Stark Raving Theatre
Encyclopedia
Stark Raving Theatre was a theatre
company in Portland
, Oregon that operated from 1988 to 2006. Unlike most other theatres in the country, it was dedicated to premiering new works.
, Robin Suttles, and E.J. Westlake
, who had met working for The New Rose Theatre. Concerned about the lack of venues for new works, the three writers decided to create a space where artists could experiment with existing material and to workshop new plays. Initially, Harrel
was the Artistic Director, Suttles was the Technical Director, and Westlake
was the Managing Director. The Board of Directors included artists such as Cathy J. Lewis, Joel Applegate, and David Williams. The name "Stark Raving" derived from the theatre's original plan to occupy a space on Stark Street; however, the first few seasons took place in the basement of the Bullring Restaurant (seating less than 50 people) on Northwest 27th Street. With an average ceiling height of only 6 feet 6 inches, the space certainly presented challenges for both designers and actors.
video
work Jack, a retelling of the Jack the Ripper
story. "Like some Jacobean drama ('Jack') seems to exist mostly for the thrill of the dirty deeds."
The first staged production in SRT's history was Westlake's
semi-musical The Foofy, Open-Toed Shoe: a Not Necessarily Politically Correct, Lesbian, Feminist, Mystery Farce, featuring Allison Coe, Mackenzie Wren, Patty French, and Holly Bennett. The play
opened on March 30th and Bob Hicks of The Oregonian
remarked, "Westlake
has fun blending the silly conventions of gumshoe drama with the dirt-between-the-toes political correctness
of the radical gay community. Things may end abruptly, but it's a lightly amusing little trip."
The second production in the spring/summer of 1989 was Harrel's
courtroom farce
, Trial By Error. This was SRT's first bonifide hit with standing room only crowds and a week's extension on the original run. The Willamette Week
's Bob Sitton wrote, "Proof that theatre can still be fun in an age of professionalization is found in Trial By Error, Rod Harrel
's what-the-hell spoof...and it's refreshing to see new faces on stage along with some more familiar actors...".
production of Elmer Rice
's The Adding Machine
. Harrel
was proud to receive the review headline: "Adding Machine rings up zero". Although hard on the show, the reviewer recognized SRT's attempt at doing something different. "(Elmer) Rice's tale seems to be a grand exercise in black social comedy, but little humor sneaks into director Rod Harrel's production...To be done justice, the play needs the talents of a more professional company. But the odds of a Storefront (Theatre), Portland Rep or Oregon Shakespeare Festival
taking a chance on such financially risky material are - well, close to Zero...Which leaves it to little Stark Raving Theatre which at least took an honest stab."
Westlake's
parody of absurdism
From Here to Absurdity, and Suttle's innovative take on Titus Andronicus
followed. The group was committed to a pay-what-you-can sliding scale, and asked for $0-$15 at the door, and $0-$500+ from subscribers/contributors. Stage readings began in September, 1989 and new plays were being submitted. This approach was noted in an article in the [Portland Area Theatre Alliance's] newsletter, TheatreSource. "Plays that deal with unusual subject matter, offbeat approaches or unique psychological insights are welcome, and staged readings of those kinds of new works will be performed during the season."
The three founders split up in early 1990 because of artistic differences, mostly revolving around how political the work of the theatre should be. Suttles went on to take a key role in Tygres Heart Shakespeare Company; Westlake
remained as the Managing Director and recruited Rich Burroughs as the Artistic Director; Harrel
remained active with SRT as an actor while continuing his work in video.
The remainder of the season featured Paul Bernstein
's Cold Hands, a play seen through the eyes of a schizophrenic homeless man featuring Rod Harrel
and Michelle Maida, and Burning Conscience, a stage adaptation
of the letters of Claude Eatherly
, the pilot of the Straight Flush, directed by Norm Johnson.
: "We believe that every situation is at the disposition of the novelist...only fools will be scandalized. True virtue was never frightened...by pictures of vice..." The season opened with two of Bertolt Brecht
's Lehrstücke
: The Measures Taken and The Exception and the Rule
. Both were directed by Rich Burroughs with interested students from Reed College
, currently studying Brecht and Epic Theatre
. Melissa Marsland directed The Wallsby Argentine absurdist Griselda Gambaro, and Burroughs directed a New Historicist experiment called The Jew of Venice, a study of English Renaissance
portrayals of Jewish characters.
Politicized by her travels to Nicaragua
during the Revolutionary
regime, Westlake
staged a tribute to the Nicaraguan people, Mothers of Heroes, featuring Harrel
as White Guilt and Allison Coe as the confused autobiographical character Sam. Burroughs recruited Dave Demke to direct The Butcher Papers by Dan Duling, the beginning of SRT's long relationship with Demke and Myra Donnelley. The season closed with Burroughs' staging of Georg Büchner
's Woyzeck
. This marked the first time that the The Oregonian
featured the theatre in a 'preview' article.
