Cast Announced for Portland Center Stage's FUTURA

Imagine a world where the printed word is forbidden; it may by closer than you think. The first rehearsals for JorDan Harrison's cautionary tale Futura, directed by Kip Fagan, are now underway at Portland Center Stage. Futura begins previews on Tuesday, February 1, opens Friday, February 4, and runs Tuesday through Sunday until March 27. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., with matinees at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and select Thursday matinees at noon. Tickets start at $30, with student and under-age-30 discounts available. Rush tickets are $20 each. For a full calendar of performance dates and ticket availability, please visit http://www.pcs.org/futura.  
 
Set in the not-so-distant future, Futura originally premiered as a workshop reading at the 2009 JAW Playwrights Festival. At the time, Futura's warnings about the extinction of print media - and its costs - seemed timely. Now, they seem downright spooky. JorDan Harrison's last trip to PCS launched a gender-bending, Drammy-Award winning hit with Act a Lady. This time he returns with a different axe to grind: the future of the words you are reading right now. And Futura? Well, it's a font; it's a love story; but ultimately... it's one rogue professor's quest to avenge her missing husband - and the lost art of ink on paper. Portland Center Stage has assembled a talented cast of four actors from Portland, Seattle and New York to bring Futura to life.
 
Chris Murray (Gash), an Oregon native, previously appeared at PCS in Sometimes a Great Notion. No stranger to Portland theater, he adapted and starred in Hamlet at CoHo Productions; performed the role of Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Lakewood Theatre; and played Shane Mungit in Take Me Out at Artists Repertory Theatre, for which he won a Drammy. Chris has also worked with Profile Theatre, Oregon Children's Theatre, Stark Raving Theatre and Third Rail Rep. Kerry Ryan (Grace), also an Oregon native, appeared in the original workshop reading of Futura at JAW 2009. An actor, puppeteer, dancer and comedian, Kerry has worked with Theatre Vertigo, Artists Repertory Theatre, Oregon Children's Theatre and Portland Playhouse. She won a Drammy for Outstanding Achievement in Puppetry for Theatre Vertigo's production of The Long Christmas Ride Home.
 
Lori Larsen (The Professor) is also back at PCS after appearing in Futura at JAW 2009. A Seattle native, Lori has performed extensively at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, 5th Avenue Theater, Seattle Shakespeare Festival and Empty Space Theater Company (of which she is a co-founder),  among others. She has also performed across the country at the ALLIANCE THEATRE, American Conservatory Theater, Madison Rep and the Tacoma Actors Guild. Phillip Clark (Edward) is making his first appearance at PCS, after appearing on Broadway in Come Back, Little Sheba; Fifth of July; and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. His off-Broadway credits include Omnium Gatherum, A Last Dance for Sybil, The Director, Romeo & Juliet and The Boys in the Band. 
Playwright JorDan Harrison's Act a Lady premiered at PCS during the 2006/07 season. His other works include Doris to Darlene, Amazons and Their Men, Finn in the Underworld, Kid-Simple, The Museum Play and Fit for Feet. Jordan has received commissions from Arden Theatre, Ars Nova, Berkeley Rep/Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cypress Films, the Guthrie Theater/Children's Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons and South Coast Rep. Jordan is the recipient of the 2008 Kesselring Fellowship, the Heideman Award, a Theater Masters' Innovative Playwright Award, Jerome and McKnight Fellowships from The Playwrights' Center, a Lucille Lortel Fellowship, and a NEA/TCG Playwright-in-Residence Grant with The Empty Space Theatre. 
Set design, featuring a sleek futuristic lecture hall, vacant warehouse and abandoned school library, is by Mimi Lien. Costume design is by Jeff Cone, lighting design is by Matt  Frey, and sound design is by Casi Pacilio.
 
Portland Center Stage's 2010/11 season is funded in part by Umpqua Private Bank, the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art; the Oregon Arts Commission; the Paul G.Allen Family Foundation; and Tim & Mary Boyle. The Mark Spencer Hotel is the official hotel partner for Portland Center Stage.
 
Portland Center Stage inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways.  Established in 1988 as an off shoot of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCS became an independent theater in 1994 and has been under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman since May 2000.  The company presents a blend of classic, contemporary and original productions in a conscious effort to appeal to the eclectic palate of theatergoers in Portland.  PCS also offers a variety of education and outreach programs for curious minds from six to 106, including discussions, classes, workshops and partnerships with organizations throughout the Portland metro area.
 
THE GERDING THEATER AT THE ARMORY houses a 599-seat Main Stage and the 200-seat black box Ellyn Bye Studio.  It was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public on Oct. 1, 2006.  The capital campaign to fund the renovation of this hub for community artistic activity continues.

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