Cities on a Hillt
January 2001
Theatre Review: Cities on a Hill
Steffen Silvis – Willamette Week
The latest theatre company to arrive in Portland is Sojourn, a group that specializes in community-based works using an amalgam of disciplines to explore various issues. The group’s first piece in Portland addresses the meaning of American-ness as reflected in the lives of people who braved various oceans to get here. Though such attempts at real community theatre are laudable, Cities on a Hill fails in that it tries to cover too much land, thereby overextending themselves, becoming vague and vulnerable to cliché. Similar community collaborations in Britain (which playwright Arnold Wesker has become associated with) succeed because they are site-specific – the community is given its own voice. Though Oregon pioneer narratives are presented in this program, they seemed tacked on rather then serving as vital reference points. But these are early days. It will be interesting to see what artistic director Michael Rohd and his collaborators will accomplish when they are fully integrated with this community.
Sojourn Theatre at the Echo Theatre, 1515 SE 37th Ave., 312-3493. 8pm Fridays – Saturdays, 4:30 and 8pm Sundays. Closes Jan. 28. Call for ticket prices.
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