THE HATCHERY New Works Festival to Return With Expanded Format

Many Hats Collaboration has announced the return of The Hatchery, a revolutionary annual new works festival supporting the creation of music and movement-centered theater, now in its third year. Following two weeks of intensive new work development in the studio, two production teams will welcome the public into their theater-making process with two days of work-in-progress performances on Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30 at The Judy in downtown Portland (1000 SW Broadway T-100).

The Hatchery provides time, space, and resources for historically marginalized theater-makers to realize their artistic goals by focusing on musical and movement-based theatricality as much as on the conventional script. 

This year's projects include Undertow, a new musical adapted from the award-winning Peruvian film Contracorriente, and The Cannery Project, an educational play about the legacy of an Alaskan salmon cannery told through historical documentation, factory-inspired movement, and song. Audiences will experience each full-length project as a semi-staged work-in-progress performance.

"The two pieces chosen for this year's Hatchery are both audacious in scope," says Many Hats Collaboration/The Hatchery Artistic Director Jessica Wallenfels. "One is a full-length musical that incorporates a band, which is a first for The Hatchery. The other examines a crossroads of cultural and economic significance that holds over a century of history. Both pieces speak to how community has the power to create or crush our dreams, relationships, livelihood, and identities." 

Previously an intensive one-week rehearsal process culminating in a one-day festival, The Hatchery 2026 offers the artists an additional week of rehearsal to experiment with their unconventional forms, and a second opportunity to share their new work with audiences. 

"Expanding from a six-day to an 11-day workshop span makes a world of difference for artists in development," adds Wallenfels. "We love creating within a tight container, but if we're moving too fast, we have to skim along the surface. Our creative teams deserve a chance to breathe and dig a little deeper in their creative process."

"By adding a second day to the festival," Wallenfels continues, "we're offering more opportunity both for audiences to engage with the plays as they evolve, and for the artists to assess the impact of the work they've done."

The Hatchery festival includes performances of Undertow and The Cannery Project on Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30, plus a free reception with a performance from Trick Pony Theatre and wine from Augustina Cellars on August 29, and a special ticketed screening of Contracorriente with writer/director Javier Fuentes-Léon on Sunday, August 30.

In addition to creating access for artists, The Hatchery aims to make festival attendance accessible for as many people as possible. All events on Saturday include live ASL interpretation, and the film screening on Sunday includes open captions. The venue (The Judy in downtown Portland) is fully ADA accessible. In an effort to work with every budget, sliding scale/pay what you can ticket prices range from $15–$50 for each performance, with film screening tickets priced at $20. Full access passes that provide admission to both new plays and the film screening are available for $60.

Tickets are available now.

ABOUT UNDERTOW

Music and lyrics by Eric Nordin

Book by Javier Fuentes-León and Eric Nordin
Based on the motion picture Contracorriente, written and directed by Javier Fuentes-León 

Co-directed by Francisco Garcia and Jessica Wallenfels

In a close-knit seaside village, Miguel is driven to hide his true identity (and his secret affair with Santiago) in favor of playing the “Golden Boy” as he and his wife are expecting their first child. When an accident unexpectedly shifts this precarious balance for Miguel, Santiago must ask Miguel for one final act of love that will cost him everything.

Featuring Illya de Torres, Pedro Dominguez, Alec Lugo, Nick Medina, Mila Ortiz, Cassandra Pangelinan, Aurora Primavera, Matt Sepeda, Soulynn Perez, and Julana Torres

ABOUT THE CANNERY PROJECT

Written and Directed by Naphtali Fields-Forbes

Music by Joellen Sweeney

The Larsen Bay Salmon Cannery served as a cornerstone of Kodiak Island, Alaska's maritime economy for more than a century, until it shut down for good in 2024. Through factory-inspired movement, song, and stories from the generations of Alaskero, Indigenous, and itinerant workers who kept it alive, The Cannery Project explores the complicated legacies the cannery leaves behind.

Featuring Eileen Leyva, Fiely Matias, Adam John Roper, Howell Shepherd, and Jerilyn Sophia

THE HATCHERY SCHEDULE

August 29

• 2:00pm | The Cannery Project (ASL Interpreted)

• 3:00pm | Reception with performance from Trick Pony Theatre (ASL Interpreted)

• 5:00pm | Undertow (ASL Interpreted)

August 30

• 2:00pm | Undertow

• 5:00pm | Screening of Contracorriente

• 7:30pm | The Cannery Project

THE HATCHERY TEAM

Artistic Director, Jessica Wallenfels

Managing Director, Beth Thompson

Production Manager, Kristin Mun-Van Noy

ABOUT MANY HATS COLLABORATION

Many Hats Collaboration's mission is to create new works of theater that reimagine music and movement onstage. With the belief that arts are vital to life, Many Hats brings people together for shared experiences that foster connection. We reflect the intersectionality of our changing world through interdisciplinary performance, and create with a spirit of innovation and experimentation. We seek to expand access to arts experiences for new performers, storytellers and audiences through affordable ticket prices and relevant, compelling stories. We address critical questions through boundary pushing performance which inspires awe and wonder. We embrace fantastic theatricality. We investigate humanness through the body.

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