JAW
JAW: A Playwrights Festival is Portland Center Stage’s developmental festival of new work for the stage. For two crazy weeks in July, JAW: A Playwrights Festival takes over the Armory, inside and out. And as always, we’ll present spanking new works in progress that will explode your expectations of what live performance can do.
JAW Script Submission
We will accept scripts for JAW 2012: November 1, 2011 - February 1, 2012. Notification will begin after May 1, 2012.
- Unsolicited scripts are accepted only from Oregon residents
- The submitted script must be full-length
- Musicals are accepted
- The submission may have had a previous reading, but not a full production
Send contact information and a digital version of your script to jaw@pcs.org.
Or send an unbound single sided copy of the script to:
JAW: A Playwrights Festival
c/o Portland Center Stage
Gerding Theater at the Armory
128 NW Eleventh Ave.
Portland, OR 97209
Please note: we will be unable to return any scripts.
For further information, contact us at jaw@pcs.org.
Thank you for your interest in JAW. We look forward to reading your work.
JAW 2011 programming is listed below. The 2012 line-up will be posted in Spring 2012.
JAW 2011 festival plays
Tales From Red Vienna by David Grimm
Directed by David Esbjornson
Friday, July 22 at 4pm
Sunday, July 24 at 8pm
Ellyn Bye Studio
Set just after the first World War, Tales From Red Vienna follows Helena, a war widow forced into prostitution by her financial circumstances. A friend introduces her to a potential suitor. But does this so-called friend really have her best interests at heart? And is Helena even in a position to date? Helena's search for happiness leads her to unexpected places.
About the Playwright: David Grimm is an award-winning New York-based playwright and screenwriter. He is currently writing the book for the Broadway musical Manhattan Madness, with music by Harry Connick, Jr., to be directed by George C. Wolfe. Plays include: The Miracle at Naples (Huntington; Best New Play IRNE Award); Steve & Idi (Rattlestick); Chick (Hartford Stage); Measure for Pleasure (Public Theatre; Bug 'n Bub Award; GLAAD Award nomination); The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue (Hartford Stage); Kit Marlowe (Public Theatre; GLAAD Award nomination); Sheridan, or Schooled in Scandal (La Jolla); Enough Rope (Williamstown; starring Elaine Stritch). David is the recipient of an NEA/TCG Residency Grant and has received commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, Huntington Theatre Company, City Theatre Company, The Public Theater, and Hartford Stage. He has developed work at the Sundance Theatre Lab, Old Vic New Voices, and NY Stage & Film. He is a member of the Writers' Guild, the Dramatists Guild, the PEN American Center, and an alum of New Dramatists. David holds an MFA from NYU, a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, and has lectured in Playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, Brown University, Columbia University, and NYU. Grimm's plays are published by Dramatists Play Service.
The Huntsmen by Quincy Long
Directed by Kathleen Dimmick
Thursday, July 21 at 4pm
Saturday, July 23 at 8pm
Ellyn Bye Studio
Fourteen-year-old Devon is driven by dark dreams. His world becomes a surreal landscape of secret societies, violence, mayhem, and suprisingly sweet musical harmonies. The songs in his head won't stop, and neither can he.
About the Playwright: Quincy Long--Productions: People Be Heard, Playwrights Horizons; The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite, Atlantic Theatre and Mark Taper Forum. Joy was optioned by Icon Films and published by Dramatists Play Service. Current projects: Loulou, a musical, Ginger Cat Productions in Toronto; Buried Alive, a one-act opera adapted from an Edgar Allan Poe short story and commissioned by American Lyric Theatre in New York; Church Laugh, a comedy in development with the Civilians R&D Group; and The Gospel According to Trains, a high-speed rail extravaganza commissioned by America-in-Play through the New York State Council on the Arts.
Anna Karenina adapted from Tolstoy by Kevin McKeon
Directed by Chris Coleman
Thursday, July 21 at 8pm
Saturday, July 23 at 4pm
Ellyn Bye Studio
Tolstoy's classic story of love and marriage in Imperial Russia; this tragic love story has been called by some the greatest novel ever written. When Anna's husband refuses to release her from their marriage to pursue her love for Count Vronsky, the wheels are set in motion for the ultimate sacrifice. Anna Karenina is about uncontrollable passions and emotional and sexual betrayal, set against one of the most romantic periods of world history.
