Season Announcement and Building Update

by | Apr 1, 2019 | Building Update

Dear Friend of Artists Rep,

Spring is here and the sun is shining in Portland (at least occasionally). It’s the time of year when many of us begin to look past winter and plan ahead. It’s an apt moment to announce Artists Rep’s 19/20 Season—our 37th! We’ve put together a line-up of six exhilarating theatre experiences, from the audacious adaptation of George Orwell’s all-too-prophetic masterpiece 1984 (recently seen on Broadway and in London’s West End) to our next Table|Room|Stage World Premiere commission, the hilarious and provocative Looking for Tiger Lily by Anthony Hudson. In between, we’ll bring you a timely and dynamic mix of subjects, settings, themes, and theatrical styles (including three plays filled with live music) by acclaimed playwrights who are responding to the world through their work. Here you’ll find descriptions of all six plays and a map to guide you from venue to venue as this season will mark the beginning of a time of transition we are calling ART on Tour.

As outlined in previous update letters, ART is nearing the end of the process of selling the north half of our block to Wood Partners of Atlanta (the #2 builder of apartments in the US). They will be constructing a 22-story building with 304 units of housing, underground parking, and ground floor retail space, which will be known as The Art Tower. This is one of the first buildings to comply with Portland’s new inclusionary zoning: 10% of the apartments will be available at 60% of median income. We will use the proceeds from the sale price as the lead investment to transform the south half of the block. Because of the resulting construction, ART must move out of the building by June 1, 2019. This will begin a period of itinerancy while we design our new home, complete fundraising, and build the new theatres. While the process will be complex and challenging, we are energized by what the successful completion of this project will mean for ART, and the community of artists, organizations, and audiences that will benefit in the years ahead.

We are embracing ART on Tour as an opportunity to deepen connections with fellow producing organizations around Portland. Venues and partnerships include productions at Imago Theatre, The Hampton Center/Portland Opera, Portland State University/Lincoln Hall in a co-production with Profile Theatre and the PSU Theatre Program, Portland Center Stage @ The Armory: Ellyn Bye Studio, a co-production with Portland Center Stage @ The Armory on their U.S. Bank Mainstage, and a must-see, cabaret-style play with live music in the ballroom of the Tiffany Center. ART on Tour will be a time to build community partnerships, innovate, reach new audiences, and affirm our mission. The partnerships are already blossoming – the collaboration with PCS will include residency in their scene shop where we will be able to continue to build sets for ArtsHub partners. The final piece of this intricate puzzle is administrative, education, and rehearsal space, which we have found at Zidell Yards in the South Waterfront. We are especially happy to be able to provide offices, rehearsal, and classroom space to ArtsHub partner organizations.

Along with producing our current season and planning for ART on Tour, we launched the design process for our new facility on March 7 with an incredible team on board. Our project manager continues to be Shiels Obletz Johnsen, and we are thrilled to have Lever Architecture, Fisher Dachs Theatre Design Consultants, and Howard S. Wright Construction already at work and scheduled to complete schematic design, with confirmed expenses for the project, by the end of summer. By the beginning of next season, we will share the vision of the new space with the public and begin fundraising to bring us home to a transformed facility. Please don’t hesitate to share your feedback, concerns, and hopes for the future with us.

We know that signing up for a full season of new plays in venues across the city is a leap of faith. It’s a responsibility we take seriously, and our company of artists are excited to begin bringing these productions to life with the highest level of craft we can achieve. As always, Artists Rep’s season is designed to be experienced in its entirety, like a long-form narrative, filled with work that may appeal to you from the description of the play, along with work that invites you to take a risk. It’s our sincere hope that as a full-season subscriber, you will be rewarded with the unanticipated thrill of discovering a new work that truly moves you in ways you never could have predicted, and that you might have skipped had you not subscribed.

By subscribing, you quite literally make it possible to hire talent and begin the work. It’s also the best way at this time to demonstrate your support for Artists Repertory Theatre, and this vital company’s decades of contributions to the arts in Portland. Of course, none of this would be possible without your patronage and support. We will keep you updated as we know and learn more. Dámaso Rodríguez J.S. May Artistic Director Managing Director P.S. Not a subscriber yet? What are you waiting for?! Subscribing to the full season guarantees a year of date nights, thought-provoking work that will have you talking on the drive home and for days afterward, and stories you’ve never heard before. We hope you’ll join us on tour and click here for subscriber information or contact our Box Office at 503.241.1278.

Dámaso Rodríguez
Artistic Director

J.S. May
Managing Director

P.S. Not a subscriber yet? What are you waiting for?! Subscribing to the full season guarantees a year of date nights, thought-provoking work that will have you talking on the drive home and for days afterward, and stories you’ve never heard before. We hope you’ll join us on tour and click here for subscriber information or contact our Box Office at 503.241.1278.