CASE OOH LA LA, FACES THE GHOST WHO WALKS, KAREN ELSON
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ACTOR BIOS ROBERT PESCOVITZ Erik Blake Robert recently completed work on the feature film Bad Samaritan directed by Dean Devlin. He has guest starred on many television programs including The Librarians, Grimm, Mike and Molly, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Close to Home and Raines. He also appeared in the feature film Blood In Blood Out directed by Taylor Hackford. He has worked in regional theatres across the United States. Most recently, he was in the acting company of the Old Globe Shakespeare Festival under the direction of Adrian Noble; former artistic of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In Los Angeles, he was a founding member of A Noise Within Theatre and was an ensemble member of Furious Theatre Company. His Furious Theatre Company credits include: Pa in the World Premiere of Canned Peaches in Syrup by Alex Jones and The Godbotherers by Richard Bean, both of which were directed by Dámaso Rodríguez. For L.A. Theatre Works he appeared as Pa Joad in Frank Galati’s adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath opposite Shirley Knight and Jeffrey Donovan, Gods Man in Texas by David Rambo and in the national tour of The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial; all of which continue to be broadcast on National Public Radio. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and The American Conservatory Theatre MFA program. Robert is a recipient of a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Lead Performance.
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LUISA SERMOL Dierdre Blake Luisa Sermol is delighted to be performing again with Artists Rep, having previously acted in Cuba Libre, Xmas Unplugged, The Lost Boy, Three Sisters, The Goat, Night of the Iguana, Touch, Sideman and Master Class. Other Portland credits include The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Suddenly Last Summer (Shaking the Tree), Company, No Way to Treat a Lady (Broadway Rose), Sans Merci (Badass Theatre), Mary Stuart (NW Classical/Cygnet), Hen Night Epiphany (Corrib Theatre), Boleros for the Disenchanted (Milagro Theatre), Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire, Moon for the Misbegotten (CoHo), Ashes to Ashes (Profile), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Portland Center Stage), Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night (Tygres Heart), and Withering Looks, Bloody Poetry, Lady Windemere’s Fan, Vitriol and Violets (Cygnet). Luisa has also performed in New York/regionally with The Roundabout, Classic Stage Company, Colonial Theatre, and Williamstown Theatre Festival, as well as numerous Off-Off Broadway productions. She is a five-time recipient of the Portland Drama Critics “Drammy” for Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role. Television/Film work includes Grimm, Leverage, Personals, Zero Effect and the award-winning animated short, Insect Poetry. She holds an MAT from Lewis & Clark College, a conservatory degree in acting from The Juilliard School, and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. A teacher for many institutions in Portland, Luisa currently is on the faculty of the Portland Actors Conservatory as well as a private coach.
VAL LANDRUM Aimee Blake Val Landrum likes being a human. She is a proud and grateful Resident Artist here at Artists Rep where credits include Killer Joe, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Cherry Orchard, Circle Mirror Transformation, Red Herring, The Big Meal, The Motherfucker With the Hat, Blithe Spirit, The Liar, The Miracle Worker, The Skin of Our Teeth, American Hero, A Civil War Christmas and Between Riverside and Crazy (upcoming Spring 2018). She has also worked locally for Portland Center Stage, Third Rail, CoHo and Profile to name a few. Val has been seen in productions at several world-class regional theatres and has several TV and film credits. Sometimes she directs plays. Sometimes she writes them. She teaches Theatre at Oregon Children’s Theatre and for the Portland Actors Conservatory.
QUINLAN FITZGERALD Brigid Blake Quinlan is thrilled to be joining Artists Rep to work on this wonderful story. Raised just outside of Los Angeles, she received her BFA in Acting and BA in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Shortly after graduation, she moved to Portland as a member of the Portland Playhouse 2015-2016 Acting Apprentice Company. Previous Portland credits include: Trails (Broadway Rose Theatre Co), The Angry Brigade (Third Rail Repertory Theatre), Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Peter and the Starcatcher, You for Me for You (Portland Playhouse), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Portland Actors Ensemble). Other credits: Spring Awakening (Out of the Box Theatre Co), Aspirations: A Musical Review (Elements
Theatre Collective), Godspell and Audience (Knightsbridge Theatre Co). Thank you to everyone who made this production possible, her family for their love, and to you all for supporting live storytelling.
VANA O’BRIEN Fiona “Momo” Blake Vana has been involved with Artists Rep since 1981 when she and a small group of fellow theatre artists started the new company in the Portland YWCA. Since that time, she has worked on several different Portland stages and seen Artists Rep grow to its current size and wellrespected status. Favorite Artists Rep roles include Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All For You, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Top Girls, Mound Builders, Country Girl, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, Artificial Jungle, The Laramie Project, A Perfect Ganesh and Superior Donuts. In other Portland theatres, some memorable roles for Vana are in Greek, Faith Healer, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Seagull, Noises Off and particularly the play she and her daughter Eleanor performed together at CoHo Productions, Collected Stories. Vana joined Artists Rep’s Southeast Asia Arts America tours in 1991 and 1994 performing in Driving Miss Daisy, The World of Carl Sandburg, Three Tall Women and scenes from American comedies.
