Finding humor in Hell: Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble combines Dante’s ‘Inferno’ with clowning in ‘Aw, Hell.’  

What is “clown”?

For Sascha Blocker and Emily Newton, co-artistic directors of CoHo Clown Cohort, it’s a type of performance art, not just a person who puts on a polka-dot suit and a pair of big shoes.

Talking over Zoom on a Friday afternoon, the two performers helped me get past the image of the Ringling clowns I saw in the ’70s at what was then called Memorial Coliseum. Like all art forms, they explain, clown comes with its challenges, such as getting past such preconceived notions. Namely, that there are just three types of clowns: circus, birthday, and scary.  

While Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble’s (PETE’s) newest show, Aw, Hell, incorporates clowning, don’t expect Pennywise to be lurking onstage on opening night or Bozo to bounce out with a bouquet of birthday balloons.

“Those are all clowns,” Blocker says, but adds, “I hate to think that would be a reason for someone not to be curious about this art form. I mean, I feel like we need laughter so badly. This is a style that blends a lot of different comedic techniques that you might recognize in whatever comedy, whether it’s standup or sketch or improv, and you’ll see a lot of similar threads in this work.”

“Often we see the work of clowning,” Newton says, “and don’t identify it as clown because they do not have the aesthetic, the outer look, that we associate with clowns. So when you come to see Aw, Hell, you’re going to see so much clowning and comedy, but we may not look like what you think a clown should look like. For me, that’s the true clown work that we’re doing.”

Think of Lucille Ball in a chocolate factory stuffing candies in her mouth to keep up with a rapidly revolving conveyor belt, or Charlie Chaplin roller-skating in a department store. “They are clowns. How we understand the term ‘clown,’” says Newton.

One characteristic of clowns, says Blocker, is that they want to be seen – both in terms of what they’re feeling and what they’re experiencing. “So this aspect of eye contact and sharing with the audience is a real foundational element of the style.”

While a clown will watch the audience closely to see who might want to engage with them, Blocker and Newton think of their work as being “inclusive” rather than “interactive,” a word that can freak out some people. Instead, they’re looking for opportunities to play. As Blocker explains, that might be as simple as the audience interpreting the meaning of a performer’s gesture. “It’s a very poetic space for the clown,” she says. “I’m directly looking at you as an audience member, and I’m doing something kind of abstract or ambiguous, but you are participating in the story of what my body means when I’m standing like this.”

“The clown lives in the physical body,” Blocker says, “and language is not the primary mode of communication.”

For Newton, expressing herself this way was revelatory. “I was so anti-sport [as a child]. I’d rather sit and draw or play a musical instrument.” Later, though, she realized she could see her body as an instrument of expression in her performances, which she finds to be “a beautiful way of approaching the body.”

Although Blocker swam competitively throughout college, she says that when she studied physical performance in her MFA program, it was hard not to compare yourself with 35 other people. Instead of thinking “I can’t do the splits or I can’t juggle,” though, the students learned to appreciate what they could do: “It’s a super liberating perspective.”

Part of the clown style is also what Newton calls “a heightened sense of character,” with big feelings. “When you step into what we call a clown show, nothing is very subtle. I mean, there can be subtleness in the play, but everything is dialed up a little bit.” Such as when Newton, performing in Aw, Hell, reaches in her pants and starts pulling out baked goods. Clowning, says Blocker, is “[r]eally subverting expectations at every opportunity … the clown is not socialized in the everyday norms.”

“So you can pull a baked good out of your pants,” Newton says, “and someone’s going to willingly eat it. Of course I carry around baked goods in my pants!”

In other words, when devising Aw, Hell, PETE may have used Dante’s Inferno – an epic tour of hell and the first part of the Italian writer’s 14th century poem The Divine Comedy as inspiration, but it’s really an irreverent look at what it means to be human, including the funny as well as the sad. Directed by Jacob Coleman, the cast includes Newton, who joins PETE members Rebecca Lingafelter, Cristi Miles, Damaris Webb, Roo Welsh, and Amber Whitehall, with Blocker serving as the production’s clown dramaturg.

