Portland observer., May 16, 2018, Page Page 16, Image 24

Page 16
May 16, 2018
photo CourteSy S tuDio 20
Netty McKenzie in the role of Stormy tries to encourage her long
lost love, Blaze, played by Aries Annitya, to be true to himself and
embrace his metal music loving ways in “Jupiter is Stormy” by
Portland African American actor and playwright Kwik Jones. The
play will show for one performance only on Saturday, May 26, at 3
p.m. at Kelly’s Olympian in downtown Portland.
“I couldn’t do anything any-
more. I was just on the couch get-
ting fat. So I was just like ‘God
what do you want me to do, be-
C ontinueD from p age 9 fore I go out of my mind.’ Then
one day it just hit me: go back to
the Fence,” which dealt with the writing,” Jones recalled.
Jones had dropped a tray of
Crips and Bloods.
In the past five years, he’s taken heavy parts at work, which yanked
a break from writing to focus on him down and caused the inju-
raising his children and working ry. Now he has limited use of his
long shifts at an auto distribution right arm, which goes numb, as
center in Beaverton, Oregon. But well as swelling and limited mo-
a recent injury, this time to his spi- bility in his neck. An avid mixed
nal cord, once again set him on the martial arts athlete, the injury has
put a significant damper on Jones’
path to his craft.
lifestyle and slid him into a de-
pression for a bit. He’s scheduled
to get a neck fusion in the near
future, which will guarantee that
he won’t succumb to any further
paralysis. But doctors told him
that the surgery only has a 50/50
chance of restoring full mobility
to where it was before.
Jones said he’s trying to make
the best out of the situation.
“When God wants you to do
something and you’re not hear-
ing, he’ll get your attention. Even
though it’s a negative thing, I’m
getting something corrected, and
I’m getting back into something
that I treasure and love so much.”
Back in 2007, Jones was a resi-
dent producer at the now shuttered
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Cen-
ter in north Portland. The former
fire station on Interstate Avenue
was reworked into a culturally
diverse performing arts hub in
the 1980s. One of Jones’ most
acclaimed plays, “The Code,”
premiered there. It was about the
shooting of an unarmed black man
by a white cop, told through the
eyes of his partner, a black police
officer. He is currently working on
a screenplay to turn “The Code”
into a movie next year, through his
production company, Studio 20.
“Jupiter is Stormy” stars Port-
land actors Aries Annitya, Netty
McKenzie, John D’Aversa, Ash-
ley Pio, and Eric Island. Jones
may be reached for more informa-
tion at studio20ent@hotmail.com.
Writing