What is the state of the “American Dream” today? How do its conditioned expectations help or hinder the average American in today’s society under duress?

Triptych Americana combines three vignettes into one staged reading addressing how the stresses of job loss, homelessness and mercenary war affect Americans on personal, social and political levels.

In the first vignette, job loss and precarious health put Benny and Shiela’s relationship on the brink. In the second vignette, a discarded ticket to the Museum of Modern Art is the impetus for a homeless woman to regain her visibility. In the third vignette, Jason and Dani, two mercenary soldiers, become threats to one another over an incident of “collateral damage.”

How does the American Dream stack up in your life, today? Come and see how these characters cope with the gap between their ideals and their reality.

HIPBONE STUDIO
January 29, 2012
1 pm, $8 at the door, or buy tickets online

Portland birthed the California Raisins. It schooled the voice of Bugs Bunny and the mind behind The Simpsons. It’s home to “the queen of indie animation.” It’s a rising force producing hit feature films such as Coraline. Discover the power source behind these cultural icons: our home town’s electric, eclectic animation scene.

Portland Animation Now! showcases 22 short films from local independent animators. Including both masters and remarkable amateurs, it’s a lineup of new works and seldom-seen gems you won’t find anywhere else.

The 90-minute variety show crams its fun into 24 frames each second. You’ll see hard-luck dinosaurs, cranky baristas, robot terminators, a sassy drunken detective, flying pirates — and a duck. Also, toe-tapping music, artistry and Big Ideas. Just like live theatre, right?

The NW Animation Festival is honored to bring you Fertile Ground’s first-ever film program. Attending animators will answer questions each night, illuminating this unique art form.

“I like chocolate turtles with pecans. I don’t like babies much—they’re too small and you can’t eat them. Well, I guess some people might eat them… But that’s just plain sick.” —Ruby Rocket, Private Detective.

P.S. Not sure which night to attend? The same program plays both nights — but we recommend Friday. There’s a special SURPRISE at the end of the show.

See Portland Animation Now! at 7pm on Friday or Saturday Jan 27-28. The 5th Avenue Cinema is located at 510 SW Hall. Free parking after 5pm just across the street at PSU Parking Structure 1. $8 general admission, buy now.

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/trafficking-trust/Content?oid=5490532

The North Plan Trailer from Portland Center Stage on Vimeo.

Portland Center Stage’s world premiere production of The North Plan takes place in the not-so-distant-future. And that’s probably what makes it so extra-creepy and goose bump-inducing. The ripped-from-the-headlines idea that the revered U.S. Constitution could be thrown out so quickly and easily, under our very noses. Is it possible?

Yet, somehow, the show is also “a laugh riot.” Amidst such admittedly serious themes, Playwright Jason Wells manages to keep audiences rolling with laughter throughout the entire piece.

Here’s the plot: After a massive government breakdown, Carlton Berg, a bureaucrat for the State Department, runs off with the new regime’s top secret Enemies List – which contains the names of every American citizen slated to be rounded up by the new regime. Unfortunately for Carlton, the chase has come to an end in a police station in the small Ozark town of Lodus, Missouri. With a pair of DHS agents on the way, Carlton’s only hope is in the people around him: an unsympathetic police chief, an ambivalent administrative assistant, and fellow potty-mouthed prisoner Tanya Shepke.

So could such a breakdown and seemingly seamless regime changeover really happen? The rounding up of millions of  “suspicious” American citizens?

And if it did…would you be on the list?

Jason Wells participated in our annual JAW: A Playwrights Festival in the summer of 2010 with the workshopped reading of his newest play, The North Plan; a few ago, the production opened in its world premiere at PCS. After first hearing the play read more than a year and a half before, it was incredibly exciting to finally get to see the play’s characters, costumes and set fully materialize onstage.

Recently, we asked Jason about his inspiration for writing The North Plan.

