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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1988)
f o V w v S m *» • ♦ ♦ ^»VW- W W»1» «I w* ♦ * * ♦ « f« • * ♦ ■ < • ♦ • • F ♦ » « < 9 * ♦ ♦ • * *■ ♦ * • ♦ July 13, 1988, Portland Observer, Page 3 f .V iN T E R T A IN M E N I a BROADWAY BOUND REPORT For tic k e t inform ation call the IFCC, 243-7930 or Connie Carley, Company Manager, PassinArts, 282-0003. By: Garland Lee Thompson P layw rights in Dialogue The PassinArtss Theatre Company is currently offering the C ity of P ort land, the only w orld w orkshop pre miere of a new Black play o f the 1988- 89 season, "W ells, W is h e s , and H e a rtfe lt D re a m s ," by the com pany’s founder, Michael J. Grant. The original play w ill run July 8th- 17th, 1988, at the Interstate Firehouse Cul tural Center, 5340 N. Interstate (o ff Killingsworth), 8 p.m . on Fridays, S a tu rd a ysa n d 2 p .m ., Sundays. 'W e lls , W is h e s ," according to the author, 'Is a re-creation o f African- Am ericans w ho might be term ed as ordinary people, w ho are directed by a vision of the future, hard-w on, but free. The story revolves around "Jo shua, a m inister," w ho is w orking on w ritin g his annual Juneteenthh sermon (the annual black holiday of Black Emancipation). W hile doing so, he experiences various interruptions and flashbacks in the course of completing his scrip t. The cast includes Henry Melson ("S plit S econd," "Ceremonies in Dark Old M e n ," "Spell Number Seven"), Wanda W alden ("Ceremonies in Dark Old M e n ," "M a Rainey's Black B o t to m ," and she is currently designing the costum es for Langston Hughes "Sim ply H eavenly" opening August 18, 1988, at Lincoln Hall Theatre, Portland S ta te U niversity, Michael Holiday ("L ittle Shop of H o rro r," "Split Second"), Gennar For land ("S plit Se cond"), and Korie Mayes. A t the playw rights symposium, w hich w as sponsored by the first New York International Festival of the A rts on Thursday, June 16, 1988, at the graduate Center of the C ity Univer sity of N ew York, the auditorium w as crow ded w ith theatre fans w ho had come to hear Tom Stoppard (w ho w on the 1984 Tony A w a rd for "The Real Thing"), A rth u r M iller ("D eath of a Salesm an"), August W ilson (w ho w on both a Pulitzer Prize and Tony A w a rd last year in 1987 fo r "Fences"), Athol Fugard ("M aster Harold and the Boys") and Tina Howe ("C ostal Disur- bances.") Mr. Wilson was upset about inadequate compensation for many theatre artists. 'W hen you say you're going to do a play on B roadway, in what they call the "com mericial area," M r. Wilson said, "Ithink of the Christians and the lions. Everyone shows up w ith their lawyer. You take the w ord com- merical, meaning commerce, and you take the w ord artist, and when you try to wedge the tw o together, you're going to have problems.'' Mr. Miller asserted that if he were to w rite "Death of a Salesman" today, it would not succeed. The otehrs did not agree because they felt that it is still a good play. Athol Fugard said that he would like to believe his plays reflected a certain comment on the Apartheid South African society, on which he has been writing for years (He is one of only a fe w white South African playwrights whose works have been presented successful without protest in the U .S .A .). He feels that this country is now more educated about the subtleties and com plexities of the situation in South A frica . Mr. Stoppard had a somewhat more optimistic view of other opportunities provided by nonprofit and regional theaters in America and the subsidized theatre of Britain. Ms. Howe said, "Audiences are dying to see real-life emotion happen in front of their eyes. There is an enormous WE WILL BEAT ANYBODY’S PRICE ON: ★ CEREALS ★ PET FOODS ★ SOAPS and DETERGENTS ★ CAT LITTER ★ CHARCOAL BRIQUETS ★ SALSAS & BEANS ★ FROZEN & DELI ★ CANNED & PACKAGED FOODS ★ MUCH, MUCH MORE! Don’t