the working theatre collective

website/blog change!!!

2010-09-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

we're switching over to wordpress (though we are partial to the black and red of our current website/blog), for ease of updating.

check it out!

www.theworkingtheatrecollective.wordpress.com

the wtc is seeking artists for late night summer cabaret!

2010-07-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

Folks!
The Working Theatre Collective wants you! You with the weird talents or secret stand up routines, or sweet dance numbers, or other fun stuff. Yes you! Possibly. We're putting out a call for five to ten minute acts for our upcoming late night cabaret series You'll love it.

Currently, our first event of the summer is occurring Friday July 30th-hopefully it will be summer by then-at 10 pm at our amazing venue, eff space (333 ne Hancock). We are attempting to program the event with 5-15 minute slots showcasing a variety of artistic talents. This is an opportunity for you (and others) to show off, to present new works, to extemporize joyfully, or to simply entertain and/or enlighten in the medium of your choice.

We are attempting to create a fun and fulfilling environment in which Portland area performing artists, whether spoken word, theatre, music, dance, juggling, or whatever, can showcase the work that they are, well, working on. It's going to be awesome. Seriously.

If you think that you might be interested, or know someone else that might be interested, let us know! Send us a line back (theworkingtheatrecollective@gmail.com) stating the medium in which you would be interested in performing, and we'll start getting this ball rolling.

nate harpel
the wtc

North! This Weekend Only! Party Sunday!

2010-06-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

June 18, 19, 20

North! saddle up and ride...
a devised piece directed by noah martin
and created by the ensemble

The Working Theatre Collective takes it's unique brand of bicycle powered, Portland inspired theatre to the North! A bicycle pedalin, boot scootin, down and dirty, cowboy adventure complete with sheriffs, outlaws, shootouts, rad ass tunes, rowdy brawls, and moustaches. Climb aboard your trusty steed of steel, aluminum, cromolly, or composite and ride into the sunset with the WTC.

Saddle up at 6:30pm,
ride/show is Free, but donations are appreciated!
ride meets at eff Space 333 NE Hancock

Party Sunday after the ride!
We are hosting a party with the folks from WTF Bikes after the ride sunday at eff space (333 NE Hancock) Things should get going around 9pm and there will be FREE BEER and a DJ. Come hang out and celebrate bicycles, the show, pedalpalooza, and Solstice with the WTC.

dude, dude, the wtc is stoked for season three!!

2010-05-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

zero divided by zero
a play about love, god, and the infinite

by nate harpel
directed by ashley hollingshead
featuring noelle eaton

september 9th-25th

(medusa)
the third in the unfortunate greek ladies trilogy

by eva suter
directed by nate harpel

november 4-20th

20 erotic shorts 2.0 (twice as sexy)

directed by eva suter

valentines day weekend 2011

peter pan project

a devised piece by ashley hollingshead

march 17th-april 2nd

a spirit to sing a joyful song
a musical extravaganza about orpheus

by nate harpel

may 12-28th

bike project 3.0

june 2011

woo hoo! all performances will be taking place at eff space, unless otherwise noted.

North! is underway

2010-05-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

Who knew that recreating a western soundtrack would involve a lot of barking and push-ups. Thanks to "drill sergeant" Faith of Hand2Mouth who joined us for an excellent workshop on devising music. After a rigorous physical and vocal theatre work out, we were left with some inspiration for our rad ass tunes.
Folks, this is going to be epic. Check out...

North! Saddle Up and Ride...

The Working Theatre Collective takes it's unique brand of bicycle powered, Portland inspired theatre to the North! A bicycle pedalin, boot scootin, down and dirty, cowboy adventure complete with sheriffs, outlaws, shootouts, rad ass tunes, rowdy brawls, and moustaches. Climb aboard your trusty steed of steel, aluminum, cromolly, or composite and ride into the sunset with the WTC.

On the Pedalpalooza Calendar for June 18,19, and 20 at 6:30pm
http://shift2bikes.org/cal/viewpp2010.php

Also, go see the new Hand2Mouth show in progress
Uncanny Valley
www.hand2mouththeatre.org

_not_ opens this week!

2010-04-25T23:39:00.000-07:00

___not____

a new play by eva suter and nate harpel

directed by ashley hollingshead

So, you know how things get weird sometimes with your friends? How, like, sometimes someone stops hanging out, or they get weirdly into drugs, or get obsessed with yoga or metal or their garden, or whatever? And you know how sometimes someone new enters your group of friends and it makes everything kinda crazy? How suddenly people start hooking up with other people, or get in fights, or suddenly have a new best friend and you feel all butt-hurt about it? ____not____ is kinda about that. But it’s also kinda about a city on a river in the west in which things start getting fucked up in general.

Featuring performances by Kaitlyn Acock, Jason Sample-March, Greta Pauley, Matthew Volner, Holly Wigmore, and Anna Zimmerman.

