Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous at Portland Playhouse

Anna Campbell shook the theater world decades ago with a radical performance of monologues from August Wilson’s Fences, which came to be known forever as Naked Wilson*. It made her a legend – and a pariah. Now, after years in self-imposed exile, she’s back and ready to reclaim her legacy. But instead of the triumphant return she imagined, she finds Pete Watson, a highly ambitious younger actress with an adult entertainment background, preparing to step into Anna’s most famous role. Pearl Cleage’s razor-sharp comedy dives into how friction between generations can lead to a surprising amount of humor and grace, the evolution of feminism, and the art of knowing when to fight for your place and when to pave the way for the next generation.

*actual on-stage nudity unlikely in this play!