Fertile Ground Festival

Are you down to clown? Numerous Fertile Ground alumni will take part in this year's third annual COHO Clown Fest.

FG24 comedy "Anne Zander is MOTHER" will be a fantastic addition to the line up on Sept 22. If you didn't get the chance to see the postpartum clowning spectacular during the Festival, you have another shot!

This year's ClownFest will feature 15+ performances from Sept. 6 through Oct. 6. To reserve your spot, purchase individual tickets OR the ClownFest Fast Pass. Both available through the link below.

Stay tuned to hear more between the dynamic duo of COHO and Fertile Ground!

https://cohoproductions.org/clownfest-2024/

Portland is abundant with new works, including tomorrow's The Hatchery presented by Many Hats Collaboration at The Judy. The events are FREE and while reservations are full for some events, join the waitlist and attend the other parts of the festival.

The Hatchery is a revolutionary annual new works festival supporting music and movement-centered theater. The two new works: "WHY and HOW Are Not in the Picture" by Monique Holt is performed entirely in American Sign Language with multi-sensory elements for hearing and d/Deaf audiences.

"La Mariposa" is a solo devised work by Sofía Marks with Isabel McTighe about a girl's quest to remember her name and reconnect with her deities through Aztec mourning rituals.

Other events include a catered happy hour, a moderated panel on creating d/Deaf theater, and an all-bodies-welcome dance class. All events are entirely free of charge, open to the public, and ASL-interpreted.

For more info, visit https://www.manyhatscollaboration.org/thehatchery

The 2024 ClownFest Line-Up is ready for release! Check out this year’s list of delightful performances, and book your tickets to each individual show using the LinkTree link in our bio!

* Opening Follies: Clown Dance Ritual hosted by Rachel Wells
9/6 @ 7:30 PM
* LIVE DEVISE! hosted by Sascha Blocker
9/7 @ 7:30 PM
* Tutti-Frutti presented by Iveliz Martel
9/8 @ 7:30 PM
* Clown Workshop presented by Jusby the Clown
9/11 from 6:30 - 9:30 PM
* Omong Kosong: Trickster Tales Of Indonesia And Elsewhere presented by Jusby the Clown
9/12 @ 7:30 PM
* The Identical Twins presented by The Identical Twins
9/13 & 9/14 @ 7:30 PM
* Funny Bones - Everyday Clown presented by Sascha Blocker
9/15 @ 7:30 PM
* PSA: Pelvic Service Announcement presented by Amy Veltman
9/19 & 9/21 @ 7:30 PM
* Slutheby’s Live Auction presented by Libby
9/20 @ 7:30 PM
* Anne Zander is MOTHER presented by Le Why Not Productions
9/22 @ 7:30 PM
* Two Clowns and a Chair presented day Marty Honig & Ryan Gangwish
9/26 @ 7:30 PM
* seaMAN presented by Amiga Hunter & Bruce Ryan Costella
9/27 & 9/28 @ 7:30 PM
* Me, Myself, and Us presented by Stefano Iaboni
9/29 @ 7:30 PM
* Clowns Against Imperialism presented by Clownbloc
10/3 @ 7:30 PM
* All Boats presented by Julia Bray
10/4 @ 7:30 PM
* Forever Frank presented by Emily Newton
10/5 & 10/6 @ 7:30 PM

Want to know more about each individual show? Visit us online at www.cohoproductions.org/clownfest-2024 (and snag your ClownFest FastPass while you’re at it)!

The Fertile Ground Festival of New Works is excited to announce our 2025 dates! For our sweet 16, we want to keep the party going even longer. That's why we are celebrating 16 years with 16 days full of theatre. Other key dates to put on your calendar include Sept. 15 - GROW Grant and Venue applications open and Nov. 1 - Festival Registration open. For more information, make sure you're signed up for our mailing list! Join with the link below.

https://mailchi.mp/ab14192db255/fertile-ground-mailing-list

Are you doing anything tomorrow? Well now you are! Come to 21ten's 1st Annual Street Fair and fundraiser to support our theatre community and have a blast.

There will be food, drinks, performances and tabling. Fertile Ground will be representing there as part of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance.

