JULY 18, 2008
theater
justout 41
Peacock Productions, Inc. presents
a
Life's a Butch
Gender-bending characters contain multitudes
Pony
minated history while contemplating the limits
“Are you ready?"
and possibilities of gender: What supposedly
This is Portland Center Stage artistic direc makes a man a man, a woman a woman, and how
tor Chris Coleman’s standard line when he faces
have these concepts played into the history of
the packed crowds at the theater’s annual Just
humankind?
Add Water Festival. And hy standard we mean
German playwright Manfred Karge’s 1982
much-loved; Coleman imparts a furtive intimacy
one-person piece Man to Man, which is receiving
with the audience when introducing the world
a new production in Portland, reverses Wixilfs
premiere works-in-progress, known as PCS’ most
trajectory: Rather than sliding from male to fe
adventurous offerings of the year. Whether Cole male, its protagonist starts out as male and goes on
man himself is ready or not, his hair is usually
to assume femaleness—and takes up, chronologi
cally speaking, almost exactly where Orlando left
blown back by the immediate audience response:
“WlXXXXXXXKXXXKXlo!!!”
oft. (Interestingly, film versions of kith Orlando and
In addition to the four staged readings that
Man to Man were released in the early ’90s, kith with
have traditionally comprised the heart of the fes Tilda Swinton playing the gender-traversing lead.)
tival, a gaggle of events awaits you. But your queer Man to Man is an important (if unofficial) continua-
eye for the JAW Festival will point you straight to ti<>n of Wixilfsproject—a gender-switching journey
that spans from the 1920s and 1980s, when world
Sally Oswald’s Pony.
historical events caught the people of Germany
Pony is a pitch-black queer drama based on
Georg Buchner’s 1837 play Woyzeck, that hilari
in the crossfire as that nation lurched from the
ous German romp in which a man goes crazy after
libertine Weimar Republic to the rise of Nazism
undergoing medical experimentation and stabs
to postwar American occupation/reconstruction
his girlfriend. In working on the project Oswald
and Gold War division.
Every character in
was, in her own words via
Karge’s
play—men,
e-mail, “driving myself in
women, old, young,
sane trying to write a play
about some hutches in some
ultimately running to
dozens of characters
woods."
in addition to central
Oswald’s casting notes
call for three characters to
personage Ella-Gerick-
le, a widowed woman
be “self-styled masculine
leaning genders,” including
who takes on • her de
parted husband’s male
butch or transgender ac
tors. Two other characters
identity—is meant to
be played by one ac
are women, including a
tor in a sort of onstage
violence-prone answer to
manifestation of Walt
Buchner’s Marie.
Whitman’s “I contain
“I think it’s important
multitudes.” In this
to get gritty, complex and
case, the multitudes will
heartbreakingly honest por
be contained within the
trayals out there—especially
Sally
Oswald
hopes
to
boost
honest
talented, accomplished
serious images of masculine
portrayals of masculine women and
English actress Tarn
women or trans men. Some
trans men.
Sinclair, in a produc
how they continue to be ta
tion presented by the avant-garde U.K.-based
boo, even in queer media,” Oswald notes.
theater company The Kelman Group.
What she’s done about it is to co-found
The group has a close connection to Portland:
ButchCastingProject.com, a Web site connecting
Founder Bob Lix.kwix>d, who is directing the play,
butch-seeking producers with performers. Look
for blog posts from Portland during the week lead studied and collaborated with the late Scott Kel
man—a storied figure in American theater and a
ing up to Pony’s JAW debut.
long-term Portland resident—and the group, with
Although Pony presents a dangerous world,
its commitment to provocative, political perform
its instantly recognizable characters, haunted by
ance work across varied media, grew out of (and
transition and change, pull the audience in. “I
was named after) LixkwixxJ’s embrace of Kel
want to write plays that give the audience space
man ’s ideas and techniques. With Man to Man, its
to be creative and sit with something strange and
new,” Oswald shares of her aspirations, “and to
enjoy sparks of unexpectedness in themselves.”
The 10th JAW Festival runs through July 20
in Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128N.W.
11th Ave. For the complete schedule visit www.
pcs.org/jaw.
—Jessica Wallenfels
Man to Man
Virginia Woolfs famous, centuries- and gender
spanning novel Orlando, published in 1928, illu
third project here since 2003, The Kelman Group
is offering to Rose City theatergoers perhaps its
most ambitious work to date—a unique, challeng
ing performance experience based in that foun
dational queer theory that posits the malleability
of gender once exposed to the liberating power of
the human imagination.
Man to Man runs through Aug. 2 at Hipkine
Studio, 1847 E. Bumside St. Tickets are $8-$IO
from 971-212-2554.
—Christopher McQuain
©I
I o benefit the A ud ria M. I.duards Scholarship b
Saturday, September 13
Hosted In
Patron Reception 5pm
Show 6pm
The Newmark Theatre
Portland ( enter for the Performing Arts
1111 S\V Broadway
s'
Portland, Oregon
Zp
Maria
I ickets
Patron tickets $75.(Ml
General Reserved Seating $25.00
PC PA Box Office - 1111 SW Bro
I icketmaster outlets or
J|
www.tickoMnwter.coiii
B
Poison Waters
Tickets J
O u Sale
3 Naw!
PeacockAfterDark.com
The Revival Tour2
1