For more information contact Jen Mitas, PR Consultant: jenmitas@gmail.com – 503-804-2402

Media Release: The Secretaries

Browse the Playbill

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Actors (L-R): Jen Rowe, Claire Rigsby, Kelly Godell, Jamie M. Rea. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Actors (L-R): Jamie M. Rea, Claire Rigsby, Kelly Godell. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Props Master, Emily Wilken. Actors: Jamie M. Rea, and Jen Rowe. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Actors (L-R): Jamie M. Rea, Claire Rigsby, Kelly Godell, Jen Rowe. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume Design by Wanda Walden. Actors: Jamie M. Rea, Claire Rigsby. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume Design by Wanda Walden. Actors (L-R): Claire Rigsby, Andrea White, Jamie M. Rea. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Actors (L-R): Kelly Godell, Jen Rowe, Andrea White, Jamie M. Rea. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Actors (L-R): Jamie M. Rea, Claire Rigsby (front), Jen Rowe (back), Kelly Godell, Andrea White. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume design by Wanda Walden. Prop Master, Emily Wilken. Actor: Claire Rigsby. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume design by Wanda Walden. Prop Master, Emily Wilken. Actor: Kelly Godell. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume design by Wanda Walden. Prop Master, Emily Wilken. Actors: Claire Rigsby, Jamie M Rea. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume design by Wanda Walden. Prop Master, Emily Wilken. Actors (L-R): Kelly Godell, Andrea White, Claire Rigsby, Jen Rowe, Jamie M. Rea. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume design by Wanda Walden. Actors (L-R): Jen Rowe, Andrea White, Kelly Godell, Jamie M Rowe, Claire Rigsby. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume design by Wanda Walden. Prop Master, Emily Wilken. Actors: Claire Rigsby and Andrea White. Photo by David Kinder.

The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Scenic design by Megan Wilkerson. Costume design by Wanda Walden. Prop Master, Emily Wilken. Actors: Claire Rigsby (front), (L-R, back): Kelly Godell, Jen Rowe, Jamie M Rea, Andrea White. Photo by David Kinder.

For the past 23 years the Five Lesbian Brothers have created provocative lesbian theater for the masses using the fine feminist art of collaboration. They are Maureen Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey, and Lisa Kron. They came together as a theater company in 1989 at the Obie- Award-winning WOW Café Theater in New York City’s East Village.

Together the Brothers have written five plays, Voyage to Lesbos (1990), Brave Smiles (1992), The Secretaries (1994), Brides of the Moon (1996), and Oedipus at Palm Springs (2006) – as well as numerous event-specific show-stopping acts.

The Brothers’ plays have been produced off Broadway and off-off Broadway and beyond by theaters such as New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theatre, the WOW Cafe Theatre, Downtown Art Company, Performance Space 122, Dixon Place, La Mama, the Kitchen and the Whitney Museum of American Art at Phillip Morris. The Brothers have toured their work to London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Columbus, Seattle, Philadelphia, Boston and the deep woods of Michigan.

Their plays, published by TCG and licensed by Samuel French, have been produced by other companies throughout the United States and, believe it or not, in Zagreb, Croatia. The 2 Brothers have received an Obie, a Bessie, and a Lambda Literary Award, as well as a 2011 Independent Theater Award.for lifetime achievement. Their plays are taught in theater and queer/feminist studies courses in colleges and universities throughout the country.

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It’s Thanksgiving of 2000 and the presidential election still has not been decided. Ellen insists that her friends and family don’t understand how bad the situation really is. But no one—not her loving partner, Danny, nor the passionate Amy, nor the brutally pragmatic and world-weary Judy— can make Ellen see the blind spot at the center of her own politics and emotional life. A funny, passionate, and ultimately searing play that illuminates assumptions that lie at the heart of the American character—and the blind spots that mask us from ourselves.

Click here for an ASL interpreted description.

“Triumphs in both provoking and entertaining audiences” –Willamette Week

“A smart, engaging play that will challenge you to think” –Broadway World

CAST:

Directed by Josh Hecht

CREATIVE:

Dan Meeker, Set Designer
Elyse Grimaldi, Costume Designer
Jeanette Yew,  Light and Projection Designer
Matt Wiens, Sound Designer
Elizabeth Barrett, Props Master
Karen M. Hill, Stage Manager
Jamie M. Rea,  Line Producer
Breydon Little, Production Assistant

Playbill:

In Rotating Repertory

At the Portland Playhouse

By Lisa Kron

May 9th – June 15th, 2019

In the opening moments of this Tony-nominated Best Play on Broadway, Lisa Kron assures us this play is not about her mother and her. But, of course, it is about her mother, and her mother’s extraordinary ability to heal a changing neighborhood, despite her inability to heal herself. In this self-professed solo show with people in it, Kron asks the provocative question: Do we create our own illness? The answers she gets are much more complicated than she bargained for as the play spins dangerously out of control into riotously funny and unexpected territory.

Click here for an ASL interpreted description.

“Kron has written many excellent plays, some autobiographical. But none touched me like this one.” -Judy Nedry (Read the review!)