About the Playwright: Kevin McKeon is a Seattle theatre artist who has worked extensively with the interpretation of contemporary and classical literature for the stage. He is a director, actor and adaptor for Book-It Repertory Theatre, where he has helped birth world premiere productions of A Tale of Two Cities, Anne Tyler's Breathing Lessons, Plainsong, Great Expectations, and The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears. His adaptation of David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars has been seen in regional theatres on both coasts and was produced at Portland Center Stage in 2010.
The Body of an American by Dan O’Brien
Directed by Josh Hecht
Friday, July 22 at 8pm
Sunday, July 24 at 4pm
Ellyn Bye Studio
War reporter Paul Watson has witnessed some of the most devestating scenes in modern history. As the ghosts of the tragedies he's recorded bear down on him, he crosses paths with playwright Dan O'Brien, who's battling ghosts of his own. In locations as varied as Kabul, Los Angeles, and the Canadian High Arctic, the two mean form a tentative friendship in a quest for absolution.
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About the Playwright: Dan O'Brien's plays include The Cherry Sisters Revisited (Actor Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival), The Dear Boy (Second Stage Theatre), The Voyage of the Carcass (SoHo Playhouse; Page 73 Productions), Moving Picture (Williamstown Theatre Festival), The House in Hydesville (Geva Theatre Center), Key West (Geva), Am Lit (Ensemble Studio Theatre), and Lamarck (Perishable Theatre), as well as the new play The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, which will premiere in 2012 at Black Dahlia Theatre in Los Angeles, directed by Michael John Garces. O'Brien has received commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre Sloan/ First Light Grant, Geva Theatre Center, The Playwrights' Center's McKnight National Residency and Commission, and residencies and fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center, Sundance Theatre Institute, Theatre Communications Group, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, New Harmony Project, Yaddo, Princeton University (Hodder Fellowship), The University of the South (Sewanee), University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Thomas J. Watson foundation. Awards include the American Theatre Critics Association's Osborn Award for an emerging playwright. O'Brien is also a poet. His song cycle Theotokia (Hymn to the Mother God), with composer Jonathan Berger, recently premiered at the Spoleto Festival USA, performed by Dawn Upshaw.
Made in Oregon 2011-July 16 and 17
The JAW Festival opens with with Made in Oregon series, featuring works-in-progress from Oregon writers, with performances at 4pm and 8pm July 16h & 17th on the Main Stage. Admission is free and no reservations are required for Made in Oregon readings.
Antarktikos by Andrea Stolowitz
Directed by Gemma Whelan
Saturday, July 16 at 4pm
Main Stage
Somewhere between Oregon and Antarctica lie several points on a continuum: Susan, a writer at an artists residency at the South Pole; Captain Robert Falcon Scott, leader of the British Antarctic expedition of 1912; and Hilary, Susan's 21-year-old daughter. When an insomniac EMT named Alex becomes the hapless link among them, time collapses, geographies blend and destinies emerge.
About the playwright: Andrea Stolowitz is a graduate of the MFA playwriting program at UC-San Diego. Her plays have been developed and produced nationally and internationally at theaters like the Old Globe, The Long Wharf, Victory Gardens, and the Cherry Lane. Antarktikos was written in Sept. 2010 and has been developed at Artists Repertory Theater, Key City Public Theater, The New Harmony Project, and White Pine Productions. It was a finalist for Play Penn and Premiere Stages. Andrea serves as the Oregon Regional Representative to the Dramatists Guild, is a proud member of Playwrights West, and teaches at Willamette University.
Forky by Matthew B. Zrebski
Directed by Michael O'Connell
Saturday, July 16 at 8pm
Main Stage
Macy and Banks are married, but not happily married. Macy and Banks are, in fact, teetering on a line that divides reality and a universe of might-have-beens. Within a mere forty-eight hours, the view down roads not chosen is hilariously revealed by other dimensional specters. Assaulted by family ghosts, lonely lovers, science teachers, rude baristas, and bank customers demanding crispy cash, Macy and Banks must take comfort in the potential for a fractured universe--where perhaps the dream has come true after all.