As a pay-what-you-can theatre, SRT rarely made enough money to pay its expenses. Artists were paid under a share system where a certain percentage
of the box office
was divided equally among the artists; they rarely made more than $20 a show, and never more than $80. The Bullring also relied on a percentage of the box office as rent and the restaurant management was frequently disappointed with the trickle of cash that came in. The Fire Marshall noted that serious upgrades were needed to keep the theatre open, and the Bullring moved to evict the theatre. Westlake
convinced the restaurant owners to keep the theatre for one more season and to pitch in for the cost of the fire code upgrades.
conspiracy
, starring Steven Clark Pachosa. With Hampton and Donnelly's help, Burroughs took the play to off-off-Broadway
. Burroughs stepped down as Artistic Director, leaving Westlake
to manage the remainder of the season before passing the company along to Demke and Donnelley. The rest of the season featured the 100th Monkey Collective's staging of The Conduct of Life by María Irene Fornés
, Donnelley's play Angelmaker about the controversial figure Ruth Barnett, and Llew Rhoe's staging of Westlake's
A.E.: The Disappearance and Death of Amelia Earhart, featuring Rod Harrel
and Tammie Andreas, which later went on to win the Oregon Book Award
. that year. SRT was also home to the premier of Steve Patterson's play Bombardment that summer. The final performance of the season was Westlake's
staging of Split Britches' Little Women: the Tragedy. Originally written for the trio of Lois Weaver, Peggy Shaw, and Deb Margolin, Little Women pushed the limits of SRT's space and challenged its regular audience. This was the last time Westlake
and Harrel
worked together at SRT (he designed the sound). By the end of the run, it played to packed houses who were disappointed at Donnelley's announcement
that the theatre would be closing if it could not find a new space for the next season.
By this time, SRT garnered a reputation for edgy and provocative new work. Cate Garrison of Willamette Week
noted: "Stark Raving Theatre is not afraid to explore the painful choices society frequently has to make" and "A highly individual performance space that offers the kin of inventive, inexpensive theatre that will...make you think a little." Rebecca Morris of the The Oregonian
declared: "Stark Raving Theatre...chooses plays other theatres rarely touch." Bob Hicks had dubbed SRT as "Brash, little Stark Raving Theatre."
Westlake
left SRT for graduate school and Donnelley and Demke moved the company to a new venue (Back Door Stage) on Hawthorne Blvd. in Southeast Portland.
The theatre passed again to others' hands after Donnelley and Demke left. After moving back to Northwest Portland Stark Raving Theatre abruptly closed in 2006.
, 1992, A.E. by E.J. Westlake
; Drammy Award, 2001, Actress: Darcy Lynn, "Money Shot'; Drammy Award, 2003, Acting Ensemble, "ElectroPuss"
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
company in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon that operated from 1988 to 2006. Unlike most other theatres in the country, it was dedicated to premiering new works.
Starting up
The company was founded by playwrights Rod HarrelRod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
, Robin Suttles, and E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
, who had met working for The New Rose Theatre. Concerned about the lack of venues for new works, the three writers decided to create a space where artists could experiment with existing material and to workshop new plays. Initially, Harrel
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
was the Artistic Director, Suttles was the Technical Director, and Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
was the Managing Director. The Board of Directors included artists such as Cathy J. Lewis, Joel Applegate, and David Williams. The name "Stark Raving" derived from the theatre's original plan to occupy a space on Stark Street; however, the first few seasons took place in the basement of the Bullring Restaurant (seating less than 50 people) on Northwest 27th Street. With an average ceiling height of only 6 feet 6 inches, the space certainly presented challenges for both designers and actors.
Season One, 1989
The theatre officially opened on March 11th, 1989 with a benefit screening of Harrel'sRod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
work Jack, a retelling of the Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
story. "Like some Jacobean drama ('Jack') seems to exist mostly for the thrill of the dirty deeds."
The first staged production in SRT's history was Westlake's
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
semi-musical The Foofy, Open-Toed Shoe: a Not Necessarily Politically Correct, Lesbian, Feminist, Mystery Farce, featuring Allison Coe, Mackenzie Wren, Patty French, and Holly Bennett. The play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
opened on March 30th and Bob Hicks of The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
remarked, "Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
has fun blending the silly conventions of gumshoe drama with the dirt-between-the-toes political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
of the radical gay community. Things may end abruptly, but it's a lightly amusing little trip."
The second production in the spring/summer of 1989 was Harrel's
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
courtroom farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
, Trial By Error. This was SRT's first bonifide hit with standing room only crowds and a week's extension on the original run. The Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....