“Vana O’Brien gives a warm, funny, absolutely winning performance.” -Oregon ArtsWatch (Read the review!)

“WELL is one of the most interesting plays I’ve seen in a long time.” -Broadway World (Read the review!)

“The play delights in raising disquieting uncertainties that transform the narrative into an entertainingly nasty satire of Kron’s own ambitions—and asks the cast and director Josh Hecht to navigate some fantastically jarring twists (spoiler alert: They succeed with grace and gusto).” -Willamette Weekly (Read the review!)

Watch the slideshow: 

By Anna Deavere Smith

May 16th – June 16th, 2019

In this theater piece constructed from verbatim interview transcripts, Anna Deavere Smith examines the miracle of human resilience through the lens of the national debate on health care. Drawn from in-person interviews, Smith creates an indelible gallery of 20 individuals, known and unknown—from a rodeo bull rider and a World Heavyweight boxing champion to a New Orleans doctor during Hurricane Katrina, as well as former Texas Governor Ann Richards, cyclist Lance Armstrong, film critic Joel Siegel, and supermodel Lauren Hutton. A work of emotional brilliance and political substance from one of the treasures of the American theater. Originally created as a one-person show, the Profile Theatre production will feature the same six-person cast performing Lisa Kron’s Well.

Click here for an ASL interpreted description.

“Profile Theatre presented three of Smith’s pieces this year, and I count the two of them that I saw among the best shows of the season — not just Profile’s season, but the whole Portland season.” -Broadway World (Read the review!)

“Breaking down what once was a solo show into several parts works well, providing varying voices to the show’s multiple characters, and much of the pleasure comes from watching a good cast shift so precisely and easily from voice to voice.” -Oregon ArtsWatch (Read the review!)

“Solid, meaty morsels of dialog, directed by Profile artistic director Josh Hecht, move the play forward at a brisk pace.” -Judy Nedry (Read the review!)

2 Dynamic Stories. 1 Ensemble of Actors.

See Both!

Profile Theatre Box Office: 503-242-0080, Tuesday-Friday, 12:00-4:00 pm

7:30 pm

2:00 pm matinees on Sundays

Performing at Portland Playhouse, 602 NE Prescott St., Portland OR 97211 Directions

CAST

CREATIVE

Daniel Meeker, Scenic and Lighting Designer

Matt Wiens, Sound Designer

Sarah Gahagan & Alex Pletcher, Costume Designers

Kyra Sanford, Properties Master

Karen M. Hill, Stage Manager

Breydon Little, Assistant Stage Manager

Jamie M Rea, Line Producer

Stanley K. Sheinbaum

Read more about the show HERE

Purchase Tickets for Fires in the Mirror (October 2018) HERE

In Dialogue events are a series of lectures, pre-show talks, post-show discussions and concerts that offer our audiences the opportunity to engage with the work, themes and aesthetic of our featured writer through a broad, vibrant and ever-changing series of events and presentations.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

IN DIALOGUE EVENTS FOR THE SECRETARIES:

Saturday, June 16th
Opening Night Celebration
Join us immediately following the performance for a celebration of the work.  Wine provided by our 2018-19 wine sponsors Wildwood/Mahonia.

Sunday, June 17th – Post-show
Mat Chat with the cast
Stay after the show for a conversation about the play with members of the cast.

Thursday, June 21st – 6:45 pm
Comedian Joanie Quinn
Joanie Quinn is a rainbow haired, menopause mom of four, who worked on sitcoms in Hollywood before she became a breeder in Oregon. She’s been saving up for her kid’s therapy one performance at a time. Joanie regularly produces & performs in Portland’s “Spilt Milk: you’ll laugh til you cry!”, Harvey’s Comedy Club, and has appeared at Helium Comedy Club and The Legendary Ice House in Pasadena, California. Joanie has performed in the Idaho Laugh Fest, San Francisco’s Mutiny Radio Comedy Fest, Eugene’s Women’s Comedy Festival, the Burbank Comedy Festival and more.

Friday, June 22nd – 6:30 pm
Queer Night
Join us on Queer Night for a fun mixer before the show. Enjoy a glass of wine (on us!), enter to win fun door prizes and mingle a bit before having a bloody good time at the show.

Saturday, June 23rd – 6:45 pm
Comedian Jennifer Lanier 
Jennifer is an actor, comedian and solo artists with an extensive and varied resume. Since her classical acting training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts she has gone on to found companies and projects including Lesbian Thesbians and the A+ Schools Program; original works BRER RABBIT MEETS COYOTE and NONE OF THE ABOVE, which explored the challenges with growing up as an ethnically mixed person. She currently has a production company, Many Horses Productions, which produces variety shows, drag events, and theatre. Lanier lives in Vancouver WA with her wife, two sons, a costume-loving dachshund, a cantankerous cat, an anorexic tortoise, and a singing guinea pig.

Sunday, June 24th – Post-show
Mat Chat with the cast
Stay after the show for a conversation about the play with members of the cast.

