Writing Identities: Unpacking the Playwright’s Point of View with Redwood's Brittany K. Allen
In this workshop, we’ll discuss and explore new ways to tell stories about identity, particularly in the frame of the contemporary “social/political” play. Pertinent questions include: 1) when writing about a particular group of people, how does a writer balance nuance and honesty? And, 2) how do we as artists address the blind spots in our characters, even as we write boldly about those we know well (or those we don’t)? Through in-class writing exercises and some guided group discussion, we’ll consider the ways our own identities shape the stories we tell, and hopefully leave the day with some new methods for writing the Other (or the Self!) with rigor, compassion, and depth.
Brittany K. Allen is thrilled to be making her Portland Center Stage at The Armory debut! A New York-based actor and writer, her plays have been developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theater, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and elsewhere. Brittany holds commissions from Playwrights Horizons and Manhattan Theatre Club/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She's a member of the emerging writers group at The Public Theater, the Obie Award-winning EST/Youngblood, and was a 2017 Van Lier Playwriting Fellow at the Lark. Redwood (Kilroys List, 2017) will be produced in 2020 at The Jungle Theater and Ensemble Studio Theatre. Recent New York performance credits include Gloria: A Life (Off-Broadway), Minor Character (New Saloon; New York Innovative Theatre Award for Best Ensemble), and workshops with Atlantic Theater Company, Clubbed Thumb, and New York Stage and Film. Brittany received her B.F.A. from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center.
Current & Upcoming
Art Exhibit: ¡Soy Yo! by Mika Martinez
¡Soy Yo!, is a multi-media project, created by Mika Martinez, that examines and celebrates Latinx identity featuring more than 50 portraits of the Hispanic/Latino community in Portland.
Piano Bar with Courtney Freed and David Saffert
Join us for this monthly event with local songstress Courtney Freed and Portland-based pianist David Saffert as they host a good old-fashioned PIANO BAR.
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!
Nassim
From Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour (creator of the Off-Broadway smash hit White Rabbit, Red Rabbit) comes an audacious new theatrical experiment, presented in collaboration with Boom Arts. Each night, a new, unrehearsed local performer joins the playwright on stage, while the script waits, unseen, in a sealed box... Touchingly autobiographical yet powerfully universal, NASSIM is a striking theatrical demonstration of how language can both divide and unite us.
Art Exhibit: Garam Garam Chai by Yusra Siddiqui
Portland Center Stage will host Garam Garam Chai, an art exhibit by Portland-based multidisciplinary artist Yusra Siddiqui, featuring a series of hand-sewn teabag printmaking pieces that serve as a contemplation of the communal tea times shared between Desi and British culture.
Coriolanus
Shakespeare’s tragedy about the war hero Coriolanus and the fight between the elite and the deprived masses will be fueled by a dynamic female and non-binary ensemble with a muscular, movement-focused staging.
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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