Want to find out the 2025 Fertile Ground dates before they're officially announced? Track down Festival Director Tamara Carroll at this fun community event, and support our good friends at 21ten while you're at it!

Risk/Reward want YOU to make ART! The experimental new performance festival is looking for submissions to its Election Anti-Party which is at the end of September. There is only until the end of day, July 31 to submit your proposal!

This show will be an anti-celebration of the current state of our politics and the upcoming election. Is there hope? And if so, what does it look like, feel like, how do we reach out for it? And what must we all remember as the election approaches? (We know, it is constantly changing.)

For our Showcase on September 28th, we are asking 20 artists/groups to present 2-to-4 minute performance pieces about the election, in any genre or combination of genres.

More guidelines and the submission form can be found at the link in bio!

Risk/Reward want YOU to make ART! The experimental new performance festival is looking for submissions to its Election Anti-Party which is at the end of September. There is only until the end of day, July 31 to submit your proposal!

This show will be an anti-celebration of the current state of our politics and the upcoming election. Is there hope? And if so, what does it look like, feel like, how do we reach out for it? And what must we all remember as the election approaches? (We know, it is constantly changing.)

For our Showcase on September 28th, we are asking 20 artists/groups to present 2-to-4 minute performance pieces about the election, in any genre or combination of genres.

More guidelines and the submission form can be found here: https://forms.gle/8Vq9gYejfGLy8N6a8

There's another new works festival in town 🤠👀 But don't worry, we are on friendly terms! And tickets are FREE. Join us at Portland Center Stage for the JAW New Play Festival 🎭

Discover four compelling new plays and five short plays by talented local teens, brought to life by beloved Portland actors. Experience script-in-hand readings, community artist labs, and more—all FREE! Don’t miss this weekend of fresh, vibrant theater happening July 26-28 in the Ellyn Bye Studio. Details and full schedule at pcs.org/JAW.

🎭Giveaway alert! Hexen LA’s opening nights are next weekend!! I’m offering 2 tickets to either Saturday’s 8pm or Sunday’s 7pm show. 👉 Tag someone you would like to bring in the comments below for a chance to win!

🗓️ When:
Sat, July 27 @ 8 pm
Sun, July 28 @ 7 pm
Sat, Aug 24 @ 8 pm
Sat, Sept 28 @ 8 pm
Sat, Oct 26 @ 8 pm
Sat, Nov 23 @ 8 pm

Where: El Portal Theatre
📍 5269 Lankershim Blvd
🌎 North Hollywood, CA 91601

What: This unique one woman performance with three witch archetype characters weaves together historical accounts, ancestral legacies, and imaginative storytelling. Join me for this exploration of the power of reclaiming ancestry, and the celebration of the mystical.

✨ Co-directed and in collaboration with Rose Bonomo.

📷 Sneak peak behind the scenes shot! Creating a theatrical blend of song, audience interaction, and aerial dance in spaces throughout the US is pure joy. I’m thrilled to bring HEXEN to my home town starting this month!!

📷 Credit Jess Gaffney
📍jajapdx & Fertile Ground Festival
🌎 819 SE Taylor, Portland, OR

*Contest ends Tuesday 7/23 and the winner will be notified by Wednesday 7/24.

Fertile Ground is committed to improving access to our spaces, both physical and virtual because we believe theatre is for EVERYONE.

One way we are working on accessibility is through American Sign Language interpretation. Our 2024 Festival featured over 10 shows with ASL interpretation, including every single LineStorm Playwrights productions. Our opening night toast also included interpreters. We are working to expand the number of interpreted performances as part of the Festival in years to come.

Dot Hearn served as the ASL coordinator for the LineStorm shows. She has been an interpreter for over 30 years, mainly in the theatre sphere due to her passion for the arts and has worked with Fertile Ground for several years. Dot first heard of the Festival as a theatre goer!

Dot views interpreting for new works as a unique and exciting challenge.

"It's a special place to be in, to be able to be involved with the playwrights as they're developing scripts and presenting those," Dot said. "Being able to see them in their various developments -- it's like a challenge with something like this, with new play works."