April 29th-May 1st, May 6-8th, and May 13th-15th

All shows 8pm

eff Space

333 NE Hancock

$10-$15 sliding scale

(Thursdays pay what you will)

For reservations contact 360-739-8523

“A bright young company with big ideas”

- the Portland Mercury

“Even in that lively scene, […], the Working Theatre Collective stands out…”

-the Oregonian

Peaking, A New Play By Kamerie Chapman

2010-02-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

Peaking
A new play by Kamarie Chapman

The Working Theatre collective presents its fourth of six world premier events this season, Peaking, by Bellingham, WA playwright Kamarie Chapman. Three forgotten goddesses are exiled to the New Mexico desert for discovering the subtle art of masturbation. (And you thought you could just go blind!) Forced to deal with the trials of becoming human, these three goddesses (and two helpful, if bumbling, muses) banter, bitch, and break down, and (of course, of course) discover a little bit about themselves in the process.

Set against the backdrop of the Southwest, Peaking explores the people's natural ability to deal with a fall from on high, (literally, in this case), the power of choice making, and how a little bit of self-actualization can cause a lot of trouble along the way.

Peaking marks the next production in The Working Theatre Collective's continuing season of world premier productions in our new converted black box theatre - eff Space, located in The Box Lift Building on NE Hancock and MLK

Peaking is directed by Nate Harpel, and features performances by Kaitlyn Acock, Tricia Askew, Colleen Hartnett, Samantha Luhn, and Sarah McGregor.

March 11-13, 18-20, and 25-27
All shows 8pm

eff Space
333 NE Hancock
$10-$15 sliding scale
(Thursdays pay what you will)

For reservations contact 360-739-8623

2010-02-08T00:41:00.000-08:00

20 Erotic Shorts!

20 erotic shorts!

2010-02-06T12:12:00.001-08:00

The Working Theatre Collective
Presents
20 Erotic Shorts
Directed by Ashley Hollingshead

Dirty? Thoughtful? Sexy? Funny? Sexy?
There’s only one way to find out…

Culled from almost one hundred submissions from Portland and beyond, The Working Theatre Collective presents our Valentine to the City of Roses: 20 short, sassy, sexy, and sweet plays. For one weekend and one weekend only, Portland can take delight in a world premiere evening of sexy donuts, noisy neighbors, extremely attractive women, sexy mannequins, not-so-missed connections, the invention of the vibrator, and, so, so much more. Culminating with these five words: Star Trek fan fiction musical. Featuring Kirk and Spock (I mean, who else would it be about? Picard and Crusher?).

Featuring performances by Jason Sample-March, Emily Gleason, Noelle Eaton, and Cooper Bombidil.

And the writings of
kathleen warnock
matthew hanff
rich orloff
tj acena*
david gallic*
ethan kanfer
josh mcilvain
m. thomas cooper*
elaine avila
eva suter*
nan gatchel*
chris swanson and john martin
g. william zorn
bryan willis
jesse longman
bri pruet*
kevin six
lauren d. yee
alex gagne-hawes*

*indicates a Portland based author.

One weekend only!
February 11-14th,
All shows 8pm

eff Space
333 NE Hancock
$10-$15 sliding scale
(Thursday is pay what you will)
For reservations contact 360-739-8523

And for further excitement that weekend:

The WTC's First Annual
Super Sassy Saturday Short Shorts 'Straviganza
dance party and fun(d)raiser spectacular
featuring:
dj teddy ruxspin, yes!ups (performing covers of 69 love songs),
interpretive readings of missed connections,
erotically themed baked goods and more!
$5 ($3 for those wearing short shorts)
Saturday February 13th,
10pm at the Dunes (1909 NE MLK)

The Working Theatre Collective is an ensemble based company that is dedicated to producing new works and other theatre worth the effort. We focus on aggressively artistic, DIY productions in unexpected spaces. We are interested in creating theatre that is working to establish a home in the hearts of the artist and the audience. Through working to produce art we find the heart of living!

“A bright young company with big ideas”

- Allison Hallett, the Portland Mercury

Stress.

2010-01-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh!

So much to do.
So much to do.
So much to do.

Frantically attempting to finish rough first draft of ____ not _____.
Working on tech shit for 20 Erotic Shorts
Beginning design process for Peaked, Kamerie Chapman's new play.
Coming up with stuff for our fundraiser on 2/13

and more to come...

n.

hey we're doing something for fertile grounds, too!

2010-01-20T12:16:00.000-08:00

workshop reading of _____not_____
a new collaboration by eva suter and nate harpel.

tuesday, january 26th 8pm
eff space
333 ne hancock st
portland, or

In this world (and probably the next) things
are not always as they seem. No matter
who we think we are, we may/definitely
appear different to the rest of the world.
What is love within one may simply be
affection within another, what is a means of
transportation to someone may be a traffic
obstacle to somebody else. What is good
may be awesome or awful or just odd.
Who can say?

When dropped into the heart of this
confusing world, how do we identify who
we are, what we do, what we like? What
if, like a blindfold pulled from our eyes, we
were forced to self-sort without the aid of
practice? What would happen then?

come, listen, give us your feed back, help us make a kick ass show.