INCITE. Because of queer stories. Because of these times. Because.

Incite: Queer Writers Read is a curated reading series for Queer writers hosted by Kate Carroll de Gutes and Kate Gray.

Every other month Queer writers gather to read work on a theme. At each reading they foster and moderate audience discussion. The hope is to create conversation, connection, and greater understanding both within the Queer community and with other communities. Learn more here: www.facebook.com/QueerWriters

As part of our In Dialogue series an actor will recite work by the following novelists:

Thursday, June 28th 6:45 pm
Karelia Stetz-Waters

Friday, June 29th 6:45 pm
Tammy Lynne Stoner

Saturday, June 30th 6:45 pm
Cal Spivey

Sunday, July 1st  – Post-show
The role of comedy in times of political resistance
Stay after our closing performance for a lively panel discussion.

Featuring:
Writer Dominique Dibbell (on of the Five Lesbian Brothers)
Professor Kate Bredeson
Comedian Jen Lanier

Back to The Secretaries

“I can’t recall the last time I saw a performance as good as Rue’s. It’s a masterpiece.  Rue made my heart swell and break, and then swell and break again.” -Krista Garver, Broadway World

In August 1991 simmering tensions in the racially polarized Brooklyn, New York neighborhood of Crown Heights exploded into riots after an African-American boy was killed by a car in a rabbi’s motorcade and a Jewish student was slain in retaliation. Pulitzer Prize-finalist Fires in the Mirror is dramatist Anna Deavere Smith’s stunning exploration of the events and emotions leading up to and following the Crown Heights conflict. Through her portrayals of more than two dozen adversaries, victims, and eyewitnesses, using verbatim excerpts from their observations derived from interviews she conducted, Smith provides a brilliant, Rashoman-like documentary portrait of contemporary ethnic turmoil.

Click here for an ASL interpreted description.

“Quite simply the most compelling and sophisticated view of urban racial and class conflict that one could hope to encounter.” –New York Times

October 12th – 21st, 2018

Morrison Stage at Artists Rep

Schedule of In Dialogue events:  Enriching pre- and post-show presentations and conversations with Vanport Mosaic, Confrontation Theatre and more.

MORE HERE

CAST & CREATIVE 

Directed by Bobby Bermea

Starring Seth Rue

Peter Ksander, Scenic and Projection Design

Wanda Walden, Costume Designer

Carl Faber, Lighting Designer

Casi Pacilio, Sound Design

Jana Crenshaw, Composer

Mary McDonald-Lewis, Dialect Coach

Robi Arce, Character Coach

Bonnie Ratner, Dramaturg

Karen Hill, Stage Manager

Jamie Rea, Line Producer

Breydon Little, Production Assistant

Explore the Playbill:

Dana Lynn Barbar from The Portland Observer attended a recent rehearsal and shares this piece with you.

“The Rodney King incident is this huge touchstone that rocked the whole country, but it’s just one piece of this story that precedes the founding of this country and continues right on to today, including in Portland.”  -Josh Hecht, Artistic Director

http:/?.m.portlandobserver.com/news/2018/apr/10/voices-riots

Three performances only – April 15, 16 and 17, 7:30pm at Artists Rep

By Anna Deavere Smith

Directed by Josh Hecht

Starring Chantal DeGroat

Chantal DeGroat

Chantal is honored to return to Profile Theatre and work on this brilliant play. AT PROFILE: The Call (Barfield), Bright Half Life (Barfield), Valley Song (Fugard). LOCAL: PCS, Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland Playhouse, Badass Theatre. SEATTLE: Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman, Hansberry Project, upstart crow, and Seattle Shakespeare Company. TEACHES WITH: The August Wilson Red Door Project, Seattle Rep. TRAINING: Shakespeare & Company, Emerson College.

Elyse Grimaldi, Costume Designer

Kristeen Crosser, Lighting Designer

Phillip Johnson, Sound Designer

Karl Hanover, Dialect Coach

Breydon Little, Stage Manager

Jamie Rae, Production Manager

Los Angeles, April 1992: Riots break out after the acquittal of four LAPD officers charged with use of excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King.

Broadway, April 1994: Anna Deavere Smith premiers her pioneering work for which she interviewed over 200 people directly impacted or involved in the unrest.  Recreating their accounts and personalities verbatim, she revolutionizes storytelling.

APRIL 2018 nearly 25 years after it rocked Broadway, we remounted this Tony-nominated play with Portland favorite Chantal DeGroat, who transformed herself into dozens of real-life witnesses to the Rodney King riots that rocked LA — and the country — to its core.

This stripped-down CONCERT STAGING was a fully-rehearsed, book-in-hand presentation designed to place the focus on the actor and the words. An intimate theatrical experience that was not to be missed.

“An American masterpiece…the heart and soul of an American tragedy, as expressed by the hearts and souls of the people who were part of it.”  -Newsweek

“Extraordinary and haunting” -People Magazine

April 15th, 16th & 17th 7:30pm 

Alder Stage at Artists Rep

Run time: 2hrs 30mins with 1 intermission.

Starring Chantal DeGroat