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For fans who have followed Artists Repertory Theatre through the turbulent years of its renovation, the light at the end of the tunnel has often felt painfully distant. But with the unveiling of the upcoming Encore: A Festival of Staged Readings, the company is one step closer to reclaiming its position as one of Portland’s foremost theater institutions.
“We’re excited to open our space by reflecting on and celebrating the strong artistic foundation our next decade will build on,” Luan Schooler, ART’s director of artistic programming, said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to have audiences come home again to our simple but beautiful space and hear these plays that are as startlingly fresh and powerful today as when they were new.”
With ART’s new mainstage not expected to open until 2026, the readings will take place May 21-24 in the building’s new lobby, which has been completed. The setting may be humbler than longtime fans of ART are used to, but the performances promise to offering an alluring array of deep cuts for playgoers.
Up first is Replays: An 80s Flashback, a look back at ART’s early works curated by Allen Nause, Vana O’Brien and Susannah Mars. Readings of Keeley & Du (Jane Martin’s drama about a captive, pregnant rape victim) and Speech & Debate (Stephan Karam’s Salem-set teen comedy) will follow.
One of the buzziest performances is likely to be the reading of Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew, directed by Vin Shambry. Produced by ART in 2018, the play is set in a doomed auto plant, and was one of many masterpieces from during the tenure of former artistic director Dámaso Rodríguez (in my review, I wrote that Skeleton Crew was “a triumphant middle finger to a society that frequently insists on painting working-class women and men as victims or cannon fodder”).
The pandemic and the renovation have resulted in some of the most difficult years of ART’s existence (last year, the company temporarily suspended its 2023-24 season and laid off artistic director Jeanette Harrison). Still, bringing playgoers back into the building is a definite win.
“Audiences will once again get to enjoy plays together at our theater home, and we will get to share this beautiful resource with many others,” said managing director Aiyana Cunningham.
Tickets for ART’s staged readings are available at artistsrep.org/current-season.