About the Playwright: A founding member of Playwrights West, Matthew B. Zrebski is a multi-award winning playwright, composer, script consultant, and producer-director whose career has been defined by new play development. He has served as Artistic Director for Youth Could Know Theatre, Theatre Atlantis, and Stark Raving Theatre--all companies specializing in new work--and since 1995, has mounted over 40 world premieres. Matt has had many of his plays produced, including the planet ME, Neck, A Place Called Timothy, Parts, After the Zipper, Darkstep and Dawning, The Vespiary, Ablaze, Hunter in the Corner, The Aquavarian, Handprint Alley, Rubber N' Glue, and Sharp Ecstasy. Through the Education Theatre Program at Oregon Children's Theatre, he was awarded back-to-back commissions to pen both Texting the Sun and 1 1/2. The former toured through 2010 and was seen by nearly 35,000 students. The latter tours through 2011 and was featured in the One Theatre World Conference. In addition to his work in professional theatre, Matt is a passionate advocate for arts education, spending over half his time as a guest instructor in public schools. He teaches playwriting through the Literary Arts WITS program as well as for Visions & Voices at Portland Center Stage. He also founded the Annual New Works Festival at Lincoln High School, a program that has run for seven years. He holds a BFA in Theatre from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.
Continuum by Patrick Wohlmut
Directed by Stan Foote
Sunday, July 17 at 4pm
Main Stage
Peter is an astronomer who once had a promising career ahead of him, but that was before his work on the true origins of the planet Jupiter stalled, and was finally rendered invalid. Craig is a brilliant con man, who recently used Peter to steal thousands of dollars in research funding. When Peter confronts Craig in prison, what follows is a game of cat-and-mouse that tests the intellects of both men, as betrayal, past injuries, hopes, fears, and the deep friendship they once shared opens up a psychic hall of mirrors from which neither man can escape.
About the Playwright: Patrick Wohlmut is the winner of a 2007 New Science and Technology Plays Initiative commission from the Alfred P Sloan Foundation and Portland Center Stage. His plays have been produced by Bump in the Road Theater; as part of Artist Repertory Theater's Spotlight Project; at the Pacific University Studio Theater in Forest Grove; and in collaboration with PlayGroup and Playwrights West, of which Patrick is a founding member. As a member of Playwrights West, his most recent full-length play, The Last Tale of the Thracian Mirror, was part of 2010's Wet Ink Festival, which was co-produced with CoHo Productions. Additionally, his short play, The Opposite of Watching Marbles Run, was featured in Playwrights West's October 2010 Production, Laying Foundations. Patrick is also a Drammy-award winning actor for his for his role as Todd in 2005's Earth Stories, with VERB: Literature in Performance. In addition to sharing the stage with William Hurt in Artist Repertory Theater's 2004 production, The Drawer Boy, other roles in which he has appeared include Colm in Sea Marks with Mt. Hood Repertory Theater; Vaughn in in apparati with defunkt theater; Faust in Faust. Us. v. 2.0 with Stark Raving Theater; and Peter Austin in It's Only a Play with Profile Theater. In addition to writing plays, Patrick's freelance writing has been published in PDX Magazine and on OregonLive's theater blog, "On Stage," and he won an Art Kreisman Award for Creative Writing from Southern Oregon University in 2001.
Personal by Brian Kettler
Directed by Jessica Nikkel
Sunday, July 17 at 8pm
Main Stage
What happened to Alice Cain? On the eve of her final performance, the world's foremost starlet vanishes. In her wake, she leaves behind a legion of confused and desperate fans. Six months later, Lucy fights to uncover the truth about Alice's disappearance. But she is trapped in a rehabilitation center, programmed to forget that Alice Cain ever existed. Funny and frightening, Personal is a story about celebrity obsession, first love, and the twisted road to self-acceptance.
About the Playwright: Brian Kettler is a graduate of Kenyon College and the National Theater Institute. His play, In School Suspension, was featured in the 2009 JAW Made in Oregon festival. Brian has worked as a theater educator in Peninsula and Boise-Eliot schools as part of the SUN program. He is currently the Theater Specialist at Willowbrook Arts Camp. This summer, he is appearing as Wayne in Looking for Normal, a production by JANE, a theater company.