pay supermarket prices! Shop here first! No membership costs! No coupons needed! Serving Portland for over 30 years! The Bee Company, Inc. FOOD FOOD M o n - S a t ★ 9 : 3 0 a .m . - 6 : 0 0 p .m . STAMPS STAMPS 8 0 0 N . K illin g s w o rth WELCOMED WELCOMED 283-3171 N ew Book Available Black Classic Press, the Baltimore based publishing company operated by Paul Coates and his w ife Cheryl W aters, and specializing in obscure and significant w orks by and about African descendants, has recently published 100 Years o f Lynching by Ralph Ginzburg, noted journalist, author, ecftor and publisher. First published in 1962, Ginzburg's 100 Years o f Lynchings uses primary sources to accurately and vividy depict a history of racial atrocities perpetuated by whites against Black people in the United States. Seemingly countless newspaper articles selected from a wide range of papers create a documentary of lynchings that began in the early Nineteenth Century and continued well intothe Twentieth. Incidences of racial violence against Black people in the United States are in creasing. An understanding of the nature and scope of this historical problem as provided by Ginzburg's news articles should offer a healing response. 100 Years o f Lynching is available in paperback for $9.95 from bookstores or drectly from Black Classic Press, P. O. Box 13414, Baltimore, Md. 21203. hunger. I think the challenge of writing for the theatre has to do w ith facing your ow n demons and decorating then^ in a w ay that w on't be a profound em barrassment to you. I don't think about the audience; I think about w hat I'm trying to dredge up. I think this is a w on derful time to w rite for the theatre in this age of V .C .R . and flickering images." (I couldn't agree w ith her more. W rite on...) From the "I missed it" dept., it ran here in Portland last season, but, "Ma Rainey's Black B ottom ," by Black Pulit zer Prize and Tony Aw ard winning play wright, August Wilson ("Fences"), is currently playing in Seattle, W a ., at the Pioneer Square Theater Firststage, 107 Occidental S t., thru July 24th. The Rank Silvera W riters Workshop of New York, in its sixteenth season, is launching a national search for a new Executive Director for the coming 1988- 89 season. The workshop is one of the leading black playwrights and women playwrights developmental theatres in the country that has presented such writers as Charles Fuller (Pulitzer Prize playwright, w ho w rote the play "A Soldier's Play" and the film) and Richard Wesley (who w rote the film "Uptown Saturday Night" and "Native Son."); Ntozake Shange (who w rote the play, "For colored girls..."). More than 3,000 w riters and their works have been presented to date by the FSW W . For information contact the Search Com mittee of the Rank Silvera W riters Workshop, 317 W est 125th Street, New York, Ny 10027, (212) 662-8463. For reactions, comments or added theatre information, please w rite to us at B ro a d w a y Bound R e p o rt, P .O .B o x 3137, P o rtla n d , O r., at the Portland Observer, (503) 288-0033, (which by the w ay has moved into new quarters on Killingsworth street across from the Red Meyer Shopping Center and Post Office) Congrats to the staff of t H a ir p ie c e s and ■T B e a u t y S u p p lie s S a le & R e s ty lin g \Ñígí?ñd Eva Gabor • Born Free Rene o f Paris • A ndre Douglas Zurv and m ore • Carefree Store Hours 10:00 a.m . 'til 6:00 p.m . M onday Thru Saturday 1105 N.E. Broadway (across from Safeway Lloyd Center) Tel. 282-1664 Loretta “ Regis” Smith KBMS 1480AM D-Jay. Let Her S-o-o-t-h-e Your Soul From 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. the O bserver. FRANKLIN’S READY RIBS 445 N.E. Killingsworth Portland, Oregon • 284-1634 OPEN 11:00 A.M. -11:00 P.M. C a te rin g A v a ila b le — C all For In fo rm atio n Special Ribs $10:00 per slab Cleo s 3041 N. 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