Evidently, new works interpretation provides another venue for artistic choices! We encourage future producers to include ASL interpretation in their shows and offer theatre to a wider audience. Fertile Ground will provide support and resources for our producers to arrange interpretation.

Please email Tamara Carroll at [email protected] if you have questions about the accessibility of Fertile Ground, or any other questions, concerns, or feedback.

Can you believe we are almost three months out from Fertile Ground 2024? During that time, many of the productions have received feedback and impressive acclaim from critics, industry members and the broader Portland Theatre community. Now is better than ever to remember these projects and show off their success!

"Bone Sorrow: The Elder Tree, Cleave and A Circle of Stones" by Nina Monique Kelly, presented by PDX Playwrights was a trio of surrealist dramas that earned exemplary reviews from Broadway World, Oregon Arts Watch and the Fertile Ground community. Scroll to see snippets of reviews!

Congratulations to PDX Playwrights, Nina Monique Kelly, actors, crew and anyone else involved with "Bone Sorrow." Photos courtesy of Nina Monique Kelly.

Did you miss “WILD/CAUGHT” during this year’s Festival? Fret not, there is another opportunity to see the show by Artists Rep’s 2022-24 PATHWAYS mentorship cohort.

In a salmon cannery on the Astoria waterfront, the assembly line transforms into a raging current of revolution for multiple generations of women migrant workers. As the women band together, their journey shines a spotlight on the hidden histories of exploitation and invisible labor that affect us to this day as well as the scars that industrialism has left on our environment.

Reserve your tickets for this script-in-hand performance now! At the Artists Repertory Theatre lobby on June 29 at 7:30 p.m. and June 30 at 2 p.m. Regular tickets $20, student tickets $10 and Arts for All tickets $5.

Ticket link in bio!

Did you miss "WILD/CAUGHT" during this year's Festival? Fret not, there is another opportunity to see the show by Artists Rep’s 2022-24 PATHWAYS mentorship cohort.

In a salmon cannery on the Astoria waterfront, the assembly line transforms into a raging current of revolution for multiple generations of women migrant workers. As the women band together, their journey shines a spotlight on the hidden histories of exploitation and invisible labor that affect us to this day as well as the scars that industrialism has left on our environment.

Reserve your tickets for this script-in-hand performance now! At the Artists Repertory Theatre lobby on June 29 at 7:30 p.m. and June 30 at 2 p.m. Regular tickets $20, student tickets $10 and Arts for All tickets $5.

https://tickets.artistsrep.org/7960/7962

This past weekend in Portland theatre was vivid!

Risk/Reward held their 16th annual festival at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art featuring their main stage performances, two drag theatre workshops, DJ sets, installation art and R&R drinks. Themes of the weekend include clowning, rolling around, loops and unexpected entrances!

Evelyn Wohlbier, who was in LineStorm's "Cessair: How Ireland Was Born," said goodbye to Portland with a house show last weekend. Wohlbier is moving to Chicago and hopes to continue working in theatre there. The show was cabaret style, featuring songs about the moon and special guests throughout.

Ready for some new work this weekend? The 16th Risk/Reward Festival opens tonight at PICA! Come see drag, film, dance, theatre and genre bending acts this weekend with sliding scale tickets. Scroll to see the venues and schedule of events.

One ticket serves as a pass for all other events that day, so you can keep the fun going! Reserve your tickets now.

https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=riskr

D R E S S 🥼🦺🩳🩲👗👚👖🧥R E H E A R S A L
WE OPEN TONIGHT!!! with the ANNEX THEATER - MAINSTAGE
TICKETS ON SALE (link in bio or at risk-reward.org)
June 21-23, 2024 | (15 NE Hancock St.)

“Alabaster” by Audrey Cefaly opened last night as the inaugural show of Willow Jade Norton Productions. The dark comedy, which features Fertile Ground alumnus Jerilyn Armstrong, explores healing, trauma, resilience and the restorative power of art.

Shows available at Shaking the Tree for June 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8. As part of the event, two workshops are also free with ticket person on June 3 and 4. Ada Goldberg is hosting the June 3 Creative Healing Workshop, and Lisa Headings is hosting the Expressive Art Therapy Workshop on June 4.

FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY, 16 +. Nudity and flashing lights. Tickets available now!

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/willowjadenortonproductions/1089642

Missing Fertile Ground? Well, we aren't the only Festival in town! Curious Comedy Theater extended an special invite to FREE workshops and tickets to Fertile Ground producers and audiences! Come see the last of the Chroma Comedy Festival, closing tomorrow.

https://www.chromacomedy.org/

Missing Fertile Ground? Fuse Theatre's "The Play About My Father" by Kate Mura will be playing until May 5. Missed your chance to see it during the Festival? Come see it now!

“In 50 minutes, she switches voices and characterizations effortlessly, and offers vivid representa- tions of people who exhibit compassion in a trying time. It gives you hope that people can be like this all the time, not just in the wake of tragedy.” – Theater Jones

"The Play About My Father" created and performed by Kate Mura, is a theatrical “thank you” to the New Jersey community who rallied around her family after her father’s freak accident. This tale of (seemingly- too-rare) compassion and kindness features physical storytelling, corporeal mime, improv and a magic skirt! Watch her shift from tragedy to acceptance via the race track, ghosts, and lots and lots of casseroles.

"The Play About My Fathe"r began as a short mask show, Suburban Tribe in the very first, Fertile Ground. It grew & transformed over the past decade through national and international tours, theft, and death. Resiliency, continues in this final iteration transforming tragedy into creation.

Buy your tickets now! https://fertilegroundpdx.org/the-play-about-my-father/

We're still basking in the awesomeness of this year's Fertile Ground Festival, and so is Broadway World! Check out this lovely wrap-up article and remember to support local artists all year round!

FERTILE GROUND ROUNDUP #2 Portland’s 2024 Fertile Ground Festival of New Works is officially over. What a great festival it was! I enjoyed everything I saw, and there are several that I believe merit full productions.

PDX Playwrights and LineStorm Playwrights help Oregon writers get their scripts onstage at the just-concluded annual festival of new works – and beyond.

Yesterday marked the end of this years Fertile Ground Festival of New Work. Thank you to everyone who attended, performed, organized or was involved in any way. Thank you to our sponsors for allowing this year's Festival to grow bigger than ever before! Thank you to Artists Repertory Theatre for being the first ever official Festival venue.

To keep updated with all things Fertile Ground, join our mailing list through the link in our bio. And, stay tuned here! Registration for next year's producers will open in the fall. We are looking forward to continuing to sow the Portland Area theatre scene.

Comment below with your favorite moments from this year's Festival!

Artists Repertory Theatre

Did you see “TheTNTGamer” by Annabelle Wright, presented by Le Why Not Productions. Give your flowers to the creators in the comments!

Annabelle Wright is: software engineer by day, comedian/clown/and circus artist by night, and once upon a time… TheTnTGamer! Before she became the fabulous woman she is today, Annabelle was a pre-teen boy with a YouTube channel and a simple dream: to be famous.

In Annabelle’s debut solo show, she recreates the world of her former self and explores with vulnerability and absurdity how it shaped her identity and expression. Integrating the literal (and sometimes mortifying) YouTube videos from her youth – a showcase of her bizarre and useless talents to a handful of viewers – TheTnTGamer is a one-woman comedy show about growing up in a world that doesn’t always understand or appreciate the creative pursuits of youth.

Seeing this double header today? Let us know how it was in the comments below!

That Abortion Play by Tamar Bolkvadze – It’s the abortion play you didn’t know you needed. Eliana, a Jewish single mother, finds time between work and breaking up her kids’ fights to volunteer at a local abortion clinic, escorting patients past pro-life protesters. Escorts are instructed to not engage with the protesters, but Eliana takes a different approach. From critiquing their signs, to debating religion, she takes the protestors on.

Tru Adoration by Katie Bennett – A cast of eccentric characters pervade this humorous play about romance, life and career: Alexandra Bow and Jerry Cosmo may have different college majors, but yearn to be of one heart. As they struggle to understand each other with the help of their celebrated dance teacher, Tru Adoré, there is no end to their curiosity about the true nature of love, physics and dance.

Let us know about both these shows below!