Made in Oregon Schedule at a Glance
All readings are free and on the Main Stage.
Saturday, July 16
4pm: Antarktikos by Andrea Stolowitz
8pm: Forky by Matthew B. Zrebski
Sunday, July 17
4pm: Continuum by Patrick Wohlmut
8pm: Personal by Brian Kettler
The Big Weekend--july 21 through 24
Two weeks of down and dirty, hard-scrabble rehearsals later, we’re ready to show you the razor-sharp edge of new American playwriting! Each of the four festival plays will receive two public readings in the Ellyn Bye Studio.
Public Readings
Thursday, July 21 through Sunday, July 24
Ellyn Bye Studio
***NEW THIS YEAR***
All Big Weekend readings are free, but reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling 503-445-3700, or in person at the box office of the Gerding Theater at the Armory at 128 NW 11th Ave.
***NOTE: Any unclaimed JAW tickets will be released 15 minutes prior to each reading to Standby Patrons.***
Reading dates and times are subject to change.
Thursday, July 21
4pm: The Huntsmen by Quincy Long
8pm: Anna Karenina Adapted from Tolstoy by Kevin McKeon
curtain-raiser by Promising Playwright Johnny Crawford
Friday, July 22
4pm: Tales From Red Vienna by David Grimm
8pm: The Body of an American by Dan O'Brien
curtain-raiser by Promising Playwright Carson Cook
Saturday, July 23
4pm: Anna Karenina Adapted from Tolstoy by Kevin McKeon
curtain-raiser by Promising Playwright Bijou Bottinelli
8pm: The Huntsmen by Quincy Long
curtain-raiser by Promising Playwright Warren Mattox
Sunday, July 24
4pm: The Body of an American by Dan O'Brien
curtain-raiser by Promising Playwright Jesse Turner
8pm: Tales From Red Vienna by David Grimm
curtain-raiser by Promising Playwright Tristan Tebeau
JAW Closing Night Party
Come and celebrate with us at the JAW Closing Party! A new JAW event added this year to provide the JAW Company, JAW audience, and the Portland theater community a chance to simply celebrate and socialize. Enjoy food and drink specials from The Armory Cafe and dance to the beats of DJ The Incredible Kid. You won't want to miss it!
WHEN: July 24th after the final reading [about 10pm]
WHERE: Mezzanine Lobby
Devise & Conquer
New performance pieces created especially for JAW by local performers fill up the Armory and spill out into its environs during the Big Weekend.
Thursday, July 21
ANOTHER 88 DAYS at 3:15 and again at 3:40 -- Gallery Level Lobby
RECLAIMING PINK at 7:15 and again at 7:40 -- Gallery Level Men's Restroom
Friday, July 22
RECLAIMING PINK at 3:15 and again at 3:40 -- Gallery Level Men's Restroom
LOCAL CULTURE PROJECT at 7:15 and again at 7:40 -- Vera Katz Sliver Park
Saturday, July 23
ANOTHER 88 DAYS at 3:15 and again at 3:40 -- Gallery Level Lobby
LOCAL CULTURE PROJECT at 7:15 and again at 7:40 -- Vera Katz Sliver Park
Sunday, July 24
ANOTHER 88 DAYS at 3:15 and again at 3:40 -- Gallery Level Lobby
RECLAIMING PINK at 7:15 and again at 7:40 -- Gallery Level Men's Restroom
About the Projects
ANOTHER 88 DAYS
ANOTHER 88 DAYS is a puppet show about my friend Joshua. Joshua is eleven. He has a dark side. He has a light side. But he will never grow up. And this show is all about how I deal with it.
Sarah Frechette is a designer, builder, and performer of puppetry, whose work has been seen across the U.S., Germany, Austria, and China. Her shadow puppets lit up the stage for the PCS production of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps. As a Night Shade Shadow Theater artist Sarah performed at PICA's TBA festival along with the band Japanther and at the New Orleans Fringe Festival with Night Shade's pop-up book shadow play Order of Wolf. She has studied marionettes in Germany with Master Puppeteer Albrecht Roser and will tour this fall with her marionette show The Snowflake Man. The show Another 88 Days is sponsored by a Grant from the Vermont Community Foundation and the Joshua Tree Foundation.
