ANGRY, RAUCOUS, AND SHAMELESSLY GORGEOUS Will Make West Coast Premiere
The drama unfolds as a fierce, funny, and deeply moving exploration of ambition, the generational divide, and who has the right to tell our stories.
Portland Playhouse will bring Pearl Cleage’s razor-sharp, multi-generational feminist comedy Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous to their North Portland stage this winter, under the direction of Playhouse Community Programs & Associate Artistic Director Ramona Lisa Alexander. Running February 11th through March 15th as the West Coast Premiere of Cleage’s play, the drama unfolds as a fierce, funny, and deeply moving exploration of ambition, the generational divide, and who has the right to tell our stories.
Through the play, Cleage, one of America’s foremost black writers and performance artists, reflects back on her own lifetime of activism with humor and grace, as audiences follow the story of performance artist Anna Campbell (Faith Lavon). Anna’s artistry shook the theatre world decades earlier with a radical performance of monologues from August Wilson’s Fences – which came to be known forever as “Naked Wilson”. Now, after years in self-imposed exile in Amsterdam, Anna is ready to reclaim her legacy. But instead of the triumphant return she imagined, she finds Precious “Pete” Watson (Ashlee Radney), a highly ambitious younger actress with an adult entertainment background, preparing to re-create her most famous role. Victoria Alvarez-Chacon and Tyharra Cozier round out the cast as Anna’s manager Betty Samson and theatre producer Kate Hughes, as all four women grapple with the nature of art-making and identity, and the art of knowing when to fight for your place and when to pave the way for the next generation.
“Betty says something early on in the show–” remarks director Alexander. “She says: ‘we were mad at the boys…mad at how they kept making us be quiet so they could tell us what geniuses they were.’ It’s funny. It’s sad. And it’s familiar. And it tells us exactly what kind of story this play refuses to be.”
“[Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous] reminds me of my zeal and passion as a 21 year old activist,” says Playhouse Artistic Director Brian Weaver. “There's something so wonderful and breathtaking about the abandon and freedom, even recklessness of being young. And the way this play looks back at the past in order to make thrilling decisions of this present moment is striking. It's a hard-hitting comedy about the daring art of being your true self. I love this play!”
Set in Atlanta in 2018, Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous has powerful resonances for audiences in 2026 as, in Alexander’s words, “history is looping, progress is stalling, anger simmering. Some of the same questions are still unanswered – some of the same fears, some of the same fights.” At the end of the day, Pearl Cleage’s play is a witty, poignant, and wholly entertaining ride, underscoring the enduring power of performing arts and offering both levity and deep resonance for audiences this winter.
CAST
Anna Campbell: Faith Lavon*
Betty Samson: Victoria Alvarez-Chacon
Kate Hughes: Tyharra Cozier
Precious “Pete” Watson: Ashlee Radney^
u/s Anna Campbell: Valerie Yvette Peterson
u/s Betty Samson: Renee' Ward
u/s Kate Hughes: Tessa May
u/s Precious “Pete” Watson: Madina Keita
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The Dark Stuff Twilight Theater Company (8/20-9/06) |
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Jaja's African Hair Braiding Clackamas Repertory Theatre (9/10-10/04) |
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Hadestown (Non-Equity) Keller Auditorium (1/26-1/31) |
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream Oregon Shakespeare Festival (3/13-10/25) |
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FANTASTICAL CABARET: An Otherworldly Burlesque Revue Alberta Rose Theatre (9/18-9/18) |
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Jack Johnson at Hayden Homes Amphitheater Hayden Homes Amphitheater (9/27-9/27) |
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NT Live: The Playboy of the Western World Third Rail at PAM CUT's Tomorrow Theater (8/23-8/23) |
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& Juliet Hult Center (10/06-10/11) |