“I was kind of  jokingly saying ‘clown support,’” Blocker says of her role in the show. “Emily and I have worked together for many years and have taught clown and part of this [job] was doing training. We trained in clown, in grotesque and buffoon and even a little bit of masque.” Beyond that, Blocker sits with Coleman during rehearsals and shares her thoughts on how to bring the styles of clown performance out in the play.  

Because PETE performers are adept at physical performance – like the way Roo Welsh incorporated yoga poses into last year’s A Seagull – exploring the physically expressive art of clowning seems like a natural progression for them. Likewise, both Blocker and Newton found PETE’s collaborative process a natural fit for them, too.

“To be in this room with all these brilliant people and artists – it is such a dream,” says Blocker.

Newton adds that the way the company includes a variety of artists in its creative process is unique. For example, at a recent fitting, Jenny Ampersand, an associate artist at PETE, asked her if a costume moved the way she wanted it to and if it felt right for her character. “I’ve got goosebumps talking about it because in a traditional sense, you’d have a designer come in and say ‘This is what I want you to wear, this is how I’m seeing the character.’ The work we do is so character-driven, having a traditional approach is just not going to work. You have to meet the creator of the character where they’re at, and that’s how [Ampersand] operates.”

Because the company has been working together since 2011, collaborating with this tight-knit community might have been daunting. “I had some hesitation because they just know each other so well, personally and creatively,” Newton says. Before they began working on the show, she wondered, “Am I going to feel like an outsider as a performer? Is Sascha going to feel like an outsider as a dramaturg?” Instead, everyone welcomed them both with open arms, making it easy to share their expertise in clown.

Blocker agrees. “I see so much care for each other in that space. They trust each other. Creative spaces can be really intense and there can be conflict and ego, and I see so much openness and listening and respect.” The PETE culture, she says, feels very much like a family, with the members’ kids playing and laughing out in the hallway during rehearsal.

“They’re mini-PETEs,” Newton laughs.

Last fall, Newton worked with PETE’s Institute for Contemporary Performance students to devise their own clown version of Dante’s Inferno. Part of that process was reading the text and diving into people’s idea of hell…and what they see as their personal hells. 

Aw, Hell does that, too. While Dante painted Hell with images of epic suffering, Blocker says the show taps into the small moments of Hell in our everyday lives. For many of us, waiting in line at the DMV immediately comes to mind, or the looping messages you hear when your call to them is put on hold. 

While definitions of Hell may vary among people, performers who practice the art of clown agree that to be human is to be a clown. According to Blocker and Newton’s mentor, the late Philip Cuomo, clown encompasses the humility of making mistakes. And as he said in CoHo’s Radical Listening Podcast in 2020, “If somebody says they’re not a clown, they’re lying to you.”   

Aw, Hell opens June 28, with previews on June 26 and 27. The show, which continues through July 12, will be onstage at Reed College Performing Arts Building. Find tickets and schedules here.  

Risk/Reward’s 2025 Festival of New Performances returns to PICA, June 20-22.

Risk/Reward’s 17th annual Festival of New Performance is back this year and building off last year’s expanded format. According to festival director James Mapes, the festival, which supports boundary-pushing performance artists in the Cascadia/ Pacific Northwest region, has more offerings than ever before, and is “proud to be steaming full-speed ahead with a full slate of new performance art from regional artists even in these weird, uncertain times.”

In an email, Mapes said, “We received more than double the applications for this year’s Festival of New Performance, and the lineup is killer.”

On the mainstage, nightly performances selected by a panel of “regional artists, curators, and tastemakers” will explore identity with festival newcomers Jordan Isadore, who looks back at his upbringing through dance with you look good, bud; and Joe Kye, setting his grandfather’s history to a fusion of Jazz and Korean sounds in Love and Lineage.

Fox Whitney and his performers will meditate on an image of Yvonne Rainier’s landmark protest dance Trio A With Flags to present NOT TRIO A, an experimental performance blending dance, drag, and live music. Meanwhile, The Bonnies (Jenny Peterson and Kaitlin McCarthy) will “get intimate with cucumbers” in Picklehole, a dance-theater homage to the Czech New Wave film Daisies. ILVS STRAUSS will also return for the fourth time in R/R history “to put on a green bunny mask and go down a musical rabbit hole with the help of dueling English/Spanish closed-captioning, in ñ (enye).”

