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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2006
Contact: Nicole Lane 360-601-4298
nicolealane@comcast.net
LENI
Written & Directed by
SARAH GREENMAN
Can a Single Piece of Art Really Be So Dangerous?
Portland, Oregon – Insight Out Theatre Collective
presents LENI, by Sarah Greenman. LENI is
the first production in Insight Out Theatre Collective’s
2006-2007 season “destruction:creation.” LENI
runs for four weeks: Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:30 p.m.,
October 20 – November 11, 2006; with a Sunday matinee
October 29 at 1 p.m. and a student matinee November 1 at
10:30 a.m. Opening Night is Friday, October 20.
Performances will be held at The Academy Theater, a
historic and newly renovated movie house, located at
7818 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon. Tickets are $15;
Thursday performances are sliding scale $5-$15. Tickets
are available at www.insightouttheatre.org or by calling
503.493.8070. Patrons are encouraged to arrive early to
catch a unique multimedia segment beginning 20 minutes
prior to the play. Guided Talk Backs will be held every
night following the performance.
LENI is about the German filmmaker Leni
Riefenstahl, whose two most famous films, Triumph of the
Will and Olympia, were funded by the Nazi Party.
Riefenstahl's legacy is extremely divisive. She was both
cinematic genius and brilliant propagandist. Although
Riefenstahl was admired by such greats as Walt Disney,
Charlie Chaplin and Andy Warhol, her achievements have
been clouded by the fact that she operated within the
context of Nazi Germany. Triumph of the Will, is
considered the most effective piece of propaganda ever
made and is currently under lock and key in Germany.
Riefenstahl claimed until her death in 2003 that her
obsession with creating perfect art left her blind to
the fascist propaganda machine that used her film to
hypnotize a nation. LENI, set in the context of
Riefenstahl directing her own autobiographical film,
explores themes of artistic responsibility, modern
media, and personal and social myth-making.
The play features Portland actors JoAnn Johnson and
Cecily Overman both of whom play Leni Riefenstahl. LENI
will be directed by playwright and Insight Out Company
Member Sarah Greenman. Greenman is a graduate of Mills
College in and the Pacific Conservatory of the
Performing Arts. She has a strong background as an actor
performing in over 20 plays on the West Coast. Portland
theatre audiences will remember her as Lisa in last
September’s blockbuster production ONE – The Musical,
by Wade McCollum. Recently, Greenman was inspired to
make Portland her home so she can pursue her artistic
visions with Insight Out and the Portland theatre
community. This is Greenman’s first full length play.
LENI was most recently presented in May 2006 at
the Mae West Fest in Seattle, where it played to
completely sold out houses. Insight Out will be the
first theatre company to produce a full production of
this acclaimed new work. This production of LENI
will integrate multimedia aspects of Riefenstahl’s
notorious films, Triumph of the Will and Olympia.
LENI is sponsored by Parametric Marketing, eROI
and the Jupiter Hotel.
Insight Out Theatre Collective
is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, dedicated to
giving a voice to unheard stories and to celebrating
cultural awakening. Through honoring the integrity of
theatrical traditions and encouraging innovative
technique, our mission is to explore contrast and
harmony through theatre, music and dance.
Insight Out Theatre Collective was founded in 2003 by
Julianna Jaffe, Lindsay J. Lucas and Wade McCollum.
The organization has produced 10 theatrical productions.
The 2006-2007 season titled “destruction: creation”
includes two mainstage productions in addition to staged
readings in the spring: LENI, written and directed by
Sarah Greenman; The Yellow Boat, by David Saar and
directed by Andrés Alcalá.
www.insightouttheatre.org.
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