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Dear Friend,
March is just a few days away, and with it comes the arrival of Spring! I know I am looking forward to the longer days and warmer weather. At PCS, we are looking forward to the reopening of our theaters and to reuniting with you. In the meantime, please continue to visit us online to enjoy the rich and innovative PCS Remix season, including original works, delightful play readings, and engaging education and community outreach programs. You can view many of our recent programs on our Watch Now page.
On March 9, we will launch the Afro-futurist, sci-fi audio thriller PROTOCOL: Episode 1, as part of our PCS Remix: Original Works series. Conceived and created by Portland-based, multidisciplinary artist Phil Johnson, the project is a pilot episode for a podcast series Johnson plans to release at a later date.
We held our annual gala last Saturday, and we were very grateful so many of you joined us for the celebrations! At the gala, we introduced Soaring Together — a fundraising campaign focused on making sure that we have the necessary resources to soar back on stage. Stay tuned for more information on Soaring Together, and on how your continued support will play a pivotal role in our reopening.
The generosity of our donors lifts up everything we do at PCS. Thank you for being a part of our wonderful PCS community!
Staying connected is deeply meaningful to me, and I am only a short email or phone call away. Please reach out if you’d like to learn more about the exciting work happening at PCS.
With warm regards,
Metamorphosis Gala in honor of Diana Gerding
551 guests joined us for this joyous celebration of theater and the life of Diana Gerding, one of PCS’s most ardent supporters.
It was truly special to gather together — from the small group who were overjoyed to be broadcasting from our beautiful building (despite the masks and social distancing) to the many supporters, friends, and colleagues who joined us from near and far.
The performances were fabulous and an important reminder of just how much we all want to be back at The Armory, watching a magical world take place onstage.
Thanks to the many supporters who bid on auction items, bought raffle tickets, or made gifts during the General Appeal — we raised a phenomenal $315,000!
We are thrilled and deeply grateful by this outpouring of support. Thank you!
Insights from Marissa Wolf
During the early months of the pandemic, as we were figuring out how to shape a rich and innovative year of digital programming, I was faced with the sinking feeling that I’d never have a creative thought again. Up against the financial realities of canceling live performances, and feeling disconnected from the very core of why I pursued this field in the first place (the live-ness of live theater!), I felt unsure when I’d have the capacity to read scripts again and dream big for future seasons.
Thankfully, when Kamilah Bush joined the artistic staff as Literary Manager in September 2020, replacing the wonderful Benjamin Fainstein who had stepped down from the position a few months after the pandemic struck, I felt a renewed energy and sense of joyful possibilities.
Kamilah jumped into running our weekly season planning sessions, in which the artistic staff reads two plays a week. It was a genuine pleasure for me as we read and discussed work by early career writers, as well as major heavy hitters from the 20th-century canon and world theater. In particular, Kamilah’s curation of scripts includes classics by major Black American playwrights such as Alice Childress and Lonne Elder III, whose work is extraordinary but under-produced in our field and who are now high on the list of playwrights we’re excited to program for you in the future.
As we move boldly forward into 2021, I hope for each of us to find the space to connect with the art that ignites us. From reading, to watching digital theatrical experiences, to dreaming about that day in the 2021-2022 season when we can all step foot back into The Armory — may we each feel sparks of excitement and hope in the months to come.
Since Portland Center Stage moved into The Armory in 2006, our building has been host to more than two million people attending nearly 14,000 performances and other events. This means a great deal of wear and tear on the facility, and there are several repair and upgrade projects for which we are currently seeking funding, from accessibility services to HVAC and lighting systems. Foremost among them is refinishing and resealing The Armory’s concrete floors, which will improve safety and increase longevity. Thus, we were very excited to recently receive a $15,000 grant from The Kinsman Foundation to be directed toward the $41,000 floor refurbishment project. With these funds, we hope to have the work on the floor of the Main Lobby completed by the time we are able to return to live performances.
Established in 1983, The Kinsman Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on historic preservation, wildlife rehabilitation, and the arts, specifically literary arts, theater, and photography. The Foundation has been a generous, longtime supporter of PCS’s annual JAW: A Playwrights Festival and also played a key role in The Armory Theater Project, awarding an extraordinary $200,000 grant in 2005 that was used to restore the historic building’s windows.
We deeply appreciate The Kinsman Foundation’s many contributions to our community, and its continued support of PCS and our beautiful home!
Thank You!
PCS donors are vital to our success, and we are grateful to each and every one one of you. Please join us in welcoming our newest donors!
Our Community Values
Theater often brings productive discomfort to the surface. Portland Center Stage is committed to grappling with that discomfort, on and off the stage, and we invite members of our community to participate in that growth process with us. Our goal is to co-create safety for our community by identifying and interrupting instances of racism and all forms of oppression, when we witness them, through specific actions rooted in the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). Learn more.