Other offerings include performance installation art, late night shows, comedy, and sketches. Julie Hammond will also direct seven renowned Portland actors in the nine-plus hour piece she conceived, Hindsight 2020, which features text written by more than 20 artists throughout the year 2020. In all, R/R, will present more than 35 Pacific Northwest performers in a packed three-day festival.

Among the returning R/R participants is the Drag Theatre Workshop, which will be onstage during Saturday and Sunday’s 4 p.m. Happy Hour slot. Championing drag artists as writers and actors, the workshop, hosted and produced by Anthony Hudson (Carla Rossi) and Pepper Pepper, offers project support, documentation, feedback, and an audience. Performers at the two-day showcase of new pieces include Body Academics, Silver DeBris (House of Elvira), Taya Dixon (Ditzy Diamond), Pepper Pepper, and Anthony Hudson; as well as a new full-length work by headliner and Portland drag legend Honey Hart.

In an email exchange, Hudson talked about the workshop and their own influences and upcoming projects.

How did you and Pepper Pepper select the performers for the workshop? Do you work with them extensively before the Risk/Reward performances?

We only do this once a year (currently), so we select artists that make our Spidey Senses tingle when we see their work out in cabarets and at bars. I’ve known Body Academics for a decade and love their animated rock musical film Evil Babylon, so I had to ask them if they had any plans for theatre: surprise, they’re working on a three-act play! We met Silver DeBris while visiting Reed’s House of Elvira drag club and invited them to share a monologue they wrote for school. And Honey Hart is a Portland drag powerhouse that I only get to see in theatrical shows every now and then, where she steals every production she’s part of.

Beyond curating the artists and setting up the administrative side and hosting, Pepper and I are pretty hands-off. We want the performers to work in whatever way works best for them. We’re available for feedback or direction, but when folks get in their heads about precision and polish, we also keep reminding them that the work can be raw and new and funny and imperfect. This is a workshop!

What do you hope the performers of the workshop will gain from the experience?

Contractually, they’re being paid commissions for creating this work along with feedback and documentation that they can use to write future grants and find more opportunities for their pieces down the line. But personally, I want our artists to feel what it’s like to work with actual production support and get away from having to compete with shady nightlife producers, noisy bar chatter, and a drink line at a bar. Most of all, I want our artists to have fun and be weird.

On your way to becoming Portland’s premier drag clown, did you have mentors? Who were your inspirations?

As a student, I was inspired by Eddie Izzard and Sandra Bernhard and Coco Peru and Dina Martina. My mentors were my high school drama teachers (nothing but love to (Mrs.) Linda Baker and Dan Hays!) and my recently passed collaborator David Eckard, who was my teacher at PNCA and made Carla’s Clown Down shows with me. I’ve also been very inspired by Portland’s gender-weirdo performers of the late 2000s and early 2010s, like Sissyboy, Bulimianne Rhapsody, ChiChi and Chonga, the Drag Mansion, Jinkx Monsoon, and my co-producer, frequent collaborator, and bestie Pepper Pepper.

The workshop champions drag performers as artists. How rare is that today?

I think we’re beginning to see dominant culture identify drag as art, and not just “entertainment” or “queer art,” but the toxic fumes from RuPaul’s Drag Race are still strong. Drag is so much more than a lipsync and a look — it’s not just twinks with suitcases of commissioned couture and generational wealth. Those misconceptions of drag are so outdated it’s exhausting, and it’s time people with power and production financing caught up.

A big reason we’re doing the workshop is because the American theatre is dying, and drag can save it. Look at Cole Escola winning a Tony for Oh, Mary! on Broadway, and in Broadway’s most successful year. Look at Liberace & Liza selling out the Ellyn Bye Studio at Portland Center Stage the last two winters — they should be on the mainstage, by the way! Even Broadway’s Death Becomes Her utilizes drag and a massive queer following. It feels like one of my Queer Horror preshows.