JOHN SAN NICOLAS Richard Saad A native of San Diego, CA, John first worked at Artists Rep on Jack Goes Boating in 2011. He has since appeared in The Motherfucker With the Hat, Exiles, The Invisible Hand, The Liar, Grand Concourse, A Civil War Christmas, Trevor, The Talented Ones and An Octoroon
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ACTOR BIOS and is proud to be a Resident Artist. He has also performed at Portland Center Stage (Twist Your Dickens: The Second City’s Christmas Carol, Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline), Portland Playhouse (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Bingo with the Indians), Third Rail Repertory Theatre (A Noble Failure, The Pain and the Itch), Oregon Children’s Theatre (The Red Badge of Courage, The Pressure Point!), Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (Three Sisters), Badass Theatre Company (Invasion!), Milagro Theatre (Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue, Sonia Flew), The Anonymous Theatre Company (The Crucible, The Good Doctor, Lend Me a Tenor, Rumors), Clackamas Repertory Theatre (Baskerville), Shaking the Tree Theatre (Far Away), CoHo Productions (Reasons To Be Pretty), Fusion Theatre Co. (Old Times, Disgraced) and several others. He has appeared on the television show Leverage and has made several appearances on IFC’s Portlandia. He has been a member of Actors’ Equity Association since 2002 and is proud to serve on the Portland AEA Liaison Committee. He also teaches acting and directs on occasion, most recently directing the World Premiere production of Play by D.C. Copeland and teaching scene study classes at Jana Lee Hamblin’s Act Now Studio. John is enormously proud to call Artists Rep home. It’s his favorite place.
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CREATIVE TEAM BIOS DÁMASO RODRÍGUEZ Director Dámaso Rodríguez is in his fifth season as Artistic Director of Artists Rep. He is a Co-Founder of L.A.’s Furious Theatre, where he served as CoArtistic Director from 2001-2012. From 2007-2010 he served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse, where he directed main stage productions and oversaw programming for the Playhouse’s second stage, including its Hothouse New Play Development Program. His directing credits include work at the Pasadena Playhouse, Intiman Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Laguna Playhouse, A Noise Within, The Playwrights’ Center, The Theatre@Boston Court, Odyssey Theatre, The Blank Theatre, The Road Theatre, The Zephyr Theatre and Furious Theatre. Directing credits: The World Premiere musical Cuba Libre by Carlos Lacámara featuring the 3-time Grammy nominated band Tiempo Libre, The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder, The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, Portland premieres of Nina Raine’s Tribes and David Ives’ The Liar, the Northwest premieres of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon, Carlos Lacamara’s Exiles and Nick Jones’ Trevor, the West Coast premieres of Dan LeFranc’s The Big Meal and Charise Castro Smith’s Feathers and Teeth, the U.S. premiere of Dawn King’s Foxfinder in Portland at Artists Rep; Ruth and Augustus Goetz’ The Heiress (starring Richard Chamberlain), Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes (starring Kelly McGillis), Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow (starring Sharon Lawrence) and the reading of Ellen Simon’s Aunt Stossie’s Coming for Five Days (starring Marsha Mason and Mary Steenburgen) at the Pasadena Playhouse; the reading of Steven Drukman’s The Prince of Atlantis for the
Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Repertory, Clifford Odets’ Paradise Lost at Intiman Theatre; Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, Tennessee Williams’ The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms, Bernard Shaw’s The Doctor’s Dilemma at A Noise Within. Furious Theatre credits include the Los Angeles premieres of Craig Wright’s Grace, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb’s Boom and Hunter Gatherers, Bruce Norris’ The Pain and the Itch, Yussef El Guindi’s Back of the Throat, Richard Bean’s The God Botherers, Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things, and the world premieres of Alex Jones’ Canned Peaches in Syrup and Matt Pelfrey’s An Impending Rupture of the Belly and No Good Deed, among others. Upcoming directing projects: Magellanica by E.M. Lewis at Artists Rep; Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Mi Cuba (in development) by Caridad Svich at the American Conservatory Theatre; we, the invisibles by Susan Soon He Stanton at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Dámaso is a recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, the Back Stage Garland Award, the NAACP Theatre Award, and the Pasadena Arts Council’s Gold Crown Award. In 2010, Furious Theatre Company was named to LA Weekly’s list of “Best Theatres of the Decade.” In 2012 he was honored as a Finalist for the Zelda Fichandler Award. In 2014 he was named a Knowledge Universe Rising Star. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. www.damaso-rodriguez.com
MEGAN WILKERSON Scenic Designer An Artists Rep Resident Artist, Megan has designed for Caught, The Importance of Being Earnest, American Hero, The Skin of Our Teeth, Exiles and Xmas Unplugged. Megan is a member of the women’s theatre company The Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago, a founding member of the artistic collective Bad Soviet Habits and the Resident Scenic Designer for Bag&Baggage Productions. Megan has worked with a bevy of local companies including Milagro Theatre (Opción Múltiple, American Night), Portland Center Stage (Assistant Designer - Clybourne Park), defunkt theatre (The Children’s Hour, Betty’s Summer Vacation), Theatre Vertigo (Jekyll & Hyde, The Sexual Neuroses Of Our Parents), Northwest Classical Theatre (Wait Until Dark, Mary Stuart) and Bag&Baggage Productions (The Crucible, The Merry Wives of Windsor). Work with other companies includes Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Next Act Theatre, The Skylight Opera, First Stage Children’s Theatre, Michigan Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre and the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. Megan also spent two seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as a Design Assistant (American Night, The Music Man, Ruined).
