CONTACT: Thom Trick
Public Relations & Publications Manager
Portland Center Stage
Gerding Theater at the Armory
503.445.3765
thomt@pcs.org

Tim DuRoche
Community Outreach Coordinator
Portland Center Stage
Gerding Theater at the Armory
503.445.3765
timd@pcs.org

Nicole Lane
Public Relations & Marketing Director
Insight Out Theatre Collective
360.601.4298
nicolealane@comcast.net

Mary McDonald-Lewis
Artistic Director/PR & Marketing Director
Readers Theatre Repertory
503.705.1363
mary@marymac.com

DATE: October 18, 2006

Three Theaters Unite under a Common Theme
Community Forum Planned

Portland, Oregon -- A funny thing happened on the way to the 2006-2007 theater season in Portland: three companies -- the city's largest, a medium-sized organization and one of Portland's smallest -- found powerful common ground. This is a story of cooperation, collaboration, and a creative approach to introducing three powerful plays to theatergoing audiences.

And while the circumstances might be unusual, the mutual support is something Portland's theater community is known for.

In September, staffers from Insight Out Theatre Collective, Portland Center Stage, and Readers Theatre Repertory discovered that each company's season featured a play themed on the politics of WW II-era fascism, and on the role art played within it.

The similarity between the three projects is striking.

At Insight Out, Public Relations Director Nicole Lane explains, "In our case, Leni is an examination of the life and art of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, told by Leni herself in her earlier and later years. And while there's an argument to be made that she collaborated in the greatest atrocity of the Twentieth Century, this story doesn't let us -- or Leni -- off that easily." The show stars JoAnn Johnson and Cecily Overman.

I Am My Own Wife, says PCS's Thom Trick, "takes us on a disconcerting but intriguing journey with Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite and fine furniture collector, who uses her cunning and her wiles to survive the horrors of both the Nazi and communist East German regimes." The one-man show stars Wade McCollum as Charlotte and some 30 other characters. Charlotte's sexuality and gender identification set her in high profile as a potential victim of Hitler's brutal fascism. Her struggle to survive at all costs, while unique, echoes the story of millions more.

Readers Theatre Rep, in its first fully-staged production, features Tobias Andersen and Michael Mendelson as Martin Shulze and Max Eisenstein in Address Unknown. The two are art dealers and old friends who find themselves wrestling with their loyalty to country, faith, and friendship. Director Mary McDonald-Lewis describes the play as "a love story, really, undone by fascism. These men are dear to one another until each is forced to consider what his true duty is."

Tim DuRoche, PCS's Community Outreach Coordinator, points out that beyond the commonalities of time, place and political climate, each also has art as a central theme. "Riefenstahl certainly had to grapple with her artistic impulse and the limitations of her circumstance," he says, "while in our show, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf's fascination with Regency-era furniture is a powerful metaphor." In Address Unknown, Max and Martin are avid art collectors, says McDonald-Lewis, "and the life of their business is a sort of shadow to their personal lives, and to Hitler's rise to power."

Once each company got wind of the others' projects, Lane, Trick, McDonald-Lewis and DuRoche put their heads together to not only send a cooperative message to the theatergoing community, but to create a fourth project that reflects all of the shows.

As a result, the three companies have collaborated on an evening of panel and audience discussion, called "Three Theaters: Tales of Identity, Art & Fascism."

The event is planned for Monday, October 30th, and will be held at Portland Center Stage's Studio Theatre at the Armory. Lane says, "It's interesting to us that here are three companies -- from the largest to one of the smallest, and one in between, resonating to these themes. Certainly, something in our community climate drew us all to produce plays focused on the relationship between art and politics -- it will be fascinating to explore those choices."

Panelists will include the plays' performers. "We have some of Portland's finest artists involved in all of these plays," says Trick, "JoAnn Johnson, Cecily Overman, Wade McCollum, Tobias Andersen and Michael Mendelson. We're also lucky to have nationally-recognized scholars on the subjects of art, history and fascism right here in the region. It makes sense to take advantage of that and really extend the reach of these stories -- and the questions they inspire."

Along with the actors on the panel, the evening will feature a respected historian and an art expert, moderated by a Portland civic leader. Audience participation is expected and planned for. "This is a discussion that needs to take place in the public square, among citizens," says McDonald-Lewis, "so we hope everyone there will contribute to an exchange of ideas."

With Address Unknown, I am My Own Wife and Leni, mutual support will also come from the plays' cross-promotion in mailings and on the Internet, along with a discounted ticket rate for anyone bringing a ticket stub or program from one production to the other two.

The timing of the three-theater collaboration is fortuitous in other ways as well. Portland Center Stage, newly relocated in the Pearl District as the Gerding Theater in the Armory, is eager to actively engage with other similar arts organizations. Insight Out Theatre Collective's co-founder, Wade McCollum, is starring in I Am My Own Wife, and the company believes the intermingling of talent and vision broadens audience for all three theaters. After six seasons as a staged reading company, RTR feels the support of its larger colleagues will help ensure its fully-staged efforts in the future.

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WHO: Insight Out Theatre Collective
Portland Center Stage at the Gerding Theater in the Armory
Readers Theatre Repertory

WHAT: Three Theaters: Tales of Identity, Art & Fascism
Leni, starring JoAnn Johnson and Cecily Overman
I Am My Own Wife, starring Wade McCollum
Address Unknown, starring Tobias Andersen and Michael Mendelson

WHEN: 10/30, 2006
10/20-11/11, 2006
11/7-12/17, 2006
4/6-4/21, 2007

WHERE: The Studio at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave
The Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark
The Gerding Theatre at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave
West End Theatre, 1220 SW Taylor


Insight Out Theatre Collective, founded in 2003, was created to give a voice to unheard stories. Insight Out is passionately devoted to celebrating cultural awakening and dedicated to honoring the integrity of theatrical traditions, while encouraging innovative technique. We celebrate the common human experience by acting as a cultural bridge. Our mission is to explore contrast and harmony through theatre, music and dance. Insight Out has produced 10 theatrical productions since 2003 and co-produced an additional three plays. We believe that through our work and artistic collaborations, we affirm that we are more alike than different.

PORTLAND CENTER STAGE, established in 1988, is Portland’s flagship theater company, attracting more than 90,000 theatergoers annually. With five main stage and four studio theater productions in the 2006-2007 Season, PCS produces a blend of classical, contemporary and world premiere works in addition to its annual summer playwrights festival, Just Add Water/West. PCS is engaged in a $36 million capital campaign to fund the renovation of the historic Portland Armory, our new home in Portland’s Pearl District. The Gerding Theater at the Armory houses a 599-seat Main Stage and a 200-seat black box Studio, and is the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the world’s first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. To date, more than $27 million has been secured for the project. The new Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public with a critically acclaimed Main Stage production of West Side Story which runs through November 12, 2006.

Readers Theatre Repertory was founded in 2001. With its focus on one-act plays, RTR is dedicated to staging "small stories with big ideas at their heart" -- using intimate theatre to tell tales that alternately amuse, confront, assuage and inspire.

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