Sowelu Theater
Portland, OR
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News Article
New Works in Process by the Sowelu Ensemble
Sowelu Theatre receives $27,000 in grants for four productions (2001)
By RACHEL LANE, special to The Oregonian
Sowelu Theatre recently received two large grants to fund a new play program at the small, experimental Portland theater company.
The California-based Flintridge Foundation and Collins Foundation grants total $27,000 and will be used to develop four productions, two new and two restagings, during the next two years.
Pam Wolkoff of the Flintridge Foundation attended several performances directed by artistic director Barry Hunt, saw videotapes of Sowelu productions and participated in discussions about Hunt's vision for a collaborative theater process. Wolkoff said her research encouraged Flintridge to award $15,000 to Sowelu, even though foundations are typically reluctant to fund theaters that have existed for fewer than three years.
The 2000-01 season is Sowelu's third, but the company has established itself among theater fans as a home for both new and obscure plays. Its production of an original script by Tania Myren, "The Further Adventures of Anse and Buhle in No Man's Land," won a Drammy award for outstanding original play in 1999.
Hunt founded Sowelu in 1998 with several other former members of Stark Raving Theatre and continued the acting experiments that have led to a distinctive, movement-based company style. Hunt will work with two playwrights affiliated with Sowelu or Stark Raving in the past -- Luke Heyerman and Lea Floden -- on the newly funded projects.
The company will stage a new version of Heyerman's "Brightest Thing in the Dark Tonight," which had its first run at Stark Raving Theatre, and will develop a new play Heyerman will create for the Sowelu ensemble. Similarly, Sowelu will stage Floden's "Headless," which it produced last season, and a new play by Floden.
A common theme, Hunt says, unites his own vision with those of Floden and Heyerman -- exploring the interrelatedness of death and birth together as a human cycle. Floden talks about the journey "damaged" people make through darkness toward self-acceptance and love.
"I am interested in showing how a person can find wholeness, even after craziness, after self-abuse," Floden said from her home in Los Angeles. "For me, 'wholeness' means unconditional self-acceptance. My writing attempts to show how people's lives can change not so much by big events but by small beams of light that . . . guide the wounded person toward self-love."
Both Floden and Heyerman (a former Portlander) now live in Los Angeles, and such local playwrights as Sue Mach and Charles Deemer have recently noted Portland theater's lack of support for its resident writers. Hunt agrees that getting new plays performed is challenging.
"We are always on the lookout for new works from Portland playwrights," Hunt said. "However, we want to work with writers who share our commitment to collaboration. We are less interested in previewing many new works and more interested in working closely with a playwright -- ideally, over a period of two to three years."
Portland audiences can expect to see the first fruits of Heyerman's collaboration in a workshop scheduled for late June. A full production will be staged in the fall of 2002.