GREGORY PULVER Costume Designer Gregory is currently Theater Program Director and Associate Professor of costume design, make up and choreography for the University of Portland Drama Department and one of Artists Rep’s Resident Artists. He moved
Artists Repertory Theatre | 19
CREATIVE TEAM BIOS to Portland after a successful run as an Associate Professor of Costume Design at Western Washington University for 12 years and Chair of the WWU Theatre Department for three and a half of those years. Mr. Pulver holds an MFA in costume design and choreography from Humboldt State University, CA. He is the 1993 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival National Costume Design Winner for his work on Three Penny Opera. He is a member of the international board of advisors for The Last Frontier Theatre Conference and participates yearly as a guest artist, mentoring new American playwrights. He as designed both sets and costumes for Bag&Baggage Productions, and costumes for Broadway Rose Theatre Company. His Artists Rep credits include Trevor, The Skin of Our Teeth, Broomstick, Cuba Libre, Foxfinder, God of Carnage, Red Herring and Design for Living. Gregory has also designed for several short films and TV spots in Washington including a dance for the camera. Gregory is also an accomplished director, singer, actor and dog owner.
KRISTEEN CROSSER Lighting Designer Kristeen received her BA from Centre College in Danville, KY and received her MFA in lighting design from Wayne State University, Hilberry Company in Detroit, MI. Previously, she designed lights for several Artists Rep productions, including Feathers and Teeth, American Hero, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Miracle Worker, The Understudy, Tribes, The Cherry Orchard and Eurydice. She designed the set for Marjorie Prime, We Are Proud To Present…, Broomstick, 4000 Miles and Foxfinder. She has designed scenery and/or lighting for several area
20 | Artists Repertory Theatre
theatres including Northwest Children Theatre’s Shrek The Musical; Profile Theatre’s True West and Master Harold and the Boys (2013 Drammy) and Thief River; Coho Production’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune and The Outgoing Tide; Milagro Theatre’s Oedipus El Rey (2012 Drammy) and Third Rail Repertory Theatre’s The Aliens, A Bright New Boise (2014 Drammy) and Gideon’s Knot (2014 Drammy). As always, she is grateful to her husband, Mike, for all of his love and support.
PHIL JOHNSON Sound Designer Phil Johnson is a painter and theatrical artist based in Portland. His recent productions include An Octoroon (Artists Repertory Theatre), Hands Up (Red Door Project), Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, The Antigone Project, A Lady Onstage (Profile Theatre), Worse Than Tigers (ACT Theater/Red Stage), Contigo Pan y Cebolla (Milagro Theatre), All My Sons and The Importance of Being Earnest (Valley Repertory Theatre). When he isn’t designing or teaching, Phil Johnson is traveling the world spreading art education to impoverished areas. He most recently taught theatre in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Phil Has a BFA and MA from Ohio University. www.PhilJohnsondesignstheworld.com
LUAN SCHOOLER Dramaturg Luan honed her dramaturgy chops at Perseverance Theatre in Alaska, working with then-artistic director Molly Smith on new plays and devised works with wide ranging artists including Paula Vogel, John Murrell, John Luther Adams and Darrah Cloud. As Literary
Manager/Dramaturg for Berkeley Rep, she worked with many luminary writers, including David Edgar, Naomi Iizuka, Salman Rushdie, Dominique Serrand, Rinde Eckert and Robert Fagles, and astute directors Tony Taccone, Mark Wing-Davey, Stephen Wadsworth and Lisa Peterson, among others. She has also worked at Denver Center Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival (where she is turging Lisa Peterson’s translation of Hamlet for OSF’s Play On! project), California Shakespeare Festival, A Traveling Jewish Theatre and Shaking the Tree. Luan joined Artists Rep in April 2015 to lead the new play development program, Table|Room|Stage, and has served as dramaturg on Caught, Feathers and Teeth, Marjorie Prime, A Civil War Christmas, American Hero, Trevor, The Miracle Worker, We Are Proud To Present… and The Skin of Our Teeth.
MARY MCDONALD-LEWIS Voice & Text Director Mary McDonald-Lewis has been a professional artist since 1979. She resides in Portland, Oregon, and is an international dialect coach for film, television and stage. She also works as a voice actor, oncamera actor, stage actor and director. The Humans is MaryMac’s 31st show with the company, and you can also hear her work at Portland Center Stage, where she is also resident dialect coach, and on other stages around town. She is deeply grateful to the patrons and audience members of Artists Rep, whose support allows the theatre to provide her services to the actors. Mary holds her MFA in Directing from the University of Portland. MaryMac loves what she does, and she thanks Finnegan, Sullivan and Flynn for always wagging their tails when she comes home. www.marymac.com
CAROL ANN WOHLMUT Stage Manager Carol Ann studied theatre arts at the University of Northern Iowa. She has been the Stage Manager for 32 plays at Artists Rep, where she is a Resident Artist: The Weir, Art, The Shape Of Things, Copenhagen, Top Dog/ Underdog, The Lobby Hero, Mercy Seat, Enchanted April, The Seagull, Assassins, Mr. Marmalade, Mars On Life – The Holiday Edition, Rabbit Hole, Blackbird, Three Sisters, Design For Living, Othello, Ah, Wilderness!, Mars On Life-Live!, The Cherry Orchard, God Of Carnage, Red Herring, Ithaka, Mistakes Were Made, The Playboy of the Western World, Blithe Spirit, The Invisible Hand, The Liar, Broomstick, Mothers and Sons, Grand Concourse, Feathers and Teeth, The Importance of Being Earnest and An Octoroon. Carol Ann has performed as a stage manager for many theatres in the Portland area, including Portland Center Stage, Portland Rep, Stark Raving Theater, New Rose Theatre, triangle productions!, Musical Theater Co, Metro Performing Arts, Northwest Children’s Theatre and Carousel Co. In addition, Carol Ann guest lectures on Stage Management and making a living in theatre arts at various educational facilities.