ALSO: note that the reading will take place JANUARY 26th at 8pm, not on the 22nd, like it says on the fertile grounds web page.

$5-10 dollars at the door

...or on line, but that just sends us a bunch of confusing emails with all of the tickets you've purchased for fertile grounds. so pay cash at the door. it's easier.

and here's the 20!

2010-01-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

after much reading, much debating, etc we have selected our 20 pieces:

having a ball by kathleen warnock
i'll take a dozen accountants with sprinkles by matthew hanf
four extremely attractive women sitting around fantasizing about rich orloff by rich orloff
games we play with strangers by tj acena*
at the window by david gallic*
the proposition by ethan kanfer
young love by josh mcilvain
headboard by m. thomas cooper*
baby bear becomes a man by vanessa david
19th century O by elaine avila
a clynical study by eva suter*
who's your daddy by nan gatchel*
missing miya by chris swanson and john martin
your face is a map by g. william zorn
mating rituals of the bottle nosed dolphin by bryan willis
adaptation of a sex scene by jesse longman
safe word by bri pruet*
shel, margarite, carlyle by kevin six
the cupcake play by lauren d. yee
it's hard in space by alex gagne-hawes*

*indicates a portland based writer (go portland!)

to be performed february 11-14th
all shows 8pm
$10-15
eff space
333 ne hancock st
portland, or
rsvp: 360.739.8523

with (as of now unnamed) fundraiser/party on saturday the 13th at the dunes!
bands, dancing, raffle!

NON STOP THEATRE

2009-12-19T18:32:00.000-08:00

we recieved 97 (!) submissions for 20 erotic shorts. we're currently on our second round of voting, to be finished on christmas. have our selections made by the new year. there's some pretty fantastic stuff that i'm going to attempt to keep top secret for the next two weeks. we'll see how that goes.

we also had auditions for 20 erotic shorts this week and, once again, i am amazed by the amount of talent in portland.

pretty excited about this project.

in other exciting news, tonight is closing night for the lucky woman. if you haven't seen it you should(i mean, what are you doing on the internet on a saturday night, anyways?). it's a good show and i'm really proud of it.

xo,
ashley

The Lucky Woman opens this week!

2009-11-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Lucky Woman

A new play by local playwright Eva Suter

The Working Theatre Collective presents a contemporary retelling of the Oedipus myth from the perspective of Oedipus' mother/wife, Jocasta. Set in the modern underworld, the play explores the fierceness of love, the power of denial, and how these elements play out in our lives and afterlives. The Lucky Woman is a case study on humanities’ awe-inspiring ability to make poor choices.

The Lucky Woman marks The Working Theatre Collective’s second of five world premiers this season in our new converted black box theatre - eff Space, located in The Box Lift Building on NE Hancock and MLK

Featuring: Darci Burch, Tara Coen, Noah Dunham, Devon Granmo, Meredith Ott, and Beth Thompson.

December 3-5, 10-12, 17-19

All shows 8pm

eff Space

333 NE Hancock

$10-$15 sliding scale

(Thursdays pay what you will)

For reservations contact 360-739-8623

Dude

2009-10-20T15:18:00.001-07:00

Dude,

Shit's getting rolling. Big meeting yesterday for "The Lucky Woman" with base production team... also big meeting yesterday for "_____ not ____" with base production team.

Rock.

More "AFAST" coming up hard on y'all's asses this weekend, yo. Watch out. Thu-Sat 8pm... eff space 333 ne Hancock.

That's about all I have to say.

Just thought someone should say something.

n.

A Falling Apart Sort of Thing is OPEN!!!!

2009-10-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

A Falling Apart Sort of Thing: A Ghost Play

Written by Nate Harpel

Directed by Noah Martin

From the seat of a bar stool we stare into the heart of an infected world…

A brother and a sister live, work, and drink in Portland. They get by. They have partners, they have jobs, they buy Street Roots. They drink Tecate tallboys and/or Manhattans. They get by. That is, until a forgotten secret from their past surfaces, and then, well, then things fall apart.

The Working Theatre Collective presents a descent into tragedy courtesy of local playwright, bar poet, and collective member Nate Harpel.

Sometimes you can’t get over the things you did when you were young.

“Now there will never be a tomorrow.

For us it is an eternal now:

slow and sick and beautiful,

Welcome to your tragedy.”

October 15-17, 22-24, 29-31

All shows 8pm

at eff Space

333 NE Hancock, PDX

Boxlift Lofts, Studio #14

$10-$15 sliding scale

Thursdays are PWYW

Reservations: 360.739.8523

kickoff this thursday-be there!

2009-09-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

Join the WTC for a season kickoff party and fundraiser!
Featuring shorts by this seasons playwrights (Nate Harpel, Eva Suter, and Kamarie Chapman), live music by YES! UPS!, DJ Teddy Ruxspin, and, of course, PARTY!

there will also be a raffle, because who doesn't love a good raffle?

