just out ▼ decomber 19. 1997 T 37
Back on the block
Experimental theater artist and former
Portlander Drew Pisarra returns to the Northwest
to première his new work, Singularly Grotesque,
commissioned by the Portland Institute for Con
temporary Art for its 1997-98 performance sea
son.
A mind-bending mix of philosophy and farce
in true Pisarran style, this gothic solo piece uses a
lively blend of ventriloquism, movement and
ntertainment
theatrics to examine the struggle for individual
ity—despite the cultural emphasis on collective
spirit, group morale, cooperative efforts and con
formity—within the territory of the human psyche.
Now a denizen of New York City, Pisarra
began performing solo works five years ago at
various work-in-progress forums around Port
body of work with significant lesbian or gay
content. It is named for a longtime Dutton editor-
in-chief who died from AIDS-related causes in
1987. Previous winners include Edmund White,
Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich.
Established in 1993 to support and encourage
dramatists whose work reflects the continuing
growth of the queer community in the arts, the
Robert Chesley Award this year celebrates the
oeuvre of Paula Vogel, whose plays, including
The Baltimore Waltz as well as And Baby Makes
Seven, have featured a number of gay and lesbian
characters.
The Randy Shilts Award and the Judy Grahn
Award, both presented for the first time this year,
went to Anthony Heilbut for Thomas Mann: Eros
and Literature and Bernadette J. Brooten for Love
Between Women: Early Christian Responses to
Female Homoeroticism, respectively. Additional
prizes included two Ferro-Grumley Awards for
fiction, given this year to Andrew Holleran for
The Beauty o f Men and to Persimmon Blackbridge
for Sunnybrook.
The Publishing Triangle,
which annually presents the
only national queer literary
prizes that offer an honorarium
to writers, is an association of
sexual minorities in publish
ing organized to promote vis
ibility of queer literature
through social events, read
ings, panel discussions and
AIDS advocacy.
PHOTO BY Y ALON ERHAN
You, take two
Drew Pisarra
land. These initial short pieces were later com
bined in his first evening-length work, Queer
Notions. His subsequent monologue, Fickle, de
buted at Portland Actor’s Conservatory and toured
to Los Angeles and Seattle. The Portland Art
Museum commissioned his piece The Gospel
According to St. Genet for its 1995 Biennial.
Pisarra has published poetry in several maga
zines, and a collection of his short fiction was
released by Future Tense Press in 1996 under the
title Publick Spanking.
Singularly Grotesque shows at 8 pm on Jan. 8,
9 and 10 at the Eastside Performance Center, 531
SE 14th Ave. Tickets are $14, $12 for PICA
members; call 242-1419.
Publishing Triangle praises
Maupin and Vogel
Tales o f the City author Armistead Maupin
and playwright Paula Vogel were among the
honorees when the Publishing Triangle presented
its annual literary awards in November.
Maupin was given the 1997 Bill Whitehead
Award for Lifetime Achievement in Lesbian and
Gay Literature, and Vogel, whose play How I
Learned to Drive is currently running off-Broad-
way, received a play writing award sponsored by
the Robert Chesley Foundation.
The Whitehead Award recognizes a lifetime
Stark Raving Theatre
proudly rem ounts last
season’s sold-out Solstice hit
It Had to Be You in the Sanc
tuary at Theater! Theatre!
through Jan. 3.
Written by Renee Taylor
and Joe Bologna and directed
by Stark Raving’s artistic di
rector Dave Demke, It Had to
Be You is the lighthearted tale
of one woman’s obsessive
quest for love. The show
fetched a Drammy Award last
year for lead actress Gretchen
Corbett in the role of Theda.
Also on stage through Jan.
3, Raving After Hours and
Kevin-Michael Moore present
another blast from the past:
The Gun Happy Teenage Re
form School Girl a Go-Go, a
parody of propaganda comic
books of the ’40s and ’50s starring Tony St. Clair
as a do-gooder and Jordana Barnes as a bad seed.
Performances of It Had to Be You are at 7:30
pm Wednesday through Saturday (no shows on
Dec. 24 or 25). Tickets for the New Year’s Eve
champagne gala are $20 and all other tickets are
$15; advance purchase is recommended, call
232-7072. The Gun Happy Teenage Reform School
Girl a Go-Go plays Friday and Saturday nights at
10:30 pm; tickets are $6 at the door. Theater!
Theatre! is located at 3430 SE Belmont St.
The Spirit Is Escential.
Needle-free
H IV testing
for g a y & bi men
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Gift Baskets Starting at $12.95. Great Stocking Stutters Too!
ES C EN TIA L
tS /
lotions & oils
710 NW23id A w . »248-9748 O 5038 SE Hawthorne • 236-7976
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£
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Every Monday
7-9 PM
p™™,
Community Action Bids.
Ffoi
1 0 0 1 S W B a s e lin e
H ills b o r o , O R
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2 2 3 -5 9 0 7 e x t. 1 7 0
Speak to Your Brothers is a
program of Cascade AIDS Project
inDIGO
S h a m in g o f th e S u n DUO TOUR
Perchance to dance
The Lesbian Community Project and the Port
land Lesbian Choir are hosting their annual les
bian New Year’s Eve dance and silent auction,
which benefits both organizations, at the Mont
gomery Park Atrium, 2701 NW Vaughn St., from
8 pm to 1 am—on Dec. 31, of course! Enjoy
dancing with DJ Ms. Boogie, hors d ’oeuvres and
a no-host bar, plus the midnight celebration in a
smoke-free, wheelchair-accessible environment
with free child care.
Tickets are $20 at the door or $ 15 in advance
and are available at It’s My Pleasure, Jelly Bean,
In Other Words, Mother Kali’s in Eugene and
Rosebud and Fish in Salem, or charge by phone
through the LCP office at 282-8090.
Compiled by Christopher D. Cuttone
R O S E G A R D EN THEATER OF THE CLOUDS
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