ROY ARAUZ Assistant Director Roy Antonio Arauz has been involved in the performing arts most of his life. Originally a dancer, he started his dance training in Costa Rica before moving to Washington DC, where he transitioned to choreography. He received a 1993 Helen Hayes Award Nomination for Outstanding Choreography for Female Hitchhikers (Consenting Adults). Upon moving to Artists Repertory Theatre | 21
CREATIVE TEAM BIOS Seattle, he worked as choreographer, stage manager and director at local theatres including ArtsWest, Balagan Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre and Latino Theatre Projects. He founded and was artistic director of Arouet from 2012–2015, where he got to produce and direct works that speak to social justice. Select directing credits include The Gene Pool and The Temperamentals (Arouet), Anna in the Tropics (Latino Theatre Projects), Annie and The Music Man (Driftwood Players), La Mariposa (Book-It, touring), and Éxodo (co-director, Milagro). A champion of new works, he participated in the development and directed the World Premiere of The Fierce Urgency of Now by Doug De Vita and the developmental production of The Hat by Greg Brisendine. Now in Portland, Roy is the Producing Creative Director at Milagro Theatre, where among other things he oversees INGENIO Milagro, a year-round new works play development festival for Latina/o playwrights. He is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Directors Lab West, and the Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) Steering Committee. Thanks to Dámaso and everyone at Artists Rep for this opportunity.
KAREN HILL Production Assistant Karen is happy to be at Artists Rep for her fourth season. She has worked on An Octoroon, The Importance of Being Earnest, Marjorie Prime, A Civil War Christmas, American Hero, Grand Concourse, Miracle Worker, Cuba Libre and Exiles. She also works at Portland Shakespeare Project, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Profile Theatre and the Portland
22 | Artists Repertory Theatre
Opera. She is grateful every day that she gets to create beautiful art, and would like to thank her husband, Mike, for his continued support of this crazy lifestyle.
KATRINA LIND Properties Master Katrina Lind is a passionate and detailed scenic artist who grew up in the rural Pacific Northwest. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Oregon University and has since been working freelance, creating art for theatre companies across the West Coast. Some of her previous credits include: Head Scenic Artist, Company (Broadway Rose Theatre Company), Resident Scenic Artist (Shakespeare in the Vines), Scenic Artist, The Tempest, Three Musketeers (Island Shakespeare Festival).
ALAN CLINE Board Op Alan is an artist and technician working in Portland since 2010. He is thrilled to be part of Artist Rep’s 35th season.
BIG THANKS to the dedicated members of Artists Rep’s Guild for providing Thanksgiving meals for the Blake family.
The ArtsHub in Action
BY JERRY TISCHLEDER, ARTSHUB DIRECTOR
NOT EVERYONE KNOWS that The ArtsHub @ Artists Rep is home to 12 resident companies, 25 resident artists and that we hosted 602 events and 324 rehearsals by 51 groups in the last year. The ArtsHub sprung out of our natural inclination to share underutilized parts of our facility. We’re inviting folks into our home to do their own thing and serve the community in a different way than we ever could on our own. We want that home to be vibrant and bustling, so we’re providing access to affordable space and staffing to elevate the abilities of our guests to do what they do best: create and share their work with others. For most companies, closing Caught, loading in The Humans and opening resident company Profile Theatre’s rotating repertory of Water by the Spoonful and The Happiest Song Plays Last all in one month would be plenty, but that’s only the beginning. On non-show nights, we’ll host events on a live set. It’s practically unheard of in large theatres across the country because frankly, it’s easier not to. However, space for the arts is hard to come by in Portland and it doesn’t feel right to let our theatres sit dark. In November we’ve partnered with PlayWrite Inc. on workshops to help writers of all levels develop one-act plays, culminating in a night of performances onstage. We’ll also host a series of onetime events including: a CD release party by resident company Portland Revels, annual elections for our neighbors the Timbers Army, monthly Bystander Intervention workshops by Don’t Shoot Portland and a celebration of the unique culture of the Maasai people of Kenya by The Friends of Sironka Dance. In our studios, we’ll house rehearsals for resident company The August Wilson Red Door Project’s production of Hands Up, a reading of Dead Special Crabs by resident
company LineStorm’s Dan Kitrosser, a workshop for teaching artists by Young Audiences, and weekly classes by resident artists Michael Mendelson, Chris Harder, Sarah Lucht, local actor Joe Costa and resident company Staged! Conservatory. We’ll also invest a week workshopping a new play by resident artist Linda Alper as part of our Table|Room|Stage program. In addition, our newest resident company, Portland Actors Conservatory, operates up to three classes a day for the 23 students in their two-year accredited professional actor training program. To top it all off, we’ll finish up our FOURTH set build this month for resident company Portland Shakespeare Project’s World Premiere of Pericles Wet by local playwright Ellen Margolis in December. What a month! We envision the ArtsHub as a model for theatres across the country, demonstrating a commitment to share, to engage, and to ensure our creative communities have a place we can all call home. Check out our website and learn more about what’s happening here next month. Our home is always bustling with new art and we want to share it with you. Join us. Cheers,
