Events for Water by the Spoonful

Friday, November 3rd:
Opening Night Toast | Post-Show
Join us immediately following the opening performance of Water by the Spoonful for a toast to the launch of the Rep Production.  Wine provided by 2017 Wine Sponsor Wildwood/Mahonia.
Alder Lobby

Sunday, November 5th:
Jamie Rea: Changeover Observation | Post-Show
Production Manager Jamie Rea will describe the scenic changeover from Water by the Spoonful to The Happiest Song Plays Last as it is happening in front of you, and will answer questions about the collaborative design process for this project.
Alder Stage

Wednesday, November 8th:
Ian O’Loughlin: Brains, minds, and the science of addiction  | 6:55pm
Addiction lies at the intersection of brain chemistry, human behaviors, environments, and cultural forces.  It is hard to imagine a more complex and multidisciplinary phenomenon to study, but a number of recent and striking studies in cognitive science, social psychology, and neuroanatomy have provided us with tools that can help us to understand its nature, showing how the individual who faces addiction is situated in a complex tangle of habits, neurotransmitters, external cues, and social structures.  Recognizing the addict as cognitively situated in this way may help us to confront and engage with the forces of addiction as they are encountered in the world.

Ian O’Loughlin earned his Ph.D. in the philosophy of cognitive science at the University of Iowa, and is now a faculty member in the philosophy department at Pacific University, where he teaches courses on the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of science, language and logic, and artificial intelligence.  He has presented and published work on the cognitive science of memory, learning and education, self-knowledge, and implicit cognitive bias.
Mezzanine

Friday, November 10th:
Sean Davis: Art Heals the Soul | 6:55pm
Sean Davis, army veteran and military consultant for Profile on all three plays of the Elliot Trilogy, engages in a short talk about how art brings community together and how that is, “more important now than ever before in my lifetime.”

Sean Davis is the author of The Wax Bullet War, a Purple Heart Iraq War veteran, and the winner of the Legionnaire of the Year Award from the American Legion in 2015 and the recipient of the Emily Gottfried Emerging Leader, Human Rights  award for 2016. His stories, essays, and articles have appeared in the Lidia Yuknavitch’s TED Talk Book The Misfit Manifesto, Forest Avenue Press anthologyCity of Weird, Sixty Minutes, Story Corps, Flaunt Magazine, The Big Smoke, Human the movie, and much more.
Mezzanine

Saturday, November 11th:
Jamie Rea: Changeover Observation | Post-Show
Production Manager Jamie Rea will describe the scenic changeover from Water by the Spoonful to The Happiest Song Plays Last as it is happening in front of you, and will answer questions about the collaborative design process for this project.
Alder Stage

Thursday, November 16th:
Adrian Baxter*| 6:55pm
Saxophonist Adrian Baxter will tune our ears to the harmonies and dissonances of jazz – a central stylistic and structural theme in Water by the Spoonful – by performing three improvisations inspired by the five stages of loss.

Adrian P. Baxter learned the entrance requirements for the classical performance program at U of O from Carl Woideck, author of “Charlie Parker: His Music and Life”, during his first year of college at Lane Community College. He then attended the University of Oregon. He dropped out of college to join “The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies”, unable to attend school with a heavy touring schedule, and remained with the band through their “Big City Muscle Car”, and “Kids on the Street” albums which were re-compiled with new material in what would later become the platinum “Zuit Suit Riot” Album. He returned to school, played in local bands, worked part time as a bartender, studied theory and jazz performance under Steve Owen, arranging under Garry Versace, and earned a Bachelor of Music (BM) in Jazz Studies. Now based in Portland, OR, transcribing, arranging, and performing with several local artists, and teaching for M.U.S.E.. He has also enjoyed performing with Les McCann, Tito Puente Jr., Melcochita, Yolanda Del Rio, Ramsey Embick, Mel Brown, Andre St. James, Dr. Freddy Vilches, Mariachi Viva Mexico, and many local Portland artists.
Alder Lobby

Saturday, November 18th:
Mat Chat with the cast of  Water by the Spoonful | Post-show
Alder Stage