Thursday September 17th The Waypost Cafe @ (3120 N. Williams PDX)
Doors at 7; shindig gets underway at 7:30pm
Suggested donation: $5-10

ALSO:

this is our home for the next year. holy shit. we're growing up. it's gonna take a lot of work to turn this into a performance space, so if you're down to help out (moving, painting, hanging, etc-ing) let us know. we will give you cookies and passes to see shows. and maybe beer. probably beer.

see you thursday!
ashley

big things are happening!

2009-09-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

first off, auditions were awesome!

thanks to everyone who came out-the amount of talent we saw was fantastic.
we easily could cast either show four or five different ways and had equally amazing productions.

second: season kickoff and fundraiser!

Join the WTC for a season kickoff party and fundraiser!
Featuring shorts by this seasons playwrights (Nate Harpel, Eva Suter, and Kamarie Chapman), live music by YES! UPS!, DJ Teddy Ruxspin, and, of course, PARTY!

there will also be a raffle, because who doesn't love a good raffle?

Thursday September 17th The Waypost Cafe @ (3120 N. Williams PDX)
Doors at 7; shindig gets underway at 7:30pm
Suggested donation: $5-10

dressing up and RSVPS strongly encouraged: theworkingtheatrecollective@gmail.com

Third: We are going non-profit!

holy shit!
we're kind of at the point where it just, i guess, makes sense. we're all into this collective and really want to make this happen and see where it goes for as long as we can.
as far as our philosophy goes and the type of art we make, this won't be changing anything. this will allow us to apply for grants and get donations, and help out with renting spaces, and other things.

it does feel awkwardly grown up.

ashley

AUDITIONS!!!

2009-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

yes, folks, season two is underway!

The Working Theatre Collective announces auditions for our fall productions!!!

A Falling Apart Sort of Thing: A Ghost Play
By Nate Harpel
A brother and sister are haunted by a dark secret from their childhood. As they struggle to hide their secret, they find themselves drowning in aftermath of their choices.
2 men 4 women (ages variable)

The Lucky Woman
By Eva Suter
A new adaptation of Oedipus Rex with a focus on Oedipus’ wife/mother Jocasta. A story of the fierceness of love-- motherly love, matrimonial love, all of the above.
4 women 2 men (ages variable)

Auditions will be August 30th from 11-3 at the Action/Adventure rehearsal space. Please send an email to reserve an audition slot to theworkingtheatrecollective@gmail.com Come prepared with a 1 minute monologue, resume, and headshot. First round of callbacks to follow auditions.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing you there!

The Working Theatre Collective is an ensemble based company that is dedicated to producing new works and other theatre worth the effort. We focus on aggressively artistic, DIY productions in unexpected spaces. We are interested in creating theatre that is working to establish a home in the hearts of the artist and the audience. Through working to produce art we find the heart of living!

For more info please visit
www.theworkingtheatrecollective.com
or email us at theworkingtheatrecollective@gmail.com

currently invading the light booth of the tacoma little theatre

2009-08-05T23:39:00.001-07:00

tacoma is lovely. promise.

there is something about air tinged with salt water that makes one nostalgic and hopeful.

it is also delightful being here with nate, who called tacoma home once upon a time. there's something wonderful about exploring a place with someone who is beyond excited to show it to you. the secret smile they walk around with, living in their memory while telling you about this and that. what this used to be. how this block once was. oh, and that was where...

things for the festival are going well. i think. we just teched john lennon's gargoyle and finished lighting notes. so i think that we're done for the night and are headed to the parkway (one of nate's favorite bars ever).

they have boundary bay on tap.

to nostalgia!
to salt water!

Freak Out Over Tacoma!

2009-08-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

Aaaaah!

Ashley, James, and I are currently at The Red and Black Cafe. We have just concluded paper techs for our productions of A Story That Ends and Begins with a Dream and John Lennon's Gargoyle, which we are taking to a festival in Tacoma in, well, you know, like ten seconds.

Actually three days.

It's going to be absolute madness.

We'll keep you updated.

If you happen to be in The City of Destiny (Tacoma, WA) this upcoming weekend come see JLG on Thursday (7:30) and/or Friday (8) and ASEABWAD Saturday (8) or Sunday (2) at Tacoma Little Theatre (Don't remember the address.)

Awesome.

So much to do.

Rock and roll,

n.

medea opens tonight!

2009-05-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Medea and Jason:
A Love Story that Ends Badly
By Eva Suter
Directed by Ashley Hollingshead

The title pretty much explains it all. Medea and Jason still fall in love. Jason still leaves her. The kids still die. It’s a gloomy premise, but filtered through the cracked lens of local playwright and poet Eva Suter, this modern retelling is anything but.

May 14-16, 21-23, 28-30 all shows 8pm
$10-15, reservations: 360.739.8523
theatre fucking HUGE (2117 SE 34th Ave, Portland, OR, 97216)

The Working Theatre Collective is dedicated to producing new works and other theatre worth the effort. We focus on aggressively artistic, DIY productions in unexpected spaces.