“I had been thinking a lot about the hyperbolic political climate of recent years, and wondering how long it’s been since Americans have really had to think about what revolution means, or what tyranny really is. I sometimes hear that a political coup couldn’t happen here, for one reason or another, but I think those who say this are imagining something direct and unequivocal – a cartoon dictator, perhaps, with an evil army. But I think if we had such a coup, it would come clothed in a “re-interpreted” legality, and adorned with talking points. With the help of the media, it would be vague and confusing, at once oversimplified and riddled with impenetrable contradictions, and the great majority of us will be assured that there is nothing we need do but get on with our lives. Such a scenario seems not only possible to me, but plausible. It isn’t hard, unfortunately, to imagine the national tragedy that could ignite it.”

Come see The North Plan at Portland Center Stage, running through February 5. Tickets available here.

One of the best parts of exploring the new works in progress that participate in the Fertile Ground project is the chance to watch the projects evolve and grow, thanks to audience feedback. Here’s a quick note from the desk of Oil Change: The Musical creators Brent and Klay Rogers about the ways audience feedback have shaped the next phase of their project:

After three successful workshop performances at The Broadway Rose New Stage, the creators of “Oil Change the Musical Comedy,” brothers Brent and Klay Rogers, have responded to audience surveys and written a new song to further develop the show.  The song will premiere this Friday at the PAC Firehouse Theatre workshop.  The performance will also include additional script enhancements drawn from surveys.

One audience member sent the following in an e-mail.  “It was a privilege to watch Oil Change. What a delightful musical. In fact, both my wife and I left feeling that we had seen something rare; a new musical without offensive language. ‘Oil Change’ is a show for the whole family and is a window into another culture. It sweeps the audience into refreshing, light-hearted fun and laughter. A huge Thank You to both you and your brother.”

The PAC theater is located at 1436 SW Montgomery St.  Parking on Friday evening is available at the PSU parking garage on 13th Street.  Parking on Saturday is available at the same garage or along the street.  Performances at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.

To learn more about the project, check out Holly Johnson’s excellent preview piece on Oregon Music News.

http://stagenstudio.com/2012/01/survivors-trippingpoint/

Facts about human trafficking and Portland:

• has the second highest rate of rescued child prostitutes in the nation
• is the city with the highest number of strip clubs per capita in the country
• the average age girls here are forced into prostitution is 12-14 yrs. old

This is why it’s important for parents to bring their teenagers to see this show.

…and he’ll have an international piano duet with a world renowned Russian pianist if he wants to.

(note, WordPress has given me the option of preserving my precious photo phormatting or captioning my photos, so I must credit them here: Photo of David (left) by Mr. Gary Norman and photo of Vladimir Sultonov (right) by Mr. The Internet. And as an update to this post, let me say that V.S. looked incredibly handsome during his satellite transmission on Friday.

David Saffert is turning 37, and his Fertile Ground Birthday Bashtravaganza is turning 2! Last year’s inaugural show was a frenetic blend of reminiscent slide-show story-telling, a substantial sampling of Saffert’s virtuoso piano skills, and a sprinkling of sketch comedy from the cream of Curious Comedy’s crop (after viewing the aptly named and deeply disturbing “Jurrasic Pork” I am constantly vigilant against the sexual intentions of brightly colored dinosaur puppets). And this year promises even more surprises!

But WHO IS DAVID SAFFERT?!? Why does he want to put on a show for his birthday? Why will you LOVE it?

Well. Let’s learn a little more about the birthday boy, shall we? By day he tours with Portland Opera for their Opera to Go program, currently bringing Engelbert Humperdinck’s classic Hansel and Gretel to schools throughout Oregon (not that Engelbert Humperdinck, this Engelbert Humperdinck). By night he flexes his sketch and improv comedy muscles at Curious Comedy and, in recent memory, Action/Adventure‘s Fall of the House (I have no formal training in journalism, but I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to mention my affiliation with Action/Adventure at this point). Now that my bias is a matter of public record, allow me to say that David Saffert is one of the most delightful and entertaining people I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with.

Which is why I’ll be at his birthday party tonight, despite not being the biggest fan of classical music and having virtually no tolerance in general for other people talking about themselves. But it is his birthday, after all, an indulgence he relies upon while crafting his evening of entertainment.