Events for The Happiest Song Plays Last

Saturday, November 4th:
Opening Night Reception | Post-Show
Join us immediately following the performance for nibbles, drinks and music.  Catering provided by 2017 Season Partner Pambiche.
Morrison Lobby

Sunday, November 5th:
The Day’s Mail by Quiara Alegría Hudes* | 6:55pm
Enjoy a reading of this short piece by our featured playwright, directed by Ashlin Hatch who is serving as the Assistant Director on both of the Rep productions.
Mezzanine

Thursday, November 9th:
Daniel Pollack-Pelzner: Art and Activism* | 6:55pm
Quiara Alegría Hudes unites music and poetry to stage her unique vision of communities in transition. Daniel recently interviewed Quiara about her musical training and theatrical influences; in this talk, he’ll discuss the dramatic and political roles that Bach, jazz, and Puerto Rican folk music play in the Elliot trilogy.

Daniel Pollack-Pelzner holds the Ronni Lacroute Chair in Shakespeare Studies at Linfield College, where he teaches courses in literary history, drama, and gender studies. A Portland native, he received his B.A. in History from Yale and his Ph.D. in English from Harvard. His articles on Shakespeare and contemporary culture have recently appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, and The New York Times. A frequent speaker at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he is the scholar-in-residence at the Portland Shakespeare Project and a consulting scholar for Age and Gender Equity in the Arts.
Mezzanine

Saturday, November 11th:
Dr. Lindsay Benstead: Understanding the Arab Spring* | 6:55pm
Lindsay Benstead will discuss common myths surrounding the Arab spring, which shook the Arab world beginning with Tunisia in December 2010. Among these myths are that the seeds of change began only in the 2000s, or that the “Arab spring” has failed.

Lindsay J. Benstead is Associate Professor of Political Science at Portland State University, Contributing Scholar in the Women’s Rights in the Middle East Program at Rice University, and Affiliated Scholar in the Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD) at the University of Gothenburg and Yale University. She has conducted surveys in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Jordan and contributes to the Transitional Governance Project. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Science from the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor and served as doctoral fellow at Yale University, post-doctoral fellow at Princeton University, and Kuwait Visiting Professor at SciencesPo in Paris.
Mezzanine

Sunday, November 12th:
Mat Chat with the cast of  The Happiest Song Plays Last | Post-show
Alder Stage

Friday, November 17th:
The Day’s Mail by Quiara Alegría Hudes* | 6:55pm
Enjoy a reading of this short piece by our featured playwright, directed by Ashlin Hatch who is serving as the Assistant Director on both of the Rep productions.
Mezzanine

Saturday, November 18th:
Dr. Erin Spottswood: How Technology Fulfills Our Need for Communication and Connection | 6:55pm
Dr. Spotswood’s research interests focus on 1) how subtle cues embedded in online environments influence interpersonal communication dynamics, and 2) how the concepts of identity and face are crucial to understanding these dynamics on social media sites. Subtle features of online environments can play an important and at times unconscious role in social dynamics, from perceptions of the self and other to interpersonal behaviors and social norms. The goal of her research program is to examine how online environments reinforce or challenge traditional theories on interpersonal dynamics to advance our understanding of how communication technology transforms interpersonal perceptions and communication behavior.
Mezzanine

In Dialogue Events include our series of lectures, pre-show talks, post-show discussions and concerts, as well as community events and other exciting programming, all of which explore the featured writer’s world. Through our In Dialogue programming, we extend the event of a Profile production beyond the bounds of what is onstage, bringing the community together for exciting, provocative and inspiring experiences.

Saturday, June 17th:
Opening Night Reception | Post-Show

Join us immediately following the performance for nibbles, drinks and music.  Catering provided by 2017 Season Partner Pambiche.
Morrison Lobby

Sunday, June 18th:
Mat Chat with the cast of  26 Miles | Post-show

Thursday, June 22nd:
A Cultural Inner-View: Youth Honoring/Challenging Tradition*| 6:55pm

Join us for a discussion featuring Rosita Rendon, a coordinator for Latino Network’s Studio Latino after-school program, and Arts & Culture Manager, Joaquin Lopez. The two discuss the unique experience growing up bilingual and bicultural; navigating two worlds at home and at school; and what you learn along the way.