When it comes to the arts meltdown, yeah, the death of funding and federal support is part of it, but it’s a lie that audiences don’t want theatre anymore: it’s that they don’t want the same boring stories or Shakespeare or old musicals. They want something new and fresh and funny and shocking and smart, and drag is all of those things.

I read that this is your least favorite question, but I can’t resist asking who would be your dream audience for this show?

Haha! I want anyone who hated the last play they saw – anyone who fell asleep, who refused to do the polite Portland standing ovation, who said “This script won a Tony?” – to pack the house for this show. Most of all, I want queer people to come and see what our own artists can do when they get to make work for real money and with very little on the line. Except for their dreams and goals, that’s all.

You interviewed the artist Jeffrey Gibson, who said he saw drag as an expression of survival. What is drag to you? In particular, what does your work as a drag clown let you express?

For me, drag is armor. It’s permission to be me at my most pronounced and vile and rageful and smart. It’s also how I honor all of myself as a Two Spirit person. I consider drag a sacred ancestral practice like storytelling, like clowning, like the medicine people and priestesses and oracles and witches of old. It’s also a great excuse to get past lines and scare people, too.

I love your writing. Do you have new projects we can look forward to seeing?

Thank you! I’ve scaled back so much of my public-facing work this year to (have a nervous breakdown and) focus on new writing projects. My first book of self-produced, self-performed plays, Lamp Back: Plays and Other Grievances is being published by Northwestern University Press next year. I’m also adapting my long-touring solo show Looking for Tiger Lily into a memoir. And I’m working on two new plays that call for actors other than me, for a change – one is a massive, whale-sized (hint) dream project and will require a lot of time and support, and the other is a farce about boutique DNA testing. You’ll hopefully get to see the latter in an all-Native staged reading by the end of 2025 or in early 2026!

Is there anything else you’d like to let people know about the workshop or your work?

Please come. And whatever you do, don’t look any of the drag performers directly in the eyes, or move. They can’t see you if you don’t move.

Risk/Reward takes place at PICA Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) 15 N.E. Hancock St., Portland. Find tickets and schedules for all festival performances here.

Opening shows

Shaking the Tree Theatre’s 2025 Nothing Left to Lose Summer Festival, June 20-28.

Now in its third year, this festival offers a tapestry of multimedia art, including theater, music, visual arts, and more.​ The shows include Poppy People Act II: Downriver by Jared Maurice Dancler and Special Company, a show in which Ashi and friends present another glimpse into the world of Poppy People, where grief is playing understudy to every role, June 20; Stefan Feuerherdt’s immersive play 21 New Messages, directed by Chris Harder and featuring Val Landrum, which includes audience members reading aloud messages that unravel a mother-daughter relationship, June 21; Landrum’s Up the Hill, which was inspired by Our Town and weaves a tale of memory, loss, and the afterlife, June 21; We’re Gonna Die by Young Jean Lee and featuring Sammy Rat Rio, in a show that blends  storytelling and music to remind us that suffering is universal — and survivable, June 26 & 27; and Kiki’s Hot Juicy American Pie, a cabaret concert directed and performed by Kimo Camat that promises to rewrite “the script on shame, sex, and the beautiful act of being our authentic, queer selves in a world that’s uncomfortable with our truth,” June 28.

Sherlock Holmes and the Precarious Position at Clackamas Rep, June 27-July 20, previews June 26.

Based on the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Margaret Raether’s comedy follows Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they’re approached by twin sisters who have fallen victim to a shady employment scheme. Four actors portray multiple roles in what Broadway World calls a “fast-paced little romp.” Directed by Don Alder.

Waitress at Broadway Rose Theatre, June 27-July 20, previews June 26.

This pop musical based on the movie by Adrienne Shelly tells the story of Jenna, a waitress and expert pie maker, who’s stuck in a small town and a loveless marriage. When a baking contest in a nearby county offers her a chance to escape, Jenna fights to reclaim a long-forgotten part of herself … with the help of her fellow waitresses and an unexpected romance. Book by Jessie Nelson and music and lyrics by Tony-nominated Sara Bareilles. Directed by Lyn Cramer. See the show at the Deb Fennell Auditorium.  