JGL

2009-03-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

Two weekends down! Hurrah!

Really good show tonight. I feel like I'm getting the hang of the whole run-the-light-board-thing, Tammy the Tape Deck has been performing like a champ the last couple nights, and the cast is doing their thing super-awesome.

I was going to say more, but I'm not, because I'm tired.

Two more shows coming up though. So much to think about! Ahhh!

n.

John Lennon's Gargoyle

2009-03-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

Things are rocking and rolling (as we speak, even) for our next production: John Lennon's Gargoyle, by Olympia area playwright Bryan Willis. Bryan was our playwriting professor at Western Washington University, and something of a mentor to us all. I'm excited to have this opportunity to work on one of his plays.

We're about two weeks from opening, and the show is 97% blocked. I just finished a rough cut of the press release, we're working on building the set, and team make fake plants is in high production mode. Things are going well.

Funny story: Last night we were rehearsing the fight scene bit from the middle of scene eight. We were meeting at cast member Jen's house because I had trouble finding an actual rehearsal space, and we worked on the scene for some time, ran it several times in row. It went well. It's a great fight bit... a little too real maybe, although Matt likes that. We had just finished up, the yelling and thumping and screaming and falling was over; I was putting chairs back where we found them, when suddenly there's a knock at the door.

Jen walks over, opens it and says, "I thought it might be you. Come on in," and in walks two police officers, hands on guns, looking wary.

Our fighting was loud enough and realistic enough (apparently) to have someone in the building call the cops! We invited them (and the concerned neighbors) to come see the show.

rock and roll!

n(ate)

correction to the epic blog post.

2009-02-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

upon inspection of the photos from the performance at floyd's i have realized that the fellow whom i thought was the sender of the passive aggressive email was someone else entirely (they were wearing similar glasses). which means that the person who sent us the passive aggressive email wasn't even in the room in which we were doing the performance.

sincere apologies to the fellow who enjoyed the show.

ashley

and epic blog post for an epic day: 26 ways i love you re-cap

2009-02-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

7:30am
meet up at headquarters. We got a bit of a late start out the door, but this is the earliest any of us had been awake in conceivable memory.
8am- coffee plant
so…this one actually started around 8:45 (the most ‘off time’ we were all day). It was a little rough, but a good warm up.
9am-the south park blocks.
It was snowing. Like three feet of snow. It was a blizzard. Yeah, it all melted before you woke up. My obsessive weather checking was apparently all for naught. We preformed right next to the max stop. The max pulled up during ‘remember dobie gillis?” it was kind of brilliant.
10am-pioneer square
the thought of doing outdoor street theatre has always really scared me. Guess what? It’s actually really fun. These two shows were great and really freeing. Kind of like ‘well, I’ve now done this show yelling in the middle of pioneer square-anywhere else will be cake’. There were a group of folks wearing v for vendetta masks that watched us (I think that they were waiting to do their own performance piece). We gave them fliers.
11am-floyds (NW)
I think that this was my favorite performance of the day. The actors, the audience, the space-it was amazing.
There were about three people there specifically there to see us out of about 10-12 folks when we came in. the area that I’d thought we’d be performing in had big couches in it and folks sitting on them. I didn’t want to ask them to move, so I told the cast that we’d kind of do it in front of that and play to all sides, so our playing space was more or less triangular shaped. Their use of space was brilliant. Like everything you as a director could want your actors to do when you say ‘use every inch’
This was also were we did the most ‘capturing’ of an audience. As the day went on more and more folks were at places specifically to see us. I think that the barista’s comment summed it up best “when you first started I wasn’t so sure, but by the end it was totally awesome! Thanks so much for coming in a doing this here!” and a woman (who does see theatre, but didn’t know that this was happening) asking us, across the room, about our company and telling us it was great.
This is also where we received our one complaint. A fellow emailed us:

This play you’re doing is pretty annoying and I wish you wouldn’t do it in cafes where people are trying to get work done