Panel Discussion Co-Hosted by Latino Network
Morrison Lobby

Friday, June 23rd:
Liz Yerby: What’s a Perzine? | 6:55pm

Liz Yerby talks about the history of zines, perzines and writing about identity.

Liz Yerby is a cartoonist and zinester out of Portland, OR.  They make surrealist comics about mental health and daily life.  Their art can be found in Visionquest and 1001 Journal as well on their website, lizyerby.com.  Liz Yerby is also one of the organizers of this year’s Portland Zine Symposium.
Morrison Lobby

Saturday, June 24th:
Patricia Schechter: Women on the Road: Some Paths to the Present* | 6:55pm

Is “hitting the open road” just a guy thing? Did Thelma and Louise have to die?  There is a rich history to women, travel and ideas about freedom–especially involving the car–and it might not be what you think.  This short lecture sets the play “26 Miles” in context with a look at a few key moments in recent cultural history, with a few surprises along the way.

Patricia A. Schechter teaches women’s history at Portland State University.  She has published a number of books and articles, included the co-authored volume with Avel Louise Gordly, Remembering the Power of Words: The Life of an Oregon Activist, Legislator, and Community Leader (OSU Press, 2011).
Morrison Lobby

Sunday, June 25th:
Mat Chat with the cast of  26 Miles | Post-show

(*): This In Dialogue event is part of Profile’s commitment to engaging with our community in conversations about equity, diversity and inclusion, and are a part of our Diversity and Inclusion Initiative.

To see past In Dialogue Events go here.

Saturday, February 4th:
Opening Night Reception | Post-Show
Join us immediately following the performance for nibbles, drinks and music.  Catering provided by 2017 Season Partner Pambiche.
Morrison Lobby

Sunday, February 5th:
COMMUNITY EVENT: Know Your Neighbors: A Conversation with Local Veterans about Service, War and Coming Home  | 12:00pm

Mat Chat with the cast of  Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue | Post-show

Thursday, February 9th:
Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner: Family, History, Cooking, and Music: Quiara Alegría Hudes’s Stage Stew* | 6:55pm
Daniel recently interviewed Quiara for The New Yorker about the ingredients that go into her daring, funny, heartbreaking plays, drawn from her family’s Puerto Rican-Jewish heritage, her Philadelphia barrio, and her music training at Yale. As Profile Theatre starts her Pulitzer-winning Elliot Trilogy, Daniel will share what makes Quiara one of the most exciting, innovative, and community-minded playwrights working today.

Daniel Pollack-Pelzner holds the Ronni Lacroute Chair in Shakespeare Studies at Linfield College, where he teaches courses in literary history, drama, and gender studies. A Portland native, he received his B.A. in History from Yale and his Ph.D. in English from Harvard. His articles on Shakespeare and contemporary culture have recently appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, and The New York Times. A frequent speaker at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he is the scholar-in-residence at the Portland Shakespeare Project and a consulting scholar for Age and Gender Equity in the Arts.
Morrison Lobby

Friday, February 10th:
Sean Davis: A Baroque Soldier | 6:55pm
The Baroque is often thought of as a period of artistic style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, and grandeur. This is how Mr. Davis tells his war stories. He says “Let’s talk about war and it’s affects on us as individuals, a society, and a nation.”