Artists Repertory Theatre | 23
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Artists Repertory Theatre’s mission is to produce intimate, provocative
Artists Repertory Theatre’s mission is to produce intimate, provocative theatre and provide a home for artists and audiences of varied backgrounds
theatre and provide a home for artists and audiences of varied backgrounds to take creative risks. Artists Rep is Portland’s premiere mid-size regional
to take creative risks. Artists rep is portland’s premiere mid-size regional theatre company and is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and
theatre company and is led by Artistic Director Dámaso rodríguez and Managing Director Sarah Horton. Founded in 1982, Artists Rep is the
managing Directorprofessional sarah horton. founded in 1982, ArtistsArtists repertory longest-running theatre company in Portland. Rep theatre is the longest-running professional theatre in portland. Artists became the 72nd member of the League of company Resident Theatres (LORT) in rep nd member of the league resident theatres (lort)(NNPN). in 2016 became the is72an 2016 and Associate Member of the of National New Play Network
and is an Associate member of the National New play Network (NNpN). 24 | Artists Repertory Theatre
STAFF Artistic Director: Dámaso Rodríguez
DEVELOPMENT
Managing Director: Sarah Horton
Development Director: Sarah Taylor
ARTISTIC
Events Manager: Kisha Jarrett
Artistic Producer: Shawn Lee
PRODUCTION
Associate Producer: Kristeen Willis Crosser
Production Manager: Kristeen Willis Crosser
Director of New Play Development & Dramaturgy: Luan Schooler
Operations & Sound Technician: David Peterson
ArtsHub Director: Jerry Tischleder
Resident Stage Managers: Michelle Jazuk, Carol Ann Wohlmut
Company Manager & Casting Associate: Vonessa Martin Resident Artists: Linda Alper, Ayanna Berkshire, Bobby Brewer-Wallin, Chris Harder, Michelle Jazuk, JoAnn Johnson, Kevin Jones, Val Landrum, Sarah Lucht, Susannah Mars, Gilberto Martin Del Campo, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Michael Mendelson, Allen Nause, Amy Newman, Vana O’Brien, Rodolfo Ortega, Sharath Patel, Gregory Pulver, John San Nicolas, Vin Shambry, Andrea Stolowitz, Joshua J. Weinstein, Megan Wilkerson, Carol Ann Wohlmut Literary Intern: Logan Starnes
ADMINISTRATIVE Director of Finance & Administration: Jim Neuner Finance & Administrative Assistant: Vonessa Martin Executive Assistant: Allie Rangel
MARKETING Marketing Manager: Jessica Gleason
Interim Technical Director/ Scene Shop Foreman: Nathan Crone Master Carpenter: Eddie Rivera Master Electrician: Ronan Kilkelly Scenic Charge: Sarah Kindler Voice & Text Director: Mary McDonald-Lewis Resident Fight Choreographer: Jonathan Cole
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mike Barr, Chair Jeffrey Condit, Vice-Chair Dr. Andrew Glass, Treasurer Patricia Garner, Secretary Marcia Darm, MD, Past Chair Julie Ball Blake Johnson Erik Opsahl Michael Parsons Pancho Savery Andrea Schmidt Cyrus Vafi
Audience Development Manager: Kisha Jarrett Publicist: Nicole Lane Digital & Graphic Design Specialist: Jeff Hayes Marketing Associate: Mary Beth Leavens
AUDIENCE SERVICES Audience & ArtsHub Services Director: Karen Rathje Audience & ArtsHub Services Manager: Christina DeYoung Box Office Manager: Jon Younkin
FOR THIS PRODUCTION Carpenters: Ben Serreau-Raskin, Molly Gardner, Jason Sipe, Charlie Capps Welder: Connor Stava
Box Office Systems Associate: Jack Ridenour
Electricians: Duncan Lynch, Connery MacRae, Elisabeth Maiano, Molly Gardner
Box Office Associate: Stephanie Magee
Interns: Colin Moore, Sean Roberts
Music Events Specialist: Susannah Mars
Wig Maintenance: Jael Shepherd
House Managers: Deborah Gangwer, Valerie Liptak, Tara McMahon, Miranda Russ, Shelley Matthews, Joe Myhra Concessions: Jennifer Zubernick, Geraldine Sandberg, Paul Jacobs
Scenic Artists: Heidie Ambrose, Sarah O’Shaughnessy Stitcher: Virginia Kilkelly
Artists Repertory Theatre | 25
Artists Repertory Theatre’s mission is to produce intimate, provocative theatre and provide a home for artists and audiences of varied backgrounds to take creative risks. Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is Portland’s premiere mid-size regional theatre company. Artists Rep became the 72nd member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) in May 2016 and is an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN).
2 1
Resi C O Mdent A C A L L P A RTS SHAR OUR BUI N I E S LD IN
A N D G RESOU ING HOM C R E RCES, E, A T I V SPAC E EN E ERG Y.
hosting a stunning
602 events
PER year & counting An artistic home FOR Resident Artists
25
local actors, designers, directors and writers
TABLE | ROOM | STAGE A home for playwrights
7
NEW SCRIPTS developing diverse VOICES FOR THE STAGE INCLUDING THE OREGON PLAY PRIZE.
5
$
access for all arts for all tickets
for Oregon Trail Card holders
STUDENT MATINEE PROGRAM OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES
OUR SUPPORTERS We built the set, sewed the costumes, adjusted the lights, called the cues, and rehearsed, and rehearsed, and rehearsed. YOU GENEROUSLY DONATED TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. TAKE A BOW. This list celebrates Artists Rep donors of $100 or more who gave between October 10, 2016 and October 10, 2017. Join this cast of characters with a gift today. Call Sarah Taylor at 503.972.3017 or visit www.artistsrep.org.