's Bob Sitton wrote, "Proof that theatre can still be fun in an age of professionalization is found in Trial By Error, Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
's what-the-hell spoof...and it's refreshing to see new faces on stage along with some more familiar actors...".
Season Two, 1989-1990
Stark Raving opened its second season, with a full slate of productions, in October, 1989 with Harrel'sRod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
production of Elmer Rice
Elmer Rice
Elmer Rice was an American playwright. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his 1929 play, Street Scene.-Early years:...
's The Adding Machine
The Adding Machine
The Adding Machine is a 1923 play by Elmer Rice; it has been called "... a landmark of American Expressionism, reflecting the growing interest in this highly subjective and nonrealistic form of modern drama." The story focuses on Mr. Zero, an accountant at a large, faceless company. After 25 years...
. Harrel
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
was proud to receive the review headline: "Adding Machine rings up zero". Although hard on the show, the reviewer recognized SRT's attempt at doing something different. "(Elmer) Rice's tale seems to be a grand exercise in black social comedy, but little humor sneaks into director Rod Harrel's production...To be done justice, the play needs the talents of a more professional company. But the odds of a Storefront (Theatre), Portland Rep or Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...
taking a chance on such financially risky material are - well, close to Zero...Which leaves it to little Stark Raving Theatre which at least took an honest stab."
Westlake's
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
parody of absurdism
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
From Here to Absurdity, and Suttle's innovative take on Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, and possibly George Peele, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy, and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were...
followed. The group was committed to a pay-what-you-can sliding scale, and asked for $0-$15 at the door, and $0-$500+ from subscribers/contributors. Stage readings began in September, 1989 and new plays were being submitted. This approach was noted in an article in the [Portland Area Theatre Alliance's] newsletter, TheatreSource. "Plays that deal with unusual subject matter, offbeat approaches or unique psychological insights are welcome, and staged readings of those kinds of new works will be performed during the season."
The three founders split up in early 1990 because of artistic differences, mostly revolving around how political the work of the theatre should be. Suttles went on to take a key role in Tygres Heart Shakespeare Company; Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
remained as the Managing Director and recruited Rich Burroughs as the Artistic Director; Harrel
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
remained active with SRT as an actor while continuing his work in video.
The remainder of the season featured Paul Bernstein
Paul Bernstein
Paul Bernstein is a Physical Theater artist, playwright and performer who shows his work primarily in the U.S. and Europe. Originally from Ohio he is now head of the Theater Program within the Fine Arts Department at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, at Camden.In New York his work has...
's Cold Hands, a play seen through the eyes of a schizophrenic homeless man featuring Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
and Michelle Maida, and Burning Conscience, a stage adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
of the letters of Claude Eatherly
Claude Eatherly
Claude Robert Eatherly was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, and the pilot of a weather reconnaissance aircraft Straight Flush that supported the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945.-The bombing of Hiroshima:The Straight Flush was one of seven...
, the pilot of the Straight Flush, directed by Norm Johnson.
Season Three, 1990-1991
The season was advertised as an "adventure" to support a "remarkable risk-taking group," and used a quote from the Marquis de SadeMarquis de Sade
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
: "We believe that every situation is at the disposition of the novelist...only fools will be scandalized. True virtue was never frightened...by pictures of vice..." The season opened with two of Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
's Lehrstücke
Lehrstücke
The Lehrstücke are a radical and experimental form of modernist theatre developed by Bertolt Brecht and his collaborators from the 1920s to the late 1930s. The Lehrstücke stem from Brecht's Epic Theatre techniques but as a core principle explore the possibilities of learning through acting,...
: The Measures Taken and The Exception and the Rule
The Exception and the Rule
The Exception and the Rule is a short play by German playwright Bertolt Brecht and is one of several Lehrstücke he wrote around 1929/30...
. Both were directed by Rich Burroughs with interested students from Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, currently studying Brecht and Epic Theatre
Epic theatre
Epic theatre was a theatrical movement arising in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners, including Erwin Piscator, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold and, most famously, Bertolt Brecht...
. Melissa Marsland directed The Wallsby Argentine absurdist Griselda Gambaro, and Burroughs directed a New Historicist experiment called The Jew of Venice, a study of English Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
portrayals of Jewish characters.
Politicized by her travels to Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
during the Revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
regime, Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
staged a tribute to the Nicaraguan people, Mothers of Heroes, featuring Harrel
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
as White Guilt and Allison Coe as the confused autobiographical character Sam. Burroughs recruited Dave Demke to direct The Butcher Papers by Dan Duling, the beginning of SRT's long relationship with Demke and Myra Donnelley. The season closed with Burroughs' staging of Georg Büchner
Georg Büchner
Karl Georg Büchner was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose. He was the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchner. Büchner's talent is generally held in great esteem in Germany...