Profile Theatre’s Playwright Festival, June 26-28.

Featuring playwrights Jen Silverman (two-time Guggenheim fellow, playwright of The Roommate on Broadway), and Mike Lew (Tony Voter, Richard Rogers Award Winner), Profile’s festival will culminate with a reading of Silverman’s new play-in-progress Untitled Houdini Project on June 26, and Lew’s new play-in-progress Alpha Asians on June 27.

“The Playwright Festival is always the jewel in the crown of a cycle at Profile,” says artistic director Josh Hecht. “It’s an opportunity for our community to get to meet these writers in person, to learn about what motivates and drives them, and to get a sneak peek into new work before it hits the stage. Best of all, at the Artist Talk they get to hear the writers read some of their own work themselves. It’s an intimate literary experience unlike any other, and I can’t think of more inspiring, intelligent, engaging, and imaginative writers than Jen Silverman and Mike Lew. These are writers that have already been rocking the theatre industry, and are soon to become household names.”

An Artist Soiree and Reception with both playwrights will also take place on June 28.

JK Squared: Till Death Deux We Art at the Backdoor Theatre, June 26–28 and July 3–5.

This is the third show from JK Squared, the Portland-based sketch comedy duo. Created by Jacquelle Cherise Davis and Kaia Maarja Hillier, this comedic exploration of grief, fear, hate, and hope is told through sketch, song, and satire. 

“We thought this show would be about sobriety and my dead dad,” says Davis. “But the world had other plans. When grief showed up after my mom also passed, I started writing. This show is about loss, yes — but also about collaboration, community, and choosing joy when it feels hardest.” 

The production is a continuation of JK Squared’s mission to center femme, Queer, and trans voices in comedy and performance. Their first show, JK²: More is More, debuted in 2019 to sold-out audiences and critical acclaim. The guest cast for Till Death Deux We Art includes Jessica Hillenbrand, London Bauman, Rae Davis, Jessica Tidd, Kelsy Carson, Kayla Kelly, Connor French, Andrew Tesoriero, and Clara Liis Hillier. 

Readers Theatre Repertory presents The Turn of the Screw: A One Woman Horror Show, June 27 & 28.

A young governess is hired to care for two orphaned children on a large estate in the English countryside in this new word-for-word  adaptation of Henry James’s classic tale of terror, suspense, obsession, and madness.

“This is the scariest ghost story I’ve ever read,” says adapter and director David Berkson, “and the most terrifying use of an unreliable narrator.” Berkson is also grateful to have Caitlin Lushington return for the performance. “This story needs a great actress to match its psychological complexity. Ghosts are spooky, but sometimes people are more terrifying.” 

The Turn of the Screw will be onstage at 1201 S.W. 12th Avenue in Portland. The show starts at 8 p.m. and runs about an hour. Admission is $15. For information and ticket reservations, email readerstheatrerep@gmail.com.

Black Comedy at Pentacle Theatre in Salem, June 27.

In Peter Shaffer’s farce, colorful, duplicitous characters stumble around a pitch-black room – all in full view of the audience. Lovesick sculptor Brindsley Miller (Ryan Snyder) has decorated his apartment with furniture and objects d’arte “borrowed” from the absent antique collector next door, hoping to impress his fiancée’s pompous father. The neighbor returns just as a blown fuse plunges the apartment into darkness and Brindsley is revealed. Unexpected guests, aging spinsters, and errant phone cords impede his frantic attempts to return the purloined items before light is restored. Directed by Debbie Neel. Recommended for ages 10+.

Clinton’s Summit, part of the bimonthly reading series from LineStorm Playwrights & Artists Rep, June 29 at 5 p.m.

Rich Rubin’s play takes place in mid-July 2000 at the Camp David compound. Over a span of 15 days, a trio of world leaders – Yasser Arafat, Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton – employ reason and rage in equal measure as they struggle to determine the fate of two peoples, the Israelis and the Palestinians, and one entire region, the Middle East. Meanwhile – in the world beyond their cabins – time is running out. Directed by Matt Pavik. Free tickets can be reserved here.

