Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2002)
february 1.2002* I A s if his partners don’t provide enough, Dan conjures his own torturous mind games excited about sharing his work with Portland. is to create a dialogue within the com m uni “This is a piece of theater that clearly is not ty, and he hopes to attract both queer and going to he accepted by all people. And even straight audience memhers. “ I want the audi though that’s the type of art 1 want to do, on ence to leave at the end o f the show with the flip side, I’m still a human being, and we their hair standing up and leaving the the all want our work to be liked. ” j n ater talking about this.” Zrehski says producing this “work in AFTER THE Z ipper runs 8 p.m. Thursday to progress” with the input o f a director and Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday through March 2 at three actors has been fulfilling. “Working Stark Raving Theatre, 2257 N.W. Raleigh St. closely with another passionate director is Tickets are $10-$20 from 503-232-7072 or challenging, thought-provoking and wonder ful all at the same time, which is exactly wuw.starkravingtheatre. org. what good art is. You come together, you debate, you butt heads and you m eld... and that’s exactly what this process has been. It has udience memhers will have an opportunity to voice reactions to yielded a much Stark Raving Theatre’s production of After the Zipper during two Just stronger text.” Out nights Feb. 9 and 16. He under “What excites us the most about this,” exclaims playwright Matthew stands Zipper is Zrebski, “is the opportunity to spark lively discussion and debate over the a big risk hut is material, opening up a dialogue with the queer community.” Included will be a show ing of After the Zipper as well as an interactive dis cussion with the writer, director and actors followed by a wine-and-cheese reception and Dorothy Hirsch’s comedic one- woman show Where’s Toto? Tickets are $20 for the entire evening. Zrebski adds, “We feel both these shows comple ment each other beautifully to provide a well-rounded evening of theater.” * A fter After the Zipper Stark Raving Theatre invites you to talk back A > I Writer Matthew Zrehski (left) and director Robert Tollefson call their play “ unapologetically adult" conversation with Dorothy Hirsch is like talking to a cartoon. An endless source of one-liners, accents and characters, she always has a story to tell. Ask her how she got her start in performance art, and she’ll tell you: “I was bom in the Wilcox Memorial Wing of Good Samaritan Hos pital. It was March 19, and it was a rainy midday. Shortly thereafter, I was chosen as the demonstrator baby for teaching new mothers how to wash their infants. And I believe that’s how I got my start.” A bom performer, the Portland native’s one-woman show Where’s Toto? is a combination of her vast writing and improvisational talent. It is running con currently with Stark Raving Theatre’s production of After the Zipper because they Kith have gay themes. “There is lesbian content,” Hirsch notes, “because I am a lesbian, and it speaks to my life experience.” However, the similarities between the two shows end there. Toto is a 75-minute adventure of com edy with numerous characters created by Hirsch based on her own life experiences. “Most of the stories are true,” she says, “but I’ve certainly taken poetic license.” The audience will meet a chansmatic feminist faith healer, a spirit medium and a referee, among others. The act is light hearted and funny, with moments of ad- libbing and opportunities for audience interaction. Thematically, the show will stand in stark contrast to Zipper, bringing audiences who see Kith performances full circle by the end of the night. Although Toto contains moments of improvisation, Hirsch will perform from a script. “While I have a great deal of fun going off on tangents for two hours at a time, that can turn out to be absolute brilliance— or incredibly Kiring," she says. The title of Hirsch’s show might seem somewhat mysterious, but the explanation is simple. As a member of The Wizard of Oz generatkin and with a name like Dorothy, she constantly was approached as a child by people joking, “Hey Dorothy, where’s Toto?” This experience became tedious quickly, and she turned it into a sub ject for comedy. Now, Toto the Dog is a character in her performance piece. 27 ■■ey Dorothy, where’s Toto? Onstage and off, this comical dyke has multiple personalities by Sarah Leimert ike many successful folks in the business of acting, Hirsch’s i career began with a college major that had nothing to do with the Dorothy Hirsch has a bone to pick with Oz’s Dorothy— ater: Russian. After graduating from Uni and her little dog, too versity of Denver, she moved to Wash Feudal Express Messenger at the Maryland ington, D.C., and worked in the Library of Con Renaissance Festival," the actress shares. She gress stacks, which, she says, was “quite a hoot.” spent 10 years in various capacities at the festi As a woman whose goal in life is to avoid val. “It really gave me a good, all-around the regrets, Hirsch decided to take some theater ater education,” she says. When she isn’t per classes in D.C. Since then, she has done a great forming, Hirsch is a highly ranked women’s deal of stage, comedy and improvisational work lacrosse referee and a librarian. on Kith coasts. She is excited to be back onstage in Port Hirsch, who lives back in Portland now, says land and to be working with Stark Raving the most important thing she learned during Theatre. “I very much enjoy performing,” she her time in the nation’s capital was the differ exclaims, “and so I tend to think audiences ence between acting and standup comedy. “I enjoy coming to my shows. They have, in the think that’s what created this hybrid of what past, laughed! Support the arts, come to live my performing tends to be— a combination of theater. It’s different than the movies.” monologues and character pieces,” she explains. Her résume Kiasts a nearly equal amount of stage and comedy work, along with some direct WHERE’S T o to ? runs 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through March 2 at Stark Raimg Theatre, ing, producing and much script writing. | 2257 N.W. Raleigh St. Tuckets are $12 from “One of the longest-running and most use 503-232-7072 or wuw.starkravtngtheatre.org. ful gigs I did was as Lucretia G. Swiftly, the I jn