Sean Davis has fought in a revolution, a war, and helped save lives in New Orleans during Katrina. He is the author of The Wax Bullet War, a Purple Heart Iraq War veteran, and a community leader in Northeast Portland, Oregon. He is the winner of the Legionnaire of the Year Award from the American Legion in 2015 and the recipient of the Emily Gottfried Emerging Leader, Human Rights  award from the city of Portland, 2016. His stories, essays, and articles have appeared on Sixty Minutes, Story Corps, Human the Movie, and much more.
Morrison Lobby

Saturday, February 11th:
Madilynn Garcia: Protests to Pulitzers: A Look at Latinix theatre* | 6:55pm

Madilynn Garcia is a native Texan and greatly enjoying her transition to Portland. After studying at UT Austin, she did a Residency at Oregon Shakespeare Festival before moving to Portland. In addition to her work as a freelance production manager, she coordinates the Gateway Program for USITT which seeks to expand opportunities for under-represented designers and technicians in the industry. She’s passionate about Latinx theatre, new plays and promoting diversity (on stage and off) in theatre.
Morrison Lobby

Sunday, February 12th:
Mat Chat with the cast of  Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue | Post-show

Wednesday, February 15th:
Jenny Ampersand, Costume Designer for Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue | 6:55pm
Designer Jenny Ampersand shares her process and the inspirations for her designs on this production, including her original conversations with the director, collaboration with other designers and extensive research into specific combat uniforms and how they were and are worn.
Morrison Lobby

Thursday, February 16th:
Michinobu “Mitch” Iimori: Storytelling Through Musical Structure | 6:55pm

Mr. Imori, the flute coach on this production, will discuss musical fugues, major and minor keys and the other aspects of musical structure and theory that are woven into Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, not just as part of the story of the characters, but fundamental to the way that very story is told.

Mr. Imori is a graduate of the famed Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY in oboe performance, but teaches and performs all the woodwind instruments as well as guitar, banjo (5st, 4st), mandolin, and anything else. Locally, he has performed with Oregon Symphony, Third Angle Contemporary Music Ensemble, Salem Chamber Orchestra, numerous local musicals, and playing banjo with Molly Bloom. He has been an adjunct private music instructor at Lewis & Clark College, Corban College, George Fox University, Univeristy of Portland and Multnomah Arts Center as well as maintaining his own studio.
Morrison Lobby

Friday, February 17th:
Sean Davis: A Baroque Soldier | 6:55pm
The Baroque is often thought of as a period of artistic style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, and grandeur. This is how Mr. Davis tells his war stories. He says “Let’s talk about war and it’s affects on us as individuals, a society, and a nation.”

Sean Davis has fought in a revolution, a war, and helped save lives in New Orleans during Katrina. He is the author of The Wax Bullet War, a Purple Heart Iraq War veteran, and a community leader in Northeast Portland, Oregon. He is the winner of the Legionnaire of the Year Award from the American Legion in 2015 and the recipient of the Emily Gottfried Emerging Leader, Human Rights  award from the city of Portland, 2016. His stories, essays, and articles have appeared on Sixty Minutes, Story Corps, Human the Movie, and much more.
Morrison Lobby

Saturday, February 18th:
Professor Roy Perez: Elliott, War, and Latina/o Theater* | 6:55pm
Elliott, A Soldier’s Fugue begins a trilogy about life after war for the Ortiz family. Maybe this is why it sets the most somber tone of the three plays: before we can watch Elliott and his extended family, especially the women, start to heal and thrive, we need to understand how deeply the roots of numerous wars reach into the lives of generations of Latinos and Latinas in the U.S.  Indeed, Puerto Rican men and women have served disproportionately in battle since WWII. In this short dialogue before the show, we’ll talk about the legacy of Puerto Rican men and women serving in the U.S. military in order to provide some historical context for the story.  But we’ll also talk about the ways in which Elliott, A Soldier’s Fugue transcends some of the conventions of Latina/o theater and uses a history of tragedy to envision new avenues for recovery, family, and artistry.

Roy Pérez is an assistant professor of English at Willamette University. His research and teaching concentrate on literature, art, and performance by Latinas and Latinos in the U.S. He has published numerous poems, essays, and a short film, and is currently working on a book about relationships among Latina/o, Indigenous, and Asian American artists in the U.S., titled Proximities. He lives in Portland, Oregon

(*): These In Dialogue events are one aspect of Profile’s commitment to engaging with our community in conversations about equity, diversity and inclusion, and are a part of our Diversity and Inclusion Initiative.

To see past In Dialogue Events, go here.