21ten Theatre’s summer residency, July 3-27.

As part of its second annual summer residency program, 21ten is hosting four new shows it selected through its application process. First up on July 3-6 is The One, a new work by multidisciplinary performer Andrea Parson, who was born and raised in Hillsboro, Oregon. When she was 8, Parson’s mother told her you have to love yourself before you can love someone else. Thirty years later, Parsons explores whether that’s true in a show that uses evocative movement, storytelling, and a clown sensibility. Directed by Jessica Wallenfels.

Other shows include La Mariposa, a devised performance ritual about a girl who has forgotten her name, created by Sofía Leonila Marks and Isabel Strongheart McTighe, July 10-13; un/seen, from local writer and composer erin rachel, a two-part immersive storytelling and sound experience that’s also performed by rachel, July 18-21; and The Rainbow Passage, Ajai Tripathi’s new play that follows a recovering drug addict who travels into the memories of his catatonic twin sister, a professor of radio astronomy, in order to rally their family to free her consciousness from being trapped on the horizon line of a black hole, July 24-27.

Continuing shows

Salt & Sage’s Mimetic Desire, through June 21.

Bobby Bermea previewed this world premiere Queer comedy here. The play is by Mikki Gillette and features trans man Alec, who woos the partners of his friends, trans woman Mia, and trans man Dann. As a result, their college friend group is upended in a swirl of  betrayal, envy and heartbreak. Directed by Asae Dean at The Backdoor Theatre behind Common Grounds Coffeehouse, 4321 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. in Portland.

Mother Russia at Profile Theatre, through June 22.

The production of Mother Russia, directed by Josh Hecht, marks the close of Profile Theatre’s exploration of Lauren Yee’s work this season. The show questions whether freedom can be a curse through the characters Evgeny and Dmitri, two average guys who dream of cushy government jobs, only to find themselves surveilling a former pop star instead. ArtsWatcher Darleen Ortega reviewed the show here.

Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson at Portland Center Stage, through June 22. 

Chinese American comedian and actor Chris Grace created this 65-minute comedy about representation and race, in which he plays, with the help of wigs, himself and Scarlett Johansson. Eric Michaud directs Portland Center Stage’s production. Darleen Ortega reviewed the play for ArtsWatch here, and Dmae Lo Roberts featured Grace on her Stage & Studio podcast.

Darcelle: That’s No Lady at triangle productions! through June 22.

The acclaimed musical about Walter Cole, a.k.a. Darcelle, is back at triangle productions! The show’s book and original song (with lyrics) are by Don Horn, with additional lyrics and music by Tom Grant, Marv and Rindy Ross, Jon Quesenberry, Storm Large, Rody Ortega, and Wesley Bowers. Directed by Horn, the show features returning performances by Kevin C. Loomis as Walter/Darcelle and James Sharinghousen as his beloved partner, Roxy. That’s No Lady will also have a nightly “Catch A Rising Star” guest. ArtsWatch reviewed the musical here.

Tour de Force Productions’ Fool for Love at 21ten Theatre, through June 22.

Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play is the story of two people who can’t live without each other, whether they like it or not. May is hiding out at an old motel in the Mojave Desert when Eddie, an old flame from her teenage years, tracks her down and threatens to drag her back into the life from which she’s fled. Directed by Steve Koeppen. ArtsWatch reviewed the show here.

The Importance of Being Earnest at Portland Center Stage, through June 29.

This queer-coded world premiere of Kamilah Bush’s adaptation of the classic wit-fest by Oscar Wilde is directed by Josiah Daves and features an out-of-this-world cast, including Tyler Andrew Jones and Lo N. Steele. According to PCS’s website, the show is set in a 1919 that looks a lot like D.C. today, “where wealth, identity, and reputation remain a currency of survival.” ArtsWatcher Darleen Ortega reviewed it here.

Stage Kiss at Very Little Theatre in Eugene, through Jun 29.

Either art is imitating life or life is imitating art in Sarah Ruhl’s play about two actors with a history who are thrown together as romantic leads in a forgotten 1930s melodrama. The play asks what’s real when lovers share a kiss on stage. Directed by Maggie Hadley.