The time stamp was 11:20. We’d probably been performing for 5-7 minutes by then. And sir, I’ve looked you up on facebook, so I now know which café go-er you were and you kind of looked like you were enjoying yourself by the end (or perhaps reveling in your passive aggression). I’m pretty sure you were clapping. Also, we have the same birthday. You could have left, or started listening to your ipod-but you obviously didn’t want to make a scene. Too bad, that would have been more fun. We wouldn’t have cared. There were a few other folks that left during shows, but like I said, we didn’t really care about that. I won’t even mention when/where that happened. but your passive aggressive email…(and nate sent this fellow an aggressive email back, so this blog post is not our own p.a. way of getting back at him).
Also, doing it in places where people are not expecting to see theatre was kinda the point of the whole thing.
1pm-backspace.
I think that this might have been my least favorite venue. It would be great for a lot of things, but at 1pm, the stage area was getting too much light and everyone was super back lit. Also, we were on a stage. The cast and I felt that the performances that were not on stages were significantly more successful than ones that were (not that the ones on stages were bad, just different). Also, the backspace is so tall/big that it requires a lot of sound to fill that space (awesome for a band), and the actors did just fine…but the immediacy /intimacy of the piece was a little lost.
This is where we began to develop our theory that it is best to show up, perform, and then hang out. We ate lunch at the backspace before performing (mmm…perfect place for us as we are four vegetarians and one vegan) and I think it slowed our momentum a bit.
2pm-voodoo doughnuts (NE)
our performance here coincided with them running out of doughnuts. Which was actually kind of perfect. There were a few instances of folks walking up to the store, realizing that there was something going on and not coming in (either not thinking that it was open to the public-voodoo apparently does a lot of weddings on valentine’s day, or not wanting to see theatre, I’m not sure) but if they had come in there wouldn’t have been anything for them to buy. Which is never pleasant. We did have a nice crowd for the show, and when we had finished there were more doughnuts!
3pm-hungry tiger, too
the vegan ice cream social was canceled (boo hiss, I was way excited about vegan ice cream-that’s why I bought coffee at voodoo and not a vegan doughnut). This show was awesome. We took out a couple of round tables by the door and performed in about 5x6 feet of space. The bar was packed. Folks came over from the dining room to stand in the bar and watch. The crowd was really, really responsive. We took shots of maker’s.
4pm-the waypost.
This is where we finalized our theory on ‘show up, do, then hang out’. We showed up and got in line for coffee/pbr/food. Michael from waypost had set up red curtains for us and made a little space. We probably didn’t start til 4:30 or so-Everyone there was there to see us (minus a very stylish couple playing cribbage. And by stylish I mean I am envious of your style; I’m not calling you hipsters. They stuck around for the show, and seemed to enjoy it) Michael apologized for the line moving slowly saying “that I didn’t think that you all would get stuff” and my response being “you’re letting us do this here for free, the least we could do is buy things from you”
6pm-radio room
this was 26 ways I love dinner theatre. We performed in the bar. There was a couple sitting in each of the booths, enjoying v-day dinner (we were advertised as part of the festivities). When nate told each table that there was going to be a performance shortly, many of them responded that that’s why they were there. Everyone also moved so that they were sitting on the same side of the booth as their sweetie. The bar was SRO. After the performance I gave the little blurb about ‘text your friends if you liked our show’ and some one responded ‘I’ve already done it!’
7pm-the press club
I adore the press club. I wish that there was food I could eat there. The coffee is tasty. We had a lot of friends at this one, which is always nice (only four folks were there that weren’t there to see us). Show number 10! Woo hoo!
8pm-deerlodge.
This is a garage/music venue (the wtc love garages that are now other things!) this one, unlike ours, had a heater. Everything about this performance was charming. And, as we stuck with the model of ‘go, do, hang out’ we had time (sort of) for a beer afterwards. Nate said that if he’d been in charge of the tour, we probably would have failed to show up to the rest of our shows and continued to drink beer here. Tara said that we’d still be eating dinner at the bye and bye if she were in charge.
9pm-shaking the tree
we were a double feature with Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act . this performance space was the most unlike any of the others. There was a stage, there was fixed seating, the lights were down on the audience (which is something I didn’t even think about), and there was no ambient noise. After doing this piece in bars and coffee shops all day it was weird to not hear the noise of an espresso machine or the clamor of a kitchen-so when a neighbor started blaring alanis moressette it was really annoying. Again, the piece lost a bit of it’s intimacy with the more traditional set up and with house lights down-the barrier between audience and performer drawn in a way that didn’t serve the piece (or at least this production of it). We were also drastically different that the other piece, but a good chunk of audience members stuck around to see us. Some folks chatted with us afterwards.
10pm-Crush
I was really nervous for this show. I had been told that it would be packed on v-day. I didn’t really want to interrupt folks from dancing to have them move aside for theatre…but it was blow pony this weekend, and apparently all of queer Portland was there. Almost everyone at Crush was there to see us (20+folks). There was a couple of queer ladies that were playing janga in the main room, that I told about the show (saying that it just meant that there wouldn’t be a dj for about half an hour and they could watch it or not. you know, whateves). They came to the main room shortly after we’d begun and eventually crossed in to the main room and sat down. Janga abandoned. When nate and I did our post show intro (or would it be outro?) I looked down the hall and saw that it was full of folks that had been drawn into the production as well.
11pm-headquarters
14th show! Holy fuck! We made it!
I know that when we planned this show at the house, we assumed that it would basically be WTC members and friends. Maybe 10 folks tops. When we pulled up at 11pm, there were people waiting on the porch. There were folks that I don’t know if anyone knew there. We had 24 people sitting in the living room, some of whom had seen the show already (aside from WTC members, who were all present and had seen 3-5 shows apiece). It was kind of amazing. We performed in the archway between the living room and the dining room, and a triangle of about three feet in front of that. It was defiantly a 14th show, and we were totally exhausted; on that high of not enough sleep, too much adrenaline. It was still pretty fucking great.
*****
We had at least 125 people see 26 ways I love you on purpose (we didn’t survey everyone at every venue). This was an amazing experience. It was one of those (rare) times where theatre is everything I want it to be and more. I’ve seen and done good/great/moving shows before, but the scope of this production was unlike anything I’ve ever seen/done. It turned out better than I could have possibly expected. The cast was awesome both as performers and as people (we spent 16+ hours together in small confines and it was totally a-ok). It was great to do a show for folks who don’t normally see theatre-they were so much more open and honest about their experiences of the show (typically…minus the passive aggressive email) that it was really gratifying.