's Woyzeck
Woyzeck
Woyzeck is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. He left the work incomplete at his death, but it has been variously and posthumously "finished" by a variety of authors, editors and translators. Woyzeck has become one of the most performed and influential plays in the German theatre...
. This marked the first time that the The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
featured the theatre in a 'preview' article.
As a pay-what-you-can theatre, SRT rarely made enough money to pay its expenses. Artists were paid under a share system where a certain percentage
Percentage
In mathematics, a percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100 . It is often denoted using the percent sign, “%”, or the abbreviation “pct”. For example, 45% is equal to 45/100, or 0.45.Percentages are used to express how large/small one quantity is, relative to another quantity...
of the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
was divided equally among the artists; they rarely made more than $20 a show, and never more than $80. The Bullring also relied on a percentage of the box office as rent and the restaurant management was frequently disappointed with the trickle of cash that came in. The Fire Marshall noted that serious upgrades were needed to keep the theatre open, and the Bullring moved to evict the theatre. Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
convinced the restaurant owners to keep the theatre for one more season and to pitch in for the cost of the fire code upgrades.
Season Four, 1991-1992
This was Stark Raving's Brave New Works season, including Aubrey Hampton's one-man play Mixed Blood, based on Cantwell's book about the AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
conspiracy
Conspiracy (civil)
A civil conspiracy or collusion is an agreement between two or more parties to deprive a third party of legal rights or deceive a third party to obtain an illegal objective....
, starring Steven Clark Pachosa. With Hampton and Donnelly's help, Burroughs took the play to off-off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway
Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...
. Burroughs stepped down as Artistic Director, leaving Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
to manage the remainder of the season before passing the company along to Demke and Donnelley. The rest of the season featured the 100th Monkey Collective's staging of The Conduct of Life by María Irene Fornés
María Irene Fornés
María Irene Fornés is a Cuban-American avant garde playwright and director who is associated with the establishment of the Off-off-Broadway movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award for Promenade and her second for The Successful...
, Donnelley's play Angelmaker about the controversial figure Ruth Barnett, and Llew Rhoe's staging of Westlake's
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
A.E.: The Disappearance and Death of Amelia Earhart, featuring Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
and Tammie Andreas, which later went on to win the Oregon Book Award
Oregon Book Award
The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by Literary Arts, Inc. for "the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature." -History:...
. that year. SRT was also home to the premier of Steve Patterson's play Bombardment that summer. The final performance of the season was Westlake's
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
staging of Split Britches' Little Women: the Tragedy. Originally written for the trio of Lois Weaver, Peggy Shaw, and Deb Margolin, Little Women pushed the limits of SRT's space and challenged its regular audience. This was the last time Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
and Harrel
Rod Harrel
Rod Harrel is an actor/writer/director in theatre, video production and film productions. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.-Early life:...
worked together at SRT (he designed the sound). By the end of the run, it played to packed houses who were disappointed at Donnelley's announcement
Announcement
An announcement is a Usenet, mailing list or e-mail message sent to notify subscribers that a software project has made a new release version. Newsgroup announcement recipients often have a name like "comp.somegroup.announce". Mailing list announcement recipients often have a name like...
that the theatre would be closing if it could not find a new space for the next season.
By this time, SRT garnered a reputation for edgy and provocative new work. Cate Garrison of Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....
noted: "Stark Raving Theatre is not afraid to explore the painful choices society frequently has to make" and "A highly individual performance space that offers the kin of inventive, inexpensive theatre that will...make you think a little." Rebecca Morris of the The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
declared: "Stark Raving Theatre...chooses plays other theatres rarely touch." Bob Hicks had dubbed SRT as "Brash, little Stark Raving Theatre."
Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
left SRT for graduate school and Donnelley and Demke moved the company to a new venue (Back Door Stage) on Hawthorne Blvd. in Southeast Portland.
Later Seasons
From the 5th season (1992-1993) until the 12th season (1999-2000), Donnelley and Demke ran the theatre from the Back Door Stage (on Hawthorne Blvd.) and then to the TheatreTheatre! space on Belmont St. and also the old New Rose Theatre space at 904 SE Main in downtown Portland. They also achieved a level of funding SRT had not been accustomed to earlier and were able to expand the theatre's original vision of producing new works.The theatre passed again to others' hands after Donnelley and Demke left. After moving back to Northwest Portland Stark Raving Theatre abruptly closed in 2006.
Selected awards
Oregon Book AwardOregon Book Award
The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually by Literary Arts, Inc. for "the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature." -History:...
, 1992, A.E. by E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake
E.J. Westlake is a playwright and performance studies scholar. She won an Oregon Book Award in 1991.-Early life:E.J. Westlake was born Jane Elizabeth Westlake in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of Curtis Edison Westlake, a factory worker at Delco Products, and Joy Louise Hauser, a political activist...
; Drammy Award, 2001, Actress: Darcy Lynn, "