Bright Star at HART Theatre in Hillsboro, through June 29.

Inspired by a true story and featuring a Tony-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, this musical tells a tale of love and redemption set against the backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past — and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives. In a 2016 New York Times review, Charles Isherwood wrote, “The musical is gentle-spirited, not gaudy, and moves with an easygoing grace where others prance and strut.” See it at Hillsboro Artists’ Regional Theatre, 185 S.E. Washington St., Hillsboro.

Theater news: New Season Announcements

Artists Repertory Theatre

For its 43^rd season, Artists Repertory Theatre’s lineup will showcase the work of three Pacific Northwest playwrights.

In the fall, the company will present The Bed Trick, a bedroom farce by Seattle’s Keiko Green. Next, Portland-raised Kallan Dana takes us on a shapeshifting road trip with the Lynchian thriller Racecar Racecar Racecar. Closing out the season, ART’s own Andrew W. Mellon Playwright-in-Residence, E.M. Lewis, wraps up her six-year residency at Artists Rep with Apple Hunters!, a funny and heartfelt story of men, friendship, and the power of showing up for each other. 

“We have three plays by women with deep roots in Portland and the Pacific Northwest, and each play offers a vivid, compelling point of view on contemporary America,” Interim Artistic Director Luan Schooler says. “Wickedly funny, viscerally surreal, and profoundly hopeful, these plays offer something for everyone! Who needs New York, London, or Chicago when we have such exciting writers here in our own backyard?”

Throughout the 25/26 season, Artists Rep will be working with Theatre Diaspora, Oregon’s only professional AANHPI (Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) theater company. The partnership aims to promote professionalization of AANHPI designers, present readings by local and nationally renowned playwrights, host post-show events, and more, culminating in a full production of Carla Ching’s The Two Kids Who Blow Shit Up.

Managing Artistic Director Samson Syharath says, “I’m thrilled that Theatre Diaspora and Artists Repertory Theatre are finally coming together in partnership. When we join forces, we expand what’s possible – not just for our organizations, but for the communities we serve. Collaboration like this allows us to dream bigger, reach further, and create a more inclusive future for the arts.”

Artists Rep is also relaunching its capital campaign, working to raise the remaining funds for the completion of the theater’s renovation. Performances for this season will continue to take place on the lobby stage, which in 2024/25 was beautifully transformed into a science lab, a ramshackle homeless camp beside a river, and a storefront associated with surveillance. Managing Director,Aiyana Cunningham says, “Stay tuned for updates throughout the season as we reveal our vision for a vibrant performing arts center that supports multiple organizations and artists – and share our progress on fundraising to get it done.”

Subscription packages for the new season went on sale on June 7 and can be purchased here. Single tickets will go on sale in August, starting at $30 for previews and $60 for the standard run. For pricing options including Arts For All, discounted, and sliding scale tickets, visit artistsrep.org.

Northwest Children’s Theatre

From a Hole in the Ground, produced in partnership with Corrib Theatre, will kick off the upcoming season for Northwest Children’s Theatre (NWCT) this fall. Someone – or something – has returned from the grave fixated on a long-due confrontation, upsetting the world of the good folk and set to bring chaos to mortals too. A finalist for the Oregon Book Award for Drama, the play by Ken Yoshikawa is an exploration of fairytale, time, and connection. Most enjoyed by ages 8 and up.

For the holidays, the company will  present The Wizard of Oz. With a shortened run time, this version will be accessible for young families, with children ages 5 and up. Finally, the ultracool Pete the Cat will return this winter. Appropriate for ages 4 and up, Pete and friends will rock out in this fast-paced, globe-trotting musical adventure based on the smash hit book series.

Also back this year will be NWCT’s popular Spotlight: A Family Arts Festival. For one weekend (Sept. 20–21), music, dance, theater, and visual art will fill every corner of The Judy, and the immersive Halloween Ball will take place October 11–26, with a costume parade, interactive story time, a sing-a-long and a dance party.

All NWCT shows/events will be at The Judy, 1000 S.W. Broadway in downtown Portland.