We blew minds. Mine included.

26 Ways! 1 Party!

2009-02-14T23:12:00.000-08:00

Last Show!

Party!

Rock and Roll!

don't pay for expensive dinner, see some (free) theatre instead

2009-02-14T01:09:00.001-08:00

so...it's one am and we're stapling zines. well, nate and eva are, i'm writing this and soon to be looking up the best driving directions to get to/from the west side locations (fyi: no one goes to the west side. except to go to the farmer's market)

once again, we are surprisingly on top of things. you may or may not know this, but theatre happens in the final hours. no matter how big or how small the company, there is always this frantic scramble in the last minute. i have (lovely) memories of putting cushions on seats for a company in DC while the house is being held on opening night. of staying late to focus lights in san francisco. of sleeping on a couch that was part of the set in a theatre in bellingham. i love being up to my knees in theatre. and i love that it gets done because it has too.

i'm excited for tomorrow. i'm quite pleased with the show and terrified of the tour. i take great solace in the fact that everyone i tell about this thinks that it is pretty much the coolest thing ever.

and now to bike and pretend to sleep.

ashley

p.s. if you are attending one of our performances at a cafe/bar/coffee shop/donut eaterie please support the venue and buy something. they're letting us do this for free. (and we can only drink so many cups of coffee. just how many? we are going to find out).
p.p.s. we were a pick of the week in the willamette weekly.

countdown to 26 ways i love you

2009-02-08T17:05:00.000-08:00

6 days till february 14. valentines day. 26 ways i love you. Come see it!
We have secured all but two locations for the show.

Check out the newly updated website to view times and locations.

www.theworkingtheatrecollective.com

So many paper hearts. So many hand typed oblique valentine messages. So little time.
Back to work.

-wtc

It's a zine!

2009-02-01T22:18:00.000-08:00

So with our upcoming show 26 Ways I Love You, there will be an accompanying piece of art that has both the full working script of '26 Ways' and drawrings capturing moments or emotions or musings from the text. It is both part of the show (in that it is based on the script) and separate (in that it can be enjoyed all by itself.)
I am really pleased with how it is coming along so far. The pictures are mostly done and we have decided on the layouts! (I figured that last part was exciting enough to warrant an exclamation point. I mean layouts are riveting.)
So these 'fantastic' bits of art will be available during the shows!

Matt

364 construction paper hearts

2009-01-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

or 'aggressively adorable'

i am really, really excited for 26 ways i love you.

it kinda makes me giddy when i think about the scope of what we are trying to do. i mean, 14 (half) hours of theatre! in one day! starting at 8am!

the reading went well (as nate mentioned). one of the actors had a 'holy shit-i'm doing guerrilla theatre...what did i agree to do?' moment, but a few minutes later was offering suggestions of places to check out for possible SW/NW venues (the SE/NE is pretty much scheduled). it seems like a good crew and i think that we're gonna have a great time.

there was also a lot of brainstorming about the fun questions that a production of this nature brings up. questions like: how do you start theatre when you're not in a theatre? or not even in something that you've turned into a theatre? what-there's no music at the end? how will people know it's over? how do you 'capture' an audience that may not have realized that they were about to be an audience?

in terms of venues, things are going along pretty well. people that i've talked to are pretty taken with the idea-half the time all i have to say is 'i run a small theatre company and we were wondering if you'd be interested in having us do a performance here on valentine's day..." and they cut me off with a 'yes'. as i mentioned, we've got the SE/NE pretty much covered...but apparently no one goes to the SW, so we're having a bit of trouble thinking of venues there (aside from the 8am kick off at coffee plant-you're gonna be there right?). there are a couple of venues that i'm really excited about, but i'll keep that to myself for a bit.

there will be fliers up soon. as well as the website-which will have a map of the locations on it.

like i said, really excited.

ashley

Rock and Roll Thursday

2009-01-23T00:37:00.000-08:00

Big day for WTC today. We're getting the webpage up really soon, still just squabbling on what the page name will be: www.thewtcpdx.com, www.theworkingtheatrecollective.com, or www.workingtheatrecollective.com. My vote is on #2, but I am willing to take #3 if people want the page name slightly shorter. Ideally we would just do www.wtcpdx.com, but weirdly enough it is already taken. I don't get that.

Also, we spoke to Shaking The Tree, the studio on Stark, today about using their space for a variety of occasions, including as the performance space for John Lennon's Gargoyle, which is quickly approaching. It's a bit more of an investment than I think we planned on making, but at this point establishing the relationship with Samantha there and her facility is more important than saving money. We do have a donation from Northwest Playwrights Alliance that can handle the majority of the capital for renting the space, so I think we'll do all right.