“You know when it’s someone’s birthday and they want to go to Chili’s on their birthday, or they want to go to Applebee’s, and you’re like ‘Do we have to go to Applebee’s?’ But it’s their birthday and you go because you know that they’ll enjoy it….So no matter what [the audience] sees on stage there’s always the background of ‘Well, it’s his birthday and this is what he really wanted to do.”

While consciously testing the boundaries of just how far he can take this “We’re going to Applebee’s for my birthday” leeway, David maintains the clear goal of entertaining a diverse audience of the friends, family and, oh yes, strangers that filled Curious Comedy for two sold-out shows last year, and promises to again in just a few short hours. According to David, this year’s show is slightly less manic than it’s predecessor.

“I don’t want to say that it’s a better show, but it’s a more thought-out show. There’s more to bite in to.”

This blogger is just hoping that there’s enough cake to bite in to.

Fertile Ground Homepage!
Fertile Ground Tickets and Passes!

Our friends at Portland Center Stage are not only producing a fully staged world premiere for the festival this year (the hilariously dark The North Plan) and hosting a variety of participants in their mezzanine performance spaces, they also are chock-a-block full of staff members who are utilizing the festival to pursue their own creative projects.

Here’s a quick post from them about the PCS staffers helping create  4X4=8, a collection of 10 minute micro-musicals all performed in a 4ft square space (inspired by the classic Portland dance series 10 Tiny Dances).

Master Electrician Connery MacRae and Sound Operator Cameron McFee have teamed up to write a ten-minute musical based on the OCCUPY movement.  Sure to include pepper spray, riots, guards and unlikely lovers – you won’t want to miss their collaboration.

Kelsey Tyler, Education and Community Programs Director at PCS, will be stepping out from behind his desk to flex his acting muscles.  He’ll be featured in two of the musicals, Wishes of Eternity and Truth and Justice.  He has also acted at PCS, most recently in A Christmas Carol.  He’s sure to bring comic wit and a great voice to these 4×4 musicals.

PCS Company Manager Brandon Woolley will make his debut as a director in Portland.  He’ll be directing Crownheads, Daydream Meanderings…, Wishes of Eternity and Work Friends. Don’t miss it!

Read the full post here.

The Oregonian picks out a vibrant selection of smaller and quirkier festival offerings here, to balance out their top picks and promising productions selections from last week:

Sample pick:

“They”: Fertile Ground is dedicated to new work, but sometimes the definition of that can be liberal. Hence the inclusion of this 1920 expressionist comedy by Polish writer/artist Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, who used the pen name Witkacy. What’s new is this adaptation by Rogers Truax. It’s a political satire about secret forces behind state power, bent on crush individuality and creativity. The cast includes such reliable talents as Brian Allard and Northwest Classical Theatre stalwart Melissa Whitney. Read more.

The Willamette Week take a decidedly spookier stroll through the festival offerings, coming up with this bloody sexy set of selections to satisfy your inner goth:

Sample picks:

There’s political intrigue (The North Plan, They), supernatural terror (Ablaze, Bite Me a Little), gore ([I Am Still] the Duchess of Malfi, Grand Guignol 4) and rumblings of doomsday (Waxwing, B’aktun 13). So get out there and take in a little light entertainment—that is, if you’ve got the guts. Read more.

The Portland Mercury likes arty, smarty sexy and ironic. Their picks for the festival hit all the right notes.

Sample picks:

Something’s Got Ahold of My Heart—The lifespan of a Hand2Mouth show includes months of workshopping and revisions; their new production explores both the representations and the realities of love and commitment. The Mouth at Zoomtopia, 810 SE Belmont, Fri Jan 27-Sun Jan 29, 7 pm, hand2mouththeatre.org

Big Plastic Heroes—Performers auGi and Slash Coleman pair two like-minded stories of nerdy childhoods spent idolizing larger-than-life action heroes. The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 NE Sandy, bigplasticheroes.com for dates and times, through Feb 4

Read more.

Of course the most important taste maker in this particular festival is YOU the festival-goer. What’s on your opening weekend must see list?