GAME CHANGERS ($100,000+)
Anonymous Robert & Mercedes Eichholz Foundation James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation Renaissance Foundation
VISIONARIES ($50,000–$99,999)
The Collins Foundation Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Ronni Lacroute Meyer Memorial Trust Oregon Community Foundation Creative Heights The Regional Arts & Culture Council, including support from the City of Portland, Multnomah County and the Arts Education & Access Fund Theatre Communications Group David & Christine Vernier
PRODUCERS ($25,000-$49,999)
Edgerton Foundation Roy & Diane Marvin Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation The Shubert Foundation William Swindells The Estate of David E. Wedge
PATRONS ($10,000-$24,999)
Anonymous (2) Julia & Robert S. Ball The Boeing Company Ginger Carroll, In memory of J. Michael Carroll Marcia Darm MD & Bruce Berning
Margaret Dixon Andrew & Eva Glass The Kinsman Foundation The Oregonian/ Oregon Live Rafati’s Catering Charlotte Rubin Arlene Schnitzer Marcy & Richard Schwartz John & Jan Swanson Charles & Darci Swindells Work for Art, including contributions from more than 75 companies and 2,000 employees
STAGEMAKERS ($5,000–$9,999)
Anonymous (2) Mike Barr Karl & Linda Boekelheide Jeffrey G. Condit Robert & Janet Conklin Dark Horse Wine Patricia & Bennett Garner Dan Gibbs & Lois Seed Tom Gifford & Patti Fisher Mark Horn & Mark Wilkinson Hotel deLuxe Intel Matching Gift Program The Jackson Foundation Arthur & Virginia Kayser Romy Klopper Hugh & Mair Lewis Charitable Fund of the Southwest Washington Community Foundation Maletis Beverage Mentor, a Siemens Business Kristine Olson Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation
Opsis Architecture Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency Lorraine Prince Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust Standard Insurance Company Bill & Cornie Stevens Ed & Rosalie Tank U.S. Bank Foundation OCF Joseph E. Weston Public Foundation
DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE ($2,500–$4,999)
Anonymous (2) Molly Butler & Robin Manning Denise & Robert Frisbee Stephen Fuller Diane Herrmann Cody Hoesly & Kirsten Collins Drs. Dolores & Fernando Leon Bob & Linda Palandech Michael Parsons & Katelyn Randall Alan Purdy Len & Susan Magazine Charlie & Miriam Rosenthal Steve & Trudy Sargent James G. & Michele L. Stemler Tom Trotter Lora & Andy Woodruff
BACKSTAGE PASS ($1,000–$2,499)
Anonymous (2) Ruth Alexander F. Gordon Allen & Janice M. Stewart Rachael & Scott Anderson Phyllis Arnoff Asplund Tooze Foundation The Autzen Foundation Bruce Blank & Janice Casey Nita Brueggeman
Richard & Nancy Chapman Michael & Lynne Chartier Nathan Cogan Family Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation The Collier Smith Charitable Fund Barbara & Tom Cooney Allison Couch & Tom Soals Susan Dietz Betty & Richard Duvall Marc Franklin & Mary Lou Moriarty Carol Fredlund & John Betonte Free Geek Jan & Dave Halsey Curtis Hanson Pam Henderson & Allen Wasserman Higgins Restaurant Dr. Kathleen P. Holahan Robert Holub Sarah & Alan Horton Jessie Jonas Juan Young Trust Kristen & Michael Kern Bruce & Cathy Kuehnl Susanne Dziepak Kuhn Leslie R. Labbe Kirsten & Christopher Leonard Jim & Eva MacLowry Susannah Mars & Gary Johnson Dr. Robert & Kimberly Matheson Laurie & Gilbert Meigs Deanne & Wilfried Mueller-Crispin Megan Murphy Allen & Frances Nause Kay Parr Duane & Corrine Paulson Patricia Perkins David Pollock Richard & Wendy Rahm
Artists Repertory Theatre | 27
OUR SUPPORTERS CONTINUED Julia Rea & Jim Diamond Bonnie & Peter Reagan Robert Reed John Ridenour Richard & Mary Rosenberg Joanne & James Ruyle Marilynn & Richard Rytting Dr. & Mrs. William Sack Drea Schmidt & Emilee Preble Roy Schreiber & Carole Heath Norm & Barb Sepenuk Bert Shaw & Liana Colombo Elizabeth Siegel Faye & Lucille Stewart Foundation Marilyn & Gene Stubbs Tonkin Torp LLP Marcia Truman & Allen Tooke U.S. Bank Matching Gifts
Elaine & Ben Whiteley Carole Whiteside
SUPERSTARS ($500–$999)
Anonymous (2) Kip Acheson & Elizabeth Carr Kirby & Amelia Allen Bakersfield Cotton Warehouse Cheryl Balkenhol Dennis Bash Leslie & Richard Bertellotti Earle & Kathleen Bevins Lesley Bombardier Cecile Carpenter Charles & Barbara Carpenter Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation Marie-Jose & Martyn Corden Jim & Vicki Currie Edward & Karen Demko
Cheri Emahiser Leslye Epstein & Herman Taylor Peg & John Espie Kyle & Charles Fuchs Don & Judy Fuller Susan & Dean Gisvold Lynn Goldstein Melissa & Bob Good Penny & Alan Greenwood Polly Grose Dick Hamlet & Corinne McWilliams Richard L. Hay Kirk Hirschfeld Mike & Judy Holman Robert Holub Lois Hrella Judith & Gregory Kafoury Beth & Chris Karlin Keeton Corporation Carol Kimball PJ Kleffner Jody Klevit Linda & Ken Mantel
Kathleen McCarthy & Steve Scherr, In honor of Sarah Lucht & Don Alder Dan McKenzie Andy C. McNiece & Nancy L. Haigwood Robert & Jessica McVay Dolores & Michael Moore Don & Connie Morgan Katherine Moss Chris & Tom Neilsen Barry & Jane Newman David & Anne Noall Marcy Norman Ted Olson & Linda Nelson, In Loving Memory of Madeline Nelson Alfred & Eileen Ono Patrick Lumber Company Matching Gift Program Olliemay Phillips John Ragno
OUR THEATRE CANNOT EXIST ON TICKET PURCHASES ALONE. We depend on you to pick up the mantle of funding art in our community. Ticket sales alone only cover 40% of what it takes to keep this theatre running. Your donations are essential to making great art possible. Questions? Contact Kisha Jarrett at kjarrett@artistsrep.org or 503.241.9807 x112 to ask how you can set up a recurring monthly donation or discuss other ways to support Artists Rep!
