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Sojourn Theatre debuts
The War Project:9 Acts of Determination
Nationally renowned ensemble company opens inaugural production
in Sojourn Studio, a new Portland rehearsal and workshop space
Portland, OR-Artistic Director Michael Rohd and the ensemble company of Sojourn Theatre will present The War Project: 9 Acts of Determination March 16-April 15, 2006 at the company's new Sojourn Studio in southeast Portland. Directed and conceived by Rohd and written by him and the cast, The War Project explores the question: How, as a nation, do we decide what to kill and die for?
The War Project has involved over a year of research, road trips, six weeks of community workshops, and public symposiums. The Project culminates this spring with the world premiere production of 9 Acts of Determination in Portland. The cast fights for the soul of democracy as debate collides with ethical hand-to-hand combat in a winner-take-all spectacle of intimate proportions.
"We approached this work from a place of wanting to deeply explore our culture's feelings about war, from all perspectives, but also examining the narrative-how we as a society talk and think about war. In part it's about the magnificent allure of allegory-and our desire to give the audience the opportunity to exercise their moral/ethical muscle in a fiction that is one part delight, one part provocation, and one part restless waking dream," explains Michael Rohd.
Devised through Sojourn's collaborative, ensemble-based method, the production uses live singing, instrumentation, movement, spoken word, video, sound and performance to showcase myriad perspectives on military action. Through a series of fast-moving, non-linear acts, cast members Courtney Davis, Jono Eiland, Kimberly Howard, Rebecca Martinez, Dennis Mosley, Michael Rohd and Hannah Treuhaft explore a circus of perspectives, anecdotes, Congressional records, and layers of dialogue and sound to offer inquiry and insight, but never conclusions, into the questions of war.
The War Project: 9 Acts of Determination will be presented in the Sojourn Studio, the company's new headquarters at SE 9th Avenue and SE Pine. A building with a rich history (it was formerly the Pine Street Theatre, legendary rock club La Luna, and the site of a ground-breaking gay and lesbian cafe), it has recently been converted into studios and live/work spaces for creative companies and artists. Sojourn's new leased space features 1000 square feet of creative warehouse space with 20' ceilings and a 450-square-foot loft to house the growing company's administrative offices.
"As a company that often produces site-specific work in non-traditional performance venues, we knew it didn't make sense for Sojourn to look for a fixed-seat production space at this point," explains Alisha Tonsic, Sojourn's Managing Director. "But after five years in Portland we found ourselves craving our first real 'home base'-a place to consolidate our operations and give our ensemble of artists free rein to work, explore, and create. Signing a three-year lease on the Sojourn Studio gives us that first home we've needed, while also opening up a new rental space for other community groups and artists for rehearsals, workshops, and small-scale performance."
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