JAW Play Reading: Say Gay Plays
Conceived in response to the 2022 passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Voyage Theater Company Founding Artistic Director Wayne Maugans’ SAY GAY PLAYS offers royalty-free short plays by queer playwrights to not-for-profit theatre companies, arts organizations, and educational institutions for local activism and fundraising for LGBTQ+ communities across America. In a collaboration between Say Gay Plays, Fuse Theatre Ensemble and Portland Center Stage, JAW will feature an evening of these short plays, sharing work from playwrights across the country and a brand new commission by Portland playwright Carlos-Zenen Trujillo.
JAW New Play Festival FREE! July 28-30
A week-long assembling of artists and audiences to create new plays! Artistic teams, including playwrights, directors and actors, come together to rehearse — and a lot of times rewrite! — a play. The final piece of the process happens during the weekend, when we share “music stands readings” with audiences so the playwrights can hear their work, often for the very first time!
Carlos-Zenen Trujillo (they/them) is a Latine theatre artist from Bejucal, Cuba. Carlos' written work includes: The Island in Winter or La Isla en Invierno, and Our Utopia (Bag&Baggage Productions); Christmas, Contigo (Oregon Cabaret Theatre; Teatro de las Americas; TheatreWorks Tampa); Conchita (a play about a dog) and WILD/CAUGHT (Artist Repertory Theatre); The Image of the Black Madonna and Abundancia (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Long White Line (LimeArts Productions) and Queen of Deseret (FUSE/OUTWright). They are an ordained babalocha in Regla de Ocha and served as a Lucumí Religious Consultant for Dear Dead Drug Lord (Washington Ensemble Theatre; CRAVE Theatre) and The Brothers Size (Portland Center Stage). They have been seen on stage in Spinning Into Butter (Bag&Baggage) WILD/CAUGHT, Sube y Baja, Speech and Debate (ART) and Oculus Anubis (Pyramid Scheme). Carlos-Zenen holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Southern Oregon University. They also hold a degree in Culinary Arts from the Northwest Culinary Institute and are a Certified Home Care Worker with the State of Oregon.
Current & Upcoming
July First Thursday with Pablo Rivarola
July First Thursday will feature live music by the Pablo Rivarola Trio, along with art installations by Krystal Perez and Orlando Almanza, and complimentary beer from our partners at Deschutes Brewery!
JAW Play Reading: The Sugar Hole
By Virginia Baeta and Amy Driesler
A rent increase for a legendary lesbian bar threatens its existence, and Darcy has a plan to save it. Is the 90's-themed Lesbian Pageant she dreams up as a fundraiser the answer? Or do the lesbians around her have different ideas about what needs to be saved? The Sugar Hole skips through time and space - real and imagined - exploring what it means to be a lesbian in a lesbian community, the importance of spaces for queer people, and what makes someone feel they belong.
JAW Play Reading: Teen Playwrights Showcase
Don’t miss this chance to experience some of the newest voices in theater! Four young playwrights have been commissioned by PCS to write short scripts for JAW. This showcase will feature the dynamic short scripts they’ve developed, performed by professional actors.
JAW Play Reading: Out There
Created by William Carlos Angulo, Isaac Gómez & Michelle J. Rodriguez
Music & Lyrics by Michelle J Rodriguez
Book by Isaac Gómez
When MJ, a once-great musician turned recluse, summons his best friends to his beach house with a "code red," old tensions and buried secrets resurface as the characters confront their shared pasts and uncertain futures. A PCS Commission, Out There is a richly layered story about family, love, and redemption told through the intersecting lives of three lifelong best friends—MJ, David, and Lars—and the people bound to them: Marcus, Feli, Joe, Dayana, and Kahliah. Set against storm-lashed coastlines, intimate hotel rooms, and bustling cityscapes, Out There invites audiences into a surreal world, portraying an unprecedented portrait of a modern family that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant.
Improvisation Classes for Beginners
Whether you're looking to get more confident in social situations, think quicker on your feet, or get in touch with your imaginative side, these "one-off" improv classes will set you on the path to success!
Portland Center Stage is committed to identifying & interrupting instances of racism & all forms of oppression, through the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, & accessibility (IDEA).
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