It's a beautiful studio space, a bit goofy in terms of how it's laid out, but not in a bad way. I'm not exactly sure in what manner we are going to stage Mr. Wiliss's play, but we have a whole host of options at this point, which is lovely.

Then I had an early stage design meeting with my Costume Designer for JGL, Lilli, which went very well. We discussed the charm and difficulties of the bi-layers of reality within the script, and how best to follow through on that aspect of the design. She had a couple lovely ideas even at this early stage, so I'm excited about digging into this aspect of the production. Also, Lilli expressed interest in designing/helping with set stuff, which is fantastic, because it means paying one less person, AND working with an artist that I think has a well-developed sense of the pomo theatricality that this piece necessitates. I have a feeling that design for JGL is going to be an exciting adventure. All we need is a claw foot bathtub, and we can get rolling. Anyone?

Then, the initial reading of 26 Ways, which I'll let Ashley talk about at some point. IT went really well. I think we have a enormous, fantastic machine that we're building, and once it gets rolling, it's going to be out-of-control. Out-of-control in a really good way, I mean.

So, rock and roll. A couple beers with Eva and Ashley at Dot's and now off to bed with me with a glass of port, so I can wake up bright and early to take the train to a funeral. Lovely.

ciao.

n to the a

26 ways i love you (the history/the plan)

2009-01-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

26 ways i love you came out of a 48 at the idiom in bellingham, washington. nate wrote it in the horseshoe cafe with sophia and i, drinking coffee and trading stories-some of which made it into the play. we then grabbed a couple hours' of sleep and put this play up about 10 hours later. i love 48s...

i adore this play. and i adored the original production of it...it's going to be interesting to direct it again, with different folks. and with rehearsals. i think that will be the greatest challenge of this production for me; more so than the number of places we are going to be doing it or the time span of the day (14 hours of theatre!! starting at 8am?!?).

sometimes i'm afraid that if i don't have an idea/answer for everything then there won't be ideas/answers. then i remember that i don't need to have all the answers/ideas-that's where actors, designers, and other collaborators come in.
if i had all of the answers/ideas then it wouldn't be any fun for anyone, myself included. that's not why i want to make theatre.
i'm really excited about the folks that i've cast in the show, and i know that once we have our first read, a lot of my tension will go away (as it usually does).

and here's what we're doing with it this time:

on valentine's day we are going to perform this 30 minute play in 14 different locations all around portland. we're going to start in the SW and end up in the SE (probably with a performance at theatre fucking HUGE; followed by dance party). we'll be performing in cafes, bars, street corners (if it's not super gross out), where ever will have us. i am really, really excited for this. though i'm pretty sure that there is part of me that does not concieve of what a ridiculous undertaking this is.

noah is making a web page that will be up soon and it's going to contain a map with all of the points of performance on it. i'm sure that they will be posted here as well.

and now to write the press release (ugh)
ashley

Procrastination in Action.

2009-01-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

I'm about to crack down and do some work on Medea and Jason-- A love story That Ends Badly. I'm procrastinating in many ways, including blogging about how I'm going to write and how I'm blogging to procrastinate. We have a reading coming up. You should come. I'm excited.

heart
eva

Auditions

2009-01-10T19:36:00.001-08:00

Well, we had auditions today for Gargoyle and 26 Ways, and they went very well. It's so very gratifying to actually have people come out, especially people who are very talented and/or fun to watch. I haven't sat through an entire audition since college, so it was fun to revisit that experience.

We have callbacks tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that Noah is contacting people (more or less) as we speak. type. Whatever. I'm pretty good at running this round of auditions, but will probably leave callbacks to Noah and Ashley. That's more their thing. I guess.

Looking forward to getting the ball rolling on these two pieces. As I reread Gargoyle, I'm finding myself struck just how challenging this piece is to put up. As soon as I have a cast together I'm going to start getting the creative team organized, so that we can handle the particular difficulties this show requires.

rock and roll.

n to the a

New Year's Resolution 2009: update the blog

2009-01-09T15:57:00.000-08:00

ok, so we'll get better at this-i promise.

we're having auditions tomorrow for 26 ways i love you and john lennon's gargoyle.

2008 in review:

produced A Story That Ends and Begins with A Dream

it was awesome. look at pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Portland-OR/The-Working-Theatre-Collective/27777082373?ref=mf

also, become a 'fan' on facebook (you can also be our friend on myspace)

we sold out the last three nights and got great feedback from everyone who attended

we also learned that we throw an awesome dance party.

and thus it begins

2008-09-25T15:53:00.000-07:00

things are (obviously) just starting. nate is finding spaces and actors for story that begins and ends with a dream in portland. ashley is finishing up (or rather, on weekend two out of four) stage managing for foolsFURY in san francisco before heading up to portland to begin directing story.

things are a little hectic, and not promising to become any less so. we're thrilled.