Playwrights West Presents World Premiere Reading of LAST BROADCAST
By: BWW News Desk Apr. 10, 2017
Writers: Playwrights West: Jessica Dart, Jeffrey Denight, Karin Magaldi, Aleks Merilo, Steve Patterson, Andrea Stolowitz, Andrew Wardenaar, Claire Willett, and Matthew B. Zrebski
Director: Lava Alapai
Cast: London Bauman, Adrienne Flagg, James Luster, and Elizabeth Rothan
Dates: April 28 and 29, 2017
Time: 7:30 PM Friday and Saturday
Venue: Portland State University, Lincoln Hall, 115, Studio Theatre (1620 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97201)
Tickets: All tickets free; donations accepted on a sliding scale, with an appreciated donation of $10
Tickets Available At: https://www.boxofficetickets.com/go/event?id=319813 Also see Playwrights West's website: http://www.playwrightswest.org/
ABOUT LAST BROADCAST
Set against the backdrop of an isolated, independent radio station, Playwrights West weaves a tapestry of change: in personal relationships, in trust, in perspectives. Each song the station plays prompts a new picture and voice: a new play-each written by a member of Playwrights West. At this time of seismic shifts, Playwrights West portrays a world in search of itself.
ABOUT PLAYWRIGHTS WEST:
Founded in 2009, Playwrights West, a professional theatre company composed of nine Portland playwrights known for the high quality of their work, focuses on presenting top-level productions of its members' plays and supports the development of original work in Portland. The nine member playwrights are: Jessica Dart, Jeffrey Denight, Karin Magaldi, Ellen Margolis, Aleks Merilo, Steve Patterson, Andrea Stolowitz, Andrew Wardenaar, Claire Willett, and Matthew B. Zrebski. Drawing upon a growing national movement of playwrights taking the reins for productions of their work, Playwrights West introduces Portland audiences to compelling, innovative theatrical experiences, while engaging in a dialogue with the Portland theatre community about the rewards of presenting vital new plays by gifted local authors. Playwrights West believes staging new work proves essential to furthering Portland theatre's continued relevance to its audiences and to the region's overall culture. New plays provide thrilling, unique evenings at the theatre, while exploring the complex dynamics of the 21st-century human condition.
The Playwrights West Story
Operating on one of Portland's most unique production models, and committed to presenting solely original work, Playwrights West produces full play productions by its nine distinguished playwright members: Jessica Dart, Jeffrey Denight, Karin Magaldi, Aleks Merilo, Steve Patterson, Andrea Stolowitz, Andrew Wardenaar, Claire Willett, and Matthew B. Zrebski.
In Spring 2009, prospective Playwrights West members met to discuss forming a theatre company. Ideas coalesced around producing a full production each year by a member playwright. Playwrights West publically announced its formation in Summer 2009.
In January 2010, the company presented its first offering, Introducing Playwrights West, an evening of staged readings of short plays by Playwrights West's members. Staged at CoHo Productions, Introducing Playwrights West was part of Portland's Fertile Ground New Works Festival.
Still organizing to present their first full production, Playwrights West presented another anthology show in Summer 2010: Wet Ink, composed of works in progress by company members, again staged at CoHo Productions.
In Fall 2010, Playwrights West presented Laying Foundations, a one-night evening of food, drink, and live performances of monologues by Playwrights West members, staged in almost every room of a 100-year-old house.
In 2011, Playwrights West contributed to The Tripping Point, commissioned by Shaking the Tree Theatre and composed of Playwrights West members' short pieces inspired by fairy tales. Also presented as part of Fertile Ground, the production prompted a strongly positive critical response, and three Playwrights West members won Drammy Awards for Best Original Script: Ellen Margolis for Splasher, Karin Magaldi for Jack and the Bones, and Matthew B. Zrebski for To Cape.
In Fall 2011, Wilson High School, in association with Playwrights West, developed and presented Ablaze: an a cappella musical thriller, featuring an all-Wilson High School cast. The show subsequently was optioned by Staged! for its professional world premiere. After further development, a new version opened in April 2013 at Portland'5, and received Drammy Awards for Outstanding Original Script and Score and Outstanding Ensemble as well as Portland Area Musical Theatre Awards for Original Musical and Ensemble. In June 2014, the Premiere Cast Recording was released by Woodsway Entertainment, which makes it available internationally.
In August and September 2012, Playwrights West reached a milestone, presenting its first full production of a member's play: Continuum by Patrick Wohlmut, in association with CoHo Productions. At the close of that show, Playwrights West announced the next playwright to be produced: Ellen Margolis in 2013.
In May 2013, Playwrights West launched its Teen West Project with Wilson Theatre Arts, an annual festival where Playwrights West members write plays with all-teenaged characters, based on themes relevant to an emerging generation. In its inaugural year, the festival was titled The Warning Label and featured the following one-acts: Water Down by Debbie Lamedman; Arm by Matthew B. Zrebski; and Verge Warnings by Karin Magaldi. The show featured 20 Wilson High School actors and was seen by hundreds of students from the Portland area. The show launched a long, fruitful, and continuing collaboration with Wilson High School.
In May 2013, Playwrights West presented Sparks, a collection of members' short works, along with a gala reception, to raise funds for the upcoming production of Ellen Margolis' Licking Batteries.
The second annual full production (again produced in association with CoHo Productions) of a Playwrights West member's work, Licking Batteries opened in August 2013. Properties designer Tal Sanders received a 2014 Drammy Award nomination for the production.
In January 2014, Playwrights West partnered with Artists Repertory Theatre to present pieces in ART's Flash Reads reading series, with Calumnies by Ellen Margolis and Carter Hall by Claire Willett as the featured plays.
In February 2014, year two of the Teen West Project featured Patrick Wohlmut's full-length play The Waves and 20 Wilson High School performers. The play received community raves for its bold look into high school politics and power struggles.
On August 8, 2014, Playwrights West premiered its third full production, in association with CoHo Productions: The Sweatermakers by Andrew Wardenaar. This marked the playwright's first full production after years of success in the Portland workshop circuit. Fellow Playwrights West member Matthew B. Zrebski directed the show. Playwrights West announced Claire Willett would be the next Playwrights West member to be produced. In 2015, Em Gustavson won a Drammy Award for his sound design for The Sweatermakers.
In October 2014, Playwrights West contributed scripts to Shaking the Tree's Masque of the Red Death, an adaptation of stories and poems by Edgar Allen Poe, which received critical raves and played to sold-out houses.
In January 2015, Playwrights West presented four events for the Fertile Ground Festival: a reading of Claire Willett's Dear Galileo at CoHo Productions, as part of a Science on Stage Series, featuring an expert talk by astronomer Ron Brown and an audience Q&A; and readings of Ellen Margolis' Teen West play Prime (CoHo Productions) and Aleks Merilo's The Snowmaker and Steve Patterson's If the Fates Allow (the latter two Flash Reads presentations at Artists Repertory Theatre).
In February 2015, year three of the Teen West Project presented Ellen Margolis' full-length play Prime, featuring Wilson High School performers. The play investigated the many shapes of love.
In August 2015, Playwrights West produced Claire Willett's Dear Galileo, the company's fourth full production.
Photo credit: Matthew Klein
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