Program areas at PCS
After more than 18 months without live Stage productions, we were thrilled to welcome audiences back into the armory for a vibrant 2021-2022 season that featured seven productions: vanessa severo's "frida ... a self portrait;" simon stephens' "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time;" lauren yee's "the great leap;" john cameron mitchell's "hedwig and the angry inch;" august wilson's "gem of the ocean;" "freestyle love supreme created by thomas kail, lin-manuel miranda and anthony veneziale; and jonathan larson's "rent." Although well below our pre-covid attendance levels, the season's shows drew attendance of nearly 80,000 playgoers; our first three productions were also available via streaming and attracted 2,000 viewers.
As young people returned to classroom instruction, we were again able to offer in-person education programs, serving nearly 6,500 youth during 2021-2022. Our youth education programs included Stage door youth matinees, workshops, and tours; teen playwrights in-school residencies; the pcs teen council; and pcs teen academy. We also launched a new initiative: the teen playwright in residence program in which a teen is commissioned to develop a full-length play at pcs over the course of 12-18 months. During their residency, they receive mentoring from pcs's literary manager, writing resources (work space, digital library access, etc. ), a stipend, meetings with artistic staff, and more, including an informal reading with professional actors of their final draft. (continued on schedule o) our first teen playwright in residence is nevaeh warren, a student at prairie high school in vancouver, wa.we also returned to offering in-person workshops for adults interestedin learning more about the living Stage and other storytelling art forms. Among the offerings were classes in improvisation, urban jazz dance, viewpoints and suzuki acting methods, autobiographic devising for solo performance, and more, including a monthly drop-in writing workshop for bipoc writers.
Portland Center Stage is deeply invested in providing opportunities for fresh, diverse, and power theatrical voices and in developing and producing new works that enrich the contemporary theater repertoire. We were delighted to again be able to produce the 23rd jaw ("just add water") new play festival as an in-person event in july 2022, bringing together playwrights and other theater artists from around the country to develop new works in a curated, artist-focused process that also invites audiences along for the creative journey. The four scripts selected for the 2022 festival were anya pearson's "without a formal declaration of war" (a pcs commission); larry owens' "untitled projects; leah nanako winkler's "the brightest thing in the world" (continued on schedule o) (which received its world premiere at yal repertory theatre in november 2022); and our national open submission selection, "even faster than a blink,' by portland-based actor/playwright tyler andrew jones.we also implemented our first residency/workshop for "hombres," an original musical that pcs has commissioned from choreographer and director william carlos angulo, playwright isaac gmez, and composer and lyricist michelle j. rodriguez.
In person or online, pcs offered a wide array of free and nominal-cost community programs aimed at expanding access, increasing engagement, elevating local artists and organizations, and sparking conversations about our region's history, current issues, and aspirations. During 2021-2022, we served nearly 9,000 people and partnered with 35 organizations, 25 of which were culturally specific or social justice-focused; of the 45 artists and experts we engaged, 98% were people of color. A few of the year's community program highlights included: 1) monthly "first thursday" events with performances by musical artists as well as visual art exhibits; b) "press play" performances at the 2022 jaw festival that featured the machada mijiga trio and jermaine, dancers from espacio flamenco and the wwjp street dance group, and visual artist valentino oscar quijanomoeckel; and c) panel discussions on being a first-generation american theater artist and on diversity and equity considerations in casting.we also provided free or reduced-cost performance, rehearsal, meeting, and event space to a variety of community partners, including artists repertory theater, literary arts, steps pdx, sorvad ensemble, sisters of the road cafe, the asian pacific american network of Oregon, and several others.