PETE'S AW, HELL to Open at Reed College Performing Arts Building

Demons on their lunch break. Virgil as a shady tour guide. A tenants association meeting as torture, food and sex combined in unholy ways, and confusion about which door leads to the blood pool. Join PETE as we fail our classical literature test, defile the sacred, and joyfully abandon hope.

Using Dante’s Inferno as a catalyst, we enter the messy, disgusting, offensive truth of the human condition. Aw, Hell is a journey down the drain, in which we act regrettably, break vows, lie to ourselves and end up boiling in a river of blood. 

Aw, Hell features performances from PETE members Rebecca Lingafelter, Cristi Miles, Damaris Webb, Roo Welsh, and Amber Whitehall in collaboration with CoHo Clown Cohort members Emily Newton (performer) and Sascha Blocker (clown dramaturg). Aw, Hell features original text by PETE company member Chris Gonzalez and is directed by founding member Jacob Coleman.

PETE’s iconoclastic designers & company members will be creating our immersive version of hell, integrating design with performance in a way that is unique to PETE’s process. Peter Ksander (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf [PCS], Twelfth Night [PCS]) is designing the set, Miranda k Hardy (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone [Portland Playhouse]) is designing lights, Jenny Ampersand (Dracula [PCS]) will design costumes, Mark Valadez (Infinite Life [Third Rail], A Case for the Existence of God [Third Rail]) is designing sound, Trevor Sargent (Veronica, In Bed) is creating video and special systems, and Maggie Heath (Will Rawls’ [siccer] [PICA]) will design props. 

Performances will take place June 26 through July 12 at the Reed College Performing Arts Building. 

More about Emily Newton:

Emily June Newton is an international comedic performer. Originating from Australia, she now resides in Portland, Oregon. Emily has performed both nationally and internationally with companies including Terrapin Puppet Theater (AUS), Oregon Children’s Theater (OR, USA), CoHo Productions (OR, USA), The Children’s Art Theater of China (Shanghai, CHN) and Dell’Arte International (CA, USA). Newton is interested in creating/performing eccentric, fully embodied characters that live in direct contact with an audience. Her work reflects an ongoing interest in exploring the boundaries between performer and audience. Emily is best known for her characters 'Frank' (the world's most entertaining entertainer), 'Pat McKensie' (Australia's Cultural Ambassador for Australia (self appointed)),  ‘The Rat King’ and ‘The Bard’ (Mike Bennett Studios). She has been described as 'comedic gold' by Broadway World and a 'standout clown' by The Mercury PDX. Emily holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Ensemble-Based Physical Theater from Dell’Arte International CA, is the co-artistic director of the CoHo Clown Cohort (PDX) and a faculty member of the Institute of Contemporary Performance in Portland, Oregon.

More about Sascha Blocker:

Sascha Lynn Blocker is a performer, director, and creator of original work. She earned an MFA in Lecoq Based Actor Created Theater from the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA) in conjunction with Naropa University. Local credits and collaborations include: Hand2Mouth, CoHo, Imago, Third Rail, Post 5, Liminal Performance Group, Stage Fright Festival, and Bedrock Theatre. Sascha was an associate artist for the Drammy award winning theater company Push Leg and is currently the Co-Artistic Director of CoHo Clown Cohort. She is a faculty member at The Actors Conservatory. Sascha's latest endeavor, partly inspired by teaching public speaking, is producing and directing Funny Bones - a live storytelling event. 

More about PETE:

PETE (Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble) is a company of artists who make new plays in a collaborative way. We make visceral work that vanguards design and embodiment. We are committed to creative rigor, to the enrichment of our local arts ecology, and to connecting with diverse audiences. We challenge established notions of theatrical form and content with innovative practice, presentation and organization. We strive to achieve a radical kind of presence shared with audiences in the performance event.