March 21, 2018 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
By Anna Grace
I
t isn’t only on stage
in the dialogue of the
characters that the
themes of August
Wilson’s award-winning
play, “Two Trains Run-
ning,” get explored. The
ideals of determination,
persistence and resil-
ience also revealed them-
selves in the capricious
process of getting this
production ready for its
month-long run at the
Interstate Firehouse Cul-
tural Center.
Four-hour
weekday
rehearsals, which began
Jan. 30, stretched to eight
hours on Saturdays and
six on Sundays. Passi-
nArt: A Theatre Compa-
ny recruited from Texas
the play’s director, Wil-
liam Earl Ray--who has
been directing and per-
forming on stage for 40
years. During rehears-
als, Ray was brutally
honest and relentless in
making sure the actors
met his expectations.
“You need to count-
er her,” Ray instructed
Portland-based
actor
James Dixon, who plays
Sterling, who was just
released from prison
on a bank robbery con-
viction. Throughout the
play, Dixon’s character
clumsily tries to woo the
belittled waitress, Risa,
masterly performed by
experienced film and
stage actress Cycerli Ash
of Atlanta.
Ray continued: “You
need to move quicker
when she says, ‘Go on,
Sterling’ ...and then I
need you to stop fid-
geting. This ping pong
shuffling, you need to get
over that.”
The play, with its pro-
found metaphors and in-
tense language, was writ-
ten to reflect a slice of life
in the midst of the Civil
Rights movement. At
that time, racial tensions
were high. Urban renew-
al programs were forc-
ing black people and the
black-owned businesses
that depended on them
out of their neighbor-
hoods. And, hastily or-
ganized rallies brought
people into the streets to
send up a call for justice
to the new president in
the White House.
And, then there’s now:
2018 and America has a
“
‘Doctor done moved out.
Dentist done moved out.
Ain’t nothing gonna be left
but these (folks) killing one
another. That don’t never go
out of style’
relatively new president.
Black Lives Matter ral-
lies across the country
are demanding justice
for marginalized com-
munities. And Portland,
where city policies have
endorsed the razing of
hundreds of Black homes
since the 1950s, is now
one of the top U.S. cit-
ies pushing Black and
low-income people out-
side of its core neighbor-
hoods and into the mar-
gins.
“Ain’t nothing gonna
be left around here,”
noted the play’s central
the original
Social Media
NEWS
character,
self-made
businessman Memphis
Lee, portrayed by stage
veteran Wrick Jones.
“Supermarket gone. Two
drug stores. The five and
10. Doctor done moved
out. Dentist done moved
out. Ain’t nothing gonna
be left but these (folks)
killing one another. That
don’t never go out of
style.”
The deeper meaning
of the play’s title “Two
Trains Running” refers
to the tracks of life and
death, and how we all,
at one point, ride them
both. To emphasize that
point, one of the charac-
ters, West, is a funeral
director and land owner,
portrayed by Jerry Fos-
ter, artistic director of
PassinArt. At the same
time Foster is acting in
“Two Trains Running,”
he is also co-directing
“And in This Corner Cas-
sius Clay,” produced by
Oregon Children’s The-
ater.
PassinArt is also part-
nering in May 2018 with
the Rose Community
Development to pro-
duce a play “Repulsing
the Monkey” by Michael
Eichler, which is about
the impact of gentrifica-
tion on White business
owners. PassinArt is the
PHOTO BY KYRA SANFORD
Play’s ‘I Want My Ham’ is More Of A Deeper Message Than A Menu Item
James Dixon (Sterling), Jerry Foster (West), Cycerli Ash (Risa), and Wrick Jones (Memphis) perform a
scene in August Wilson’s ‘Two Trains Running’ on stage now through April 1.
oldest African American
producing theater com-
pany in Oregon. It was
established in 1984 with a
mission to entertain, ed-
ucate, and inspire artists
and theatergoers, while
celebrating Black culture
and highlighting critical
issues that impact the
Black community.
“We talk about gentri-
fication and how it dis-
places families, “ Foster
said. “but, it also displac-
es businesses, which im-
pact the overall health
and sense of community.”
This is the fifth time
that Ray, a Texas resi-
dent, has been a part of
a “Two Trains Running”
production. Most of his
experiences were as the
character Memphis, who
is being forced by the
city to sell his restaurant
to make way for urban
renewal. Memphis’ eat-
ery, though, has been a
gathering spot for black
residents to find connec-
tion, share gossip and
make sense of their lives,
while dealing with dis-
crimination, poverty and
displacement.
“I love this play,” Ray
said. “It’s one of my fa-
vorites by (Wilson) be-
cause it’s so dense in its
language and the humor
in it is just fascinating.”
PassinArt’s production
is the second time that
unforeseen circumstanc-
es have forced Ray to
move out of his director’s
chair in order to replace
an actor on stage just be-
fore opening night. Ray
says it took him about a
week to memorize half
of the lines of the steady
character of Holloway.
He plans to be completely
off book well before the
show ends April 1.
“With August Wil-
son, it’s not easy to do
his plays,” Ray noted.
“You’ve got to get it into
your body.”
Before directing any
production, Ray said
he listens to jazz and
rhythm and blues music
in order to set a certain
mood with how the play’s
seven characters “of loud
voices and big hearts”
interact. “This play for
me is like a symphony
and each character is a
musical piece,” Ray said.
“How they fit into that is
on their own terms. I’m
just trying to stage it; you
need to find your own
way.”
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