BY LUAN SCHOOLER
For Artists Repertory Theatre (ART), the last year was an annus horribilis, a horrible year. Canceling the season was painful by every measure. What is a theatre that isn’t producing any plays? Gutted, that’s what. We spent the last 10 months mending and moving on, grappling with finances, cutting away all the “fat” – and bits of muscle and bone. We were managing our survival, humbled and deeply grateful for the continuing support from our community. But again, what is a theatre that isn’t producing plays? The body was on life support but where was the soul?
The turn came in April when we opened our newly occupied lobby as a “rough and ready” performance space. It’s a work in progress, but after five years of itinerancy, we can finally say again, We are here. We are home. Welcome, come in! Opening with the Fertile Ground Festival felt unbelievably good – the space was filled with artists and audiences and newly minted plays. Our own Encore Festival in May celebrated ART’s 42 years of producing provocative, intimate theatre – and honored the artists who laid the foundation of this theatre and made that work so powerful. Since we opened in April, there have been twenty-nine performances in our lobby. The soul returns!
And now, a new year is ahead and we are producing three wonderfully eclectic plays. Huzzah! Each one is homegrown with deep roots in this ground. Each one is boldly imaginative and uniquely theatrical. Each one holds the fragile, fumbling human heart in cupped hands, lightly and affectionately.
We begin with The Event!, a new play sprung from the imaginations of seven local writers during the pandemic (Lava Alapai, Linda Alper, Anthony Hudson, Dan Kitrosser, Susannah Mars, Luan Schooler, and Josie Seid). Set in Cabbotville (a fictional Oregon logging town), it follows Misty, an aspiring investigative journalist, as she tries to unravel the mysterious “Page 52 Problem” of a 100-year-old play, which seems somehow oddly connected to the disappearance of Rudy, a queer kid who may have run away. Or, more likely, was taken by aliens. Or maybe a magical ostrich. It’s a buoyant and surprising tale with a big heart, a sweet disposition, and a slightly naughty twinkle.
We chose The Event! as the inaugural production in our new lobby space precisely because it’s such an ‘outside of the box’ kind of play. The play challenges us to be as open and inventive as it is, both in how we use the lobby space and how we rehearse the play. (And Bonus: Saturday rehearsals will be open to season subscribers!) You’ll feel that joyful, iconoclastic spirit as soon as you set foot in the theatre – and may even feel your own playful spirit perking up. Life is awfully stressful these days, and The Event! is meant to be a happy oasis, cheerfully free of cynicism and meanness. Fun, right?
Next up will be Sapience by Diana Burbano, which we commissioned and workshopped last year, and are producing in partnership with PHAME. Elsa is a primatologist studying the language abilities of orangutans like Wookie, who she’s training to speak. Her ex-boyfriend, Jason, is the zoo administrator where she’s doing her research and their relationship is… complicated, especially when Jason and Elsa’s cousin Miri start dating. When Wookie and her nephew, AJ, who is neurodiverse like Elsa, become friends, Elsa’s world becomes uncomfortably messy. Warm at heart, Sapience is an imaginative, theatrical exploration of different kinds of communication, the myth of “normal,” and the universal desire to be understood.
We were drawn to this play by the charm of the characters. Each one is passionate and compelling, with a singular perspective; their individual brilliance is undeniable and unique. The play also shows that neurodiversity is not a liability but, when embraced, offers opportunities for new understandings of information and experiences. By turns funny, sweet, and moving, Sapience is a window into an expansive world where each character’s perspective and self are treated as valuable. What a world!
Our season concludes with The Storyteller by Sara Jean Accuardi. Sara Jean was inspired by The Tempest and Prospero’s misguided attempts to protect his daughter, Miranda, and it plumbs the magic and power of the stories we tell ourselves. In this play, Paps and his 17-year-old daughter, Randi, live off the grid on a rotting old houseboat along the Columbia River’s edge. Randi is clamoring to know her own origin story, but Paps can’t tell her the truth, and instead weaves magical tales of Randi’s mermaid birth. Into this frame enters The Lady with her own version of the story. But who is The Lady, and why is this story so important to her?
The Storyteller is a puzzle play, with each piece of information dropping in when the perspective shifts. The fun of the play – and it is fun – is in piecing the clues together to figure out the story behind the story. This play’s first-ever reading was in the lower lobby of ART’s old building during Fertile Ground, 2018. Since then, it won the 2023 Oregon Book Award for drama, the International Thomas Wolfe Playwriting Competition, and was a finalist for the O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference. We could not be prouder or more excited to bring this enchanting play to you!
This year, we’re celebrating the fact that humans are funny, complicated works in progress: brilliant, preposterous, goodhearted, fearful, shabby, and glorious. Join us in our new rough and ready lobby performance space, and we can all be works in progress together.
We are filled with gratitude for our supporters who sustained ART through the annus horribilis. Though we are not fully out of the woods yet, we are strong and optimistic, excited for our season of Homegrown and Portland-Made theatre, and looking forward to an annus miribilis — a wonderful year!
We are here! We are home! Welcome, come in!