Joshua this one's for you...one...two...three..AMEN!
RECLAIMING PINK
Incorporating storytelling, humor, history, dance, drag, camp, costuming & pop music, Max Voltage weaves together a short piece about colors and the performance of gender. Please join Max in the Men's Restroom.
Max Voltage is a Portland-based performance artist, musician, and event producer. Max won the San Francisco Drag King Competition in 2003, and has been performing drag, dance, & genderfuck in San Francisco, Portland and nationally for over 10 years. Max currently runs Pants-Off Productions, a radical queer event production company responsible for Homomentum, Homo's Got Talent, Freakshow-a-Go-Go and many other projects. More info at www.pantsoffpdx.com
photo by Max Voltage
LOCAL CULTURE PROJECT
LOCAL CULTURE PROJECT is a contemporary performance & urban farm exploration and a year-long inquiry into the relationships between local communities, foods, and the arts--working under the hypothesis that all are essential pieces of the sustainable discourse.
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Water in the Desert (WITD) is a Portland-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to presenting cross-cultural contemporary performances and educational events that respond to our collective need to forge meaning and connection with each other and our environment. It is the mission of Water in the Desert to do this in a way that showcases the global influence of butoh, physical theatre, contemporary performance, and other genres which seek to connect with audiences through the creation of emotional and primal states of intimacy. Themes often examined in WITD productions include ritual, identity, ecology, and diversity.
photo by Johnmarc Schaelling
JAW LOUNGE
Kick back in the Armory Cafe in between readings on the Big Weekend for JAW Lounge, featuring live music from a variety of Portland musicians.
Thursday, July 21 from 7-8pm: Matthew Kern, piano
Friday, July 22 from 7-8pm: Classical Revolution PDX String Quartet
Saturday, July 23 from 7-8pm: Vocalist Sarah Mitchell with Hal Gerard
Sunday, July 24 from 7-8pm: Reece Marshburn on piano
Community Artist Labs
FREE Labs for our local community conducted by seasoned theater artists.
YOUR BRILLIANT PLAYWRITING CAREER
with Mead Hunter
Saturday, July 16
1pm-4pm
Tried, true, and out-of-the-blue strategies for jump-starting your career as a playwright in today's competitive market. Bring pen and paper and come prepared to participate--this ain't no lecture. Mead Hunter consults frequently for theaters and arts service organizations around the U.S. under the banner of SuperScript Editorial Services, a writer's resource.
WRITING HISTORY/MEMORY
with Dan O'Brien
Saturday, July 23
1pm-4pm
Methods of adapting memory, both cultural and personal, for the stage. Participants are encouraged to bring scenes and monologues from works-in-progress.
DIRECTING OR DETECTING: AND THE SCENE OF THE CRIME
with Rose Riordan
Sunday, July 24
1pm-4pm
I posit the theory that being a director is like being a detective. Always trying to figure out why this or that happened and reconstructing events for a "dramatic re-enactment." Director and PCS Associate Artistic Director Rose Riordan will present the "scene of the crime" and with your help walk you through the how it all really happened.
Please note: Space in the Community Artist Labs is very limited and enrollment is determined by random lottery. To participate in the lottery, email Sarah Mitchell at sarahm@pcs.org, and specify which Lab(s) interest you. We will contact you by the week prior to alert you of your inclusion.
Promising Playwrights
New scripts from Portland area high school playwrights serve as curtain-raisers preceding the workshop readings on the Big Weekend.
The 2011 Promising Playwrights are:
Johnny Crawford, Jr. -- Wilson High School
Thursday, July 21st at 8pm [precedes Anna Karenina]
Carson Cook -- David Douglas High School
Friday, July 22nd at 8pm [precedes The Body of an American]
Bijou Bottinelli --Wilson High School
Saturday, July 23rd at 4pm [precedes Anna Karenina]
Warren Mattox -- David Douglas High School
Saturday, July 23rd at 8pm [precedes The Huntsmen]
Jesse Turner -- Wilson High School
Sunday, July 24th at 4pm [precedes The Body of an American]
Tristan Tebeau --Cleveland High School
Sunday, July 24th at 8pm [precedes Tales From Red Vienna]
