At a certain point during A Thought About Raya, somewhere after Paul Thureen's hands are replaced with giant silverware, but before Hannah Bos ate an entire stick of butter, I accepted the fact that the piece was quite simply never going to make any sense to me.

Remember those Saturday Night Live skits in which Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri played the Spartan Spirit cheerleaders?

WW Pick for the Week

In "A Thought About Raya" presented by the Insight Out Theatre Collective, Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, who together created and perform the play, take us on an uproariously wild ride through the bizarre world of early 20th-century Russian Absurdist Daniil Kharms.

Refreshingly different. Not sure quite what to make of appealing nonsequiterness as whole, but among this enjoyable series of individual absurdities were brilliant moments of rational clarity.

A Thought About Raya
Created and Performed by
Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen
From the Writings of Daniil Kharms
Directed by Oliver Butler

Russian Absurdism moves to Portland
A Thought About Raya invites audiences to embark on journey through a series of colliding scenes plucked from the idiosyncratic mind of Russian absurdist Daniil Kharms.
Bios and photo link

Gripping, provocative, explosive and painfully funny script. A clear, concentrated no-shit production both tense, yet tender; intimate, yet claustrophobic — like a painful embrace you don’t let go of...

Kindred
By Daniel Keleher
Two men seek redemption and connection in a 90-minute investigation of a lifetime.

Portland, Oregon – Insight Out Theatre Collective opens Kindred, by Daniel Keleher on February 3, 2006. The play tracks the last 90 minutes of one prisoner’s life in jail and his intense friendship with his cellmate. Confined in a stark cell, actors Jack Greenman and Lamont Stephens will seize audience attention performing gripping dialogue that is both wrenching and soaked with dark comedy...
Bios and press photos

Kindred
An American Comedy
By Daniel Keleher

Portland, Oregon – Insight Out Theatre Collective presents the riveting dark comedy Kindred, by Daniel Keleher for their second play of the 2005-2006 season “The Door Within”...

When I saw Wade McCollum in Portland last weekend on the closing night of his musical “ONE,” he had that look on his face. Open, joyful, engaged. In the context of his play about a contemporary recounting of the life of the Buddha, you could say that McCollum appeared “awake.”

Wade McCollum is almost a household word in Ashland. Audiences still remember his performances in "Snow White and Several Dweebs" and "Five Years Later" at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre.

OCTOBER 4, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ONE Inspires Dialogue
Portland Audiences Bring Rousing Blockbuster Houses 

Portland, Oregon – Insight Out Theatre Collective’s ambitious production of ONE – The Musical was a resounding success.  The show not only attracted sold out houses of between 275-340 seats per night for all of the 13 performances, but most importantly to the medium of theatre: ONE had Portland talking.  

This isn't about him.
 
He wants you to know that.
 
He's the kind of man who has chosen, after all, to have the symbol for infinity tattooed on each wrist: He can't say anymore where he begins and everyone else ends...

Having made a name for himself as Portland's go-to actor for fantastical musical roles like Hedwig and her Angry Inch, the Weekly World News-inspired Bat Boy, and the Rocky Horror Show's Frank-N-Furter, Wade McCollum has moved to the next stage in his showtune evolution: Writing, producing, and starring in a full-length musical of his own...

Even in this corporate age, "sellout" is still one of the cruelest insults you can hurl in this town. In Portland, musician-slash-waiters and artistic baristas reign supreme. But 27-year-old actor Wade McCollum...

SEPTEMBER 9, 2005 THE OREGONIAN by Grant Bultler & Bob Hicks Fall Arts top 10 Fall Arts: Theatre

SEPTEMBER 2, 2005 JUST OUT by Tim Krause Transcendental woo-woo? Or simple story of a musician who refuses to sell out? According to Wade McCollum and company...It's all One. In the lobby of a quiet Pearl District yoga studio stand Wade McCollum. His head is shaved bare...in one hand he holds a calm cup of tea and in the other a vibrating cell phone...

AUGUST 29, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ONE ~ The Musical - A Resounding Rock Musical from Portland, Oregon Performance Art Innovation at its Finest! Portland, Oregon – Portland’s energetic Insight Out Theatre Collective presents ONE – The Musical, a thoroughly innovative new work reflecting the voice of our world.

AUGUST 16, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Insight Out Theatre Collective presents 2005-2006 Season:  “The Door Within” Portland, Oregon – Insight Out Theatre Collective proudly announces their 2005-2006 season, titled “The Door Within.”  This selection of plays invites audiences to step into these three theater works that speak to the human core.

JULY 7, 2005 SANTA MARIA SUN by Craig Shafer  “He brought the gift of imagination and willingness,” DeLaurier said. “I’ll never forget in ‘Annie,’ Karen Barbour was the choreographer and she asked him if he could do a triple pirouette. And without missing a beat he said, ‘Yes, teach me.’ And he did it. To me that summed up Wade as a student.”...

JULY 2005 NW DHARMA NEWS by Heidi Hoogstra ONE: A Revelation Has Begun Bodhisattvas take many forms. Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh has said the next Buddha could be born as a community. Portland may well be the birthplace of a Bodhisattva in the form of a  modern American rock musical...

JUNE 26, 2005 PORTLAND TRIBUNE by Joseph Gallivan FINDING THE PERFECT PITCH Theater company goes in search of rainmakers to fund musical How is it that the Portland Art Museum can raise $40 million for a new wing, but your lead actress has to pull a double shift at the Latte Shack before every show?  In the endless gauntlet of panhandling that constitutes funding for the arts, it helps to have a stylish pitch. And if you can latch onto some West Hills rainmakers, you’re already halfway home...

A GREAT LEAP FORWARD Insight Out is Proud to Announce their New Company Boards Portland, Oregon – Leaping in just one year from a seven member board of directors to a current 34-member organization, Insight Out Theatre collective is pleased to announce their new 2005-2006 board members. Insight Out has built three working, highly talented, boards to fulfill their mission to give an authentic voice to untold stories through theatre, music and dance...