Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (AGE) is partnering with Bag&Baggage Productions and Lewis & Clark College (LCC) to bring new play empty spaces by Reneé Flemings to Portland May 15 & 16 at 7pm. This professional/educational collaborative workshop represents the launch of a bold and vital initiative that expands AGE's programming to empower and invigorate the wellspring of the entertainment industry: theatre artists and scholars in higher education.
empty spaces addresses Missing White Woman Syndrome, a phrase widely used to describe the disparity in law enforcement recovery efforts and media attention that missing young white women receive over missing Black and Brown people. The play tells the heartbreaking story of a family and community torn apart when a Black teenage girl goes missing. Flemings will come to Portland for a 10-day residency to work with a hybrid company of professional and student theatemakers culminating in an enhanced staged reading that incorporates movement elements and basic projections.
Director Nik Whitcomb of Bag&Baggage Productions leads the project just over a year after hosting Flemings and her play as part of the 2024 Fertile Ground festival. He says, "It is an honor to continue
supporting the development of this remarkable piece.” After that reading, which Flemings described as “care, collaboration, and joy,” she determined the play's next developmental step should be this on-its-feet workshop to explore the choreographed movement and design elements in her script. The professional creative team also includes Isabel Strongheart McTighe as Movement Coordinator. Students from Lewis & Clark will be mentored by the professionals and will serve as Actors, Assistant Director, and Assistant Stage Manager. The majority of students and professionals working on this project identify as people of color and/or historically marginalized gender.*
The potential impact this project represents is dramatic. It refutes the model of uncompensated or under-compensated labor for emerging artists like playwright Flemings, who often have to work in unpaid internships and/or pay for their own artmaking. It removes the burden of securing financing and pleasing financial stakeholders, and makes space that emphasizes and supports the delicate, brave work of creation. This work would not be possible without funding support from the Oregon Cultural Trust, the deNovo Foundation, Trust Management Services, and the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation.
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