28 | Artists Repertory Theatre
Brennan P. Randel & Matthew Corwin Scott & Kay Reichlin Dámaso Rodríguez & Sara Hennessy Dianne Sawyer & Pete Petersen The Carol Schnitzer Lewis Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Wayne D. Schweinfest Peter & Jeanette Scott Nick & Sandra Snell Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Darsee Staley & Dave Linder Wendy Sternberg & Winhard Bohme Greg & Martha Struxness Donald & Roslyn Sutherland Paul Thompson & Portia Sipes Karen Whitaker Andrew Wilson & Dr. Ronnie-Gail Emden Pam Whyte & Ron Saylor Cynthia Yee
INSIDERS ($250–$499)
Anonymous (2) Meg & Chuck Allen Ted & Fran Ames Bob Amundson & Sully Taylor Linda Apperson Jane Bergin Ann Brayfield & Joe Emerson A. Sonia Buist, M.D. Carol Burns Cambia Health Foundation Valri & Vince Chiappetta Molly Cochran & Sam Ellingson Elaine & Arnold Cogan Deborah Correa Priscilla & Nick Cowell Debbie Cross & Paul Wrigley Robert Daasch & Linda Schaefer Nancy & John Decherd Tonya DeCroce & Gary Weiss
Wolfgang Dempke & Alise Rubin Linda Dinan Steven Dotterrer Carmen Egido & Abel Weinrib George & Donna Evans Jim & Betty Ferner Larry & Marilyn Flick Roswell & Marilynn Gordon Barbara & Marvin Gordon-Lickey Paul & Theresa Graham Allan Griffin Paul Harmon Edward Hershey Stephen Hillis Barbara Holisky & Gary McDonald Lynnette & Don Houghton Gary & Joy Hunt Icenogle Family Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of Renaissance Charitable Foundation Joni & Bill Isaacson Blake Johnson & Mara Krinke Janice and Benjamin Isenberg Philanthropic Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation Marianne KeddingtonLang & William Lang Edward & Elaine Kemp Karen Kemper Carol & Jeff Kilmer Leslie Kolisch & Roland Haertl Kelly & Brenda Lawrence Joy & Roger Leo Peter & Janice Linsky Dorothy Lyman John Lynch Ralph Maiano Earlean Marsh Meg McGill & Mark Ramsby Ruth Medak Bob Mensel Judy & Steven Miller Paul Miller David & Anne Munro Evelyn & Tom Murphy Robert Nimmo & Linda Jensen Stephanie Oliver Pacific Power Matching Gift Program Senator Bob Packwood
Sue Pickgrobe & Mike Hoffman Karen & John Rathje Andrew & Peggy Recinos Helen Richardson & Don Hayner Vern Rifer Jane Robinson & Michael Sands Rebecca Ross Ms. Cara Rozell Luan Schooler & Timothy Wilson Mary Ann Seth-Wish & John Wish Scott Stephens & Leslie Houston H. Joe Story Milan & Jean Stoyanov Pat & Larry Strausbaugh David & Rosemarie Sweet Diane Taylor Sarah & Robert Taylor Chris Ullom Tony & Gail Vander Heide Robert & Ann Watt Anthony Wilcox Carl Wilson & Evan Boone Carol Ann & Patrick Wohlmut Maureen Wright & Lane Brown Helen Youngelson-Neal Alan & Janet Zell
FRIENDS ($100–$249)
Anonymous (4) Christine Abernathy Kay & Roy Abramowitz Aesop John Ahlen & Don Main Amelia Albright Michael Allen & Anne Schagen Kris Alman & Mike Siegel Thomas Robert Anderson Andina Restaurant Ruby Apsler ArborBrook Vineyards Herman Asarnow & Susan Baillet Arlene Aschraft Nancy Ashton Ruth Beiser Bach
Susan Bach & Douglas Egan Dale Bajema & Diana Coleman Debbie & John Bakum Ann Balzell & Joe Marrone, In memory of Deforest Arn Piper Linda Barnes & Robert Vanderwerf Laura Barton George Bateman Joan Baucus Mary Beach Anne Becklund Alan & Sherry Bennett William Bennington Pamela Berg Dr. Dana Bjarnason Catherine Blosser Joe Blount Betty & Fred Brace Gerry & Nancy Brown Jim Brunke Lauretta Burman Marlene Burns & Jon Dickinson Thomas A. Burns Douglas Campbell Don Caniparoli Robin Carpenter Michael Carter & Teresa Ferrer Jean Carufo & Barbara Engelter Tom & Anne Caruso Lou & John Chapman Russ & Mary Chapman Julie Child Bradley Coffey Ilaine Cohen CoHo Productions Rick & Jean Collins Leslie & Alan Comnes Anne Conway & Louis Baslaw Abigail & Michael Corbet Harriet Cormack Gerald Corn Fran & Roddy Daggett Joel Datloff & Linda Wiener Elaine & Earl Davis Marvin & Abby Dawson Carolyn DeLany-Reif Barbara & George Dechet Jewel Derin Elaine & Bill Deutschman Lisa Dodson
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OUR SUPPORTERS CONTINUED Jeanne & Lauren Donaldson Ed Doyle & Judy Posey Anne Driscoll K. Eaton Elizabeth & John Ehrsam The Ellermeiers Laury Ellis & Kathy Fode Jim & Joan English Nevill Eschen David Evans Jeff Feiffer Sherry Fishman Greg & Carol Flakus Heidi Franklin Patricia Frobes & Richard Smith John & Chris Gardner
