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Defunkt lives! And Profile, too

June 5, 2013
Theater

 

Defunkt's "The Boys in the Band" is being held over – and its director returns for another twofer next season. Photo: Holly Andres

Defunkt’s “The Boys in the Band” is being held over – and its director returns for another twofer next season. Photo: Holly Andres

It’s almost summer, and almost Drammy time (the annual celebration of the past season’s top theater achievements is this Monday, June 10, at the Crystal Ballroom), which mean that Portland theater companies are shifting into overdrive to get their 2012-13 seasons announced. Latest to peel out of the starting gate is defunkt theatre (yes, it’s all lower case) which is calling its 14th season “Provocations” (yes, with a capital “P”).

And while we’re at it, let’s catch up with Profile Theatre‘s new season, its first in residence at the Artists Rep space after getting kicked out of Southeast Portland’s Theater! Theatre! space (along with Theatre Vertigo, Fuse Theatre, and various part-timers) to make way for a tea warehouse. Profile had already announced it would be doing an all-Sam Shepard season. Now it has the specifics.

Defunkt, in the midst of a hit Jon Kretzu two-fer with its twin productions of Mart Crowley’s “The Boys in the Band” and Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour,” goes back to the well with director Krutzu for another double-header, Martin Krimp’s “Fewer Emergencies” and Christopher Durang’s “Betty’s Summer Vacation.” Defunkt also announced that “B in the B” is being extended, with added shows June 20, 21, and 22.

Here are details from defunkt’s press release. Details of Profile’s Shepard season will follow that:

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defunkt theatre’s Season 14: Provocations

“The Submission”     October 11-November 16 2013

by Jeff Talbott directed by Andrew Klaus-Vineyard

 A young struggling white playwright writes a wonderful play about an African American family escaping poverty.  To increase its chances of getting produced he submits the play to a prestigious theater festival under the pseudonym of Shaleeha G’ntamobi. What follows is a searing, no holds barred exploration of racism, homophobia, sexism, affirmative action and hypocrisy in modern America . An electrifying new play from a fresh new voice in American theater, “The Submission” is a Portland Area premiere.

 

“Let A Hundred Flowers Bloom”  February 14-March 22, 2014

by David Zellnik directed by Paul Angelo

 It’s 1996 and advances in AIDS medications leave a group of men who faced near certain death a sudden, unexpected hope for a future.  Puppy is a writer of pornography with a Marxist slant; an accident has left him confined to a wheelchair but his sexual fantasies know no limit. Sexually frank, hilarious, and deeply moving, this award winning play is a West Coast premiere, and  playwright David Zellnik will be visiting Portland during the run.

 

STATES OF EMERGENCY: May 9- June 14, 2014

directed by Jon Kretzu

“Fewer Emergencies” by Martin Crimp

in repertory with

“Betty’s Summer Vacation” by Christopher Durang

directed by Jon Kretzu

 Following this season’s hit Herstory/History project, defunkt again collaborates with Jon Kretzu to create two unforgettable evenings of theater by two of modern theater’s most original playwrights, both exploring the 24 hour news cycle of the modern world in which truly everything, even natural and man made disasters is packaged and sold for our consumption.  Funny, dark and incendiary, these two plays provide a fitting end to a season of provocative theater you won’t see anywhere other than defunkt.

Summer Sale: Now through July 1st, get season tickets for a special price of $50.  That is four evenings of world class theater for one great low price.  Visit defunktheatre.com to take advantage of this limited time offer.

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And Profile’s Sam Shepard season, from its recent press release:

“The 2014 Sam Shepard season will include ‘Eyes for Consuela,’ January 15 – February 2, directed by Mikhael Tara Garver; ‘Buried Child,’ May 28 – June 15, directed by Profile Theatre Artistic Director Adriana Baer; ‘A Festival of One Acts,’ Sept. 3 – 8, featuring six plays and six bands over six days; and ‘Kicking A Dead Horse,’ November 5 – 23, also directed by Baer.

Sam Shepard. Photo: sam-shepard.com

Sam Shepard. Photo: sam-shepard.com

“In addition, programming through Profile’s expanded In Dialogue Series will accompany the season, including readings of Shepard’s plays and lectures, concerts, and contemporary plays in conversation with Shepard’s body of work. The company will continue its educational outreach programs in fall of 2013 and throughout the 2014 season.

“’We’re crafting a year that will feature some of the most powerful American writing of the stage,’ says Adriana Baer. “The season spans Shepard’s long career, including plays from every decade since the 1960s, and heavy hitters as well as some lesser known pieces. These plays are poetic and dream-like, gritty and mean, surprising in their gentleness and shocking in their familiarity. Sam Shepard is a writer seemingly tailor-made for Portland audiences.’

“Subscriptions for the Sam Shepard season will go on sale September 2013. Single tickets will be available in October. Information is available on www.profiletheatre.org.”

Because of the venue move, Profile’s new season will begin in January rather than this fall.

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