Susan GendeinMarshall & Lee Marshall Andy Ginsburg & Danielle L. Erb Linda Gipe Nick Giustina & Patricia Brewer George Goodstein Gretta Grimala Candace Haines John Hall & Jean Jensen Hall Gail & Irvin Handelman Ulrich Hardt Kimberly Harrison Meredith Hartley & Jeremiah Pyle Andrea Heid Thomas Hellie & Julie Olds
Seasonal Food for all occasions
30 | Artists Repertory Theatre
Joe & Diana Hennessy Sarah Hershey Charles & Margaret Hickman Mary Higgins Laurie Holland Eric & Keena Hormel Hot Diggity Pet Sitting Kristine & Steve Hudson Carol & T.A. Hull Deborah Indihar Constance Jackson & Xavier Le Héricy Chris Jacomino Katharine Jansen Betsy & Jerold Jeronen Colleen & Jeff Johnson Phyllis Johnson Erika & Tom Kane Ron & Ruth Katon Nancy G. Kennaway Karen Kervin Heather Kientz Shawn Kilburn Doris & Eric Kimmel Larry King & Daniel Hutchison Frederick Kirchhoff Anneliese Knapp Tom & Judy Kovaric Norman Krasne Gary & Martha Kruger Louise Kurzet Ted Labbe & Kelly Rogers Robert & Helen Ladarre Barbara LaMack Elyse & Ron Laster Kelly & Brenda Lawrence Mary Lawrence Mary Lou & Ross Laybourn Mark J. Lee Nathan B. Leverenz Richard Lewis & Meg Larson Scott Lewis Literary Arts Little Red’s Bakeshop Ralph London Leslie Louderback Henry C. Louderbough Una Loughran Steve Lovett Jane Luddecke & Robert Anderson Dr. Christine Mackert Sheila Mahan Jim & Midge Main John & Renee Manson Ms. Nancy Matthews Lynn Mayer Robert McAdams
Anne & Kathy McLaughlin Kathy McLaughlin Katie McRae Cynthia Meduri Mariellen Meisel Linda Meng Libby & Miles Merwin Susan & Greg Miner Monique’s Boutique Michael Morgan & Nancy Babka Nancy Moss Patrick Mulcahey Molly Jo Mullen, Alternative Dispute Resolution Multnomah Whiskey Library New Deal Distillery Patricia Oldham Erik Opsahl Joan Oramas Oregon Ballet Theatre Nancy Park Katherine Patricelli & Dennis Reichelt Gordon & Sondra Pearlman Carla Pentecost Pierre & Linda Pham Kevin Phaup Donna Philbrick Roger Porter Terrance & Barbara Porter Portland Baroque Orchestra Dee Poujade Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club The Qualls Family Charitable Fund Carole Quick Ana Quinn Jay & Barbara Ramaker Edward & Kara Lynn Rankin Dick & Linda Reedy Ed Reeves & Bill Fish Betty & Jacob Reiss Bob & Marilyn Ridgley Mark Rittenbaum Rebecca Robinson, In memory of Gary D. Robinson Charles & Judith Rooks Kathryn Ross Ms. Cara Rozell Ellen Rubinstein Jane Sage Darrell Salk & Tricia Knoll Pancho Savery Curtis Schade
2017 Magda Schay Sheldon & Jean Schiager Jean Scott & Myrth Ogilvie Joyce Semradek Mary & KC Shaw Laurel & Dan Simmons Karen & E. Smith Neil Soiffer & Carolyn Smith Karen & Charles Springer Stash Tea Company Scott Stuart & Brenda Meltebeke Julia Surtshin & Richard Sessions Gary Taliaferro Roberta Taussig Bahram & Susan Tavakolian Leslie Taylor & Doug Beers Tektronix Matching Gift Program Robert Thinnes Margaret Thompson Marilee Thompson Tracy Thornton Cyrus Vafi Kaye Van Valkenburg Phil VanderWeele & Joan Snyder David & Julie Verburg Pamela Vohnson & David Streight Sue & Jim Walcutt Marilyn Walkey & Mike McClain Judi & J. Wandres Janet F. Warrington Laura Watson Mike & Linda Wells Ann Werner Victoria Wetle Pat & Frank Wilson Sabina Wohlfeiler Susan Woods John & Pat Zagelow Kurt & Heather Zimmer
Holiday GIFT BOXES
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IN THE HEART OF PORTLAND’S WEST END DISTRICT
PORTLAND’S HOTEL TO THE ARTS 503.224.3293 | MARKSPENCER.COM
Artists Repertory Theatre | 31
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WORLD PREMIERE FIVE-PART ADVENTURE
STARTS JAN 20 RECIPIENT OF AN EDGERTON FOUNDATION NEW PLAY AWARD AND AN OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION CREATIVE HEIGHTS GRANT. In 1986, scientists and engineers from around the world converge at the South Pole Research Station to figure out if there really is a hole in the sky. Part historical adventure, part love story and mystical foray into the unknown, it’s about a world that can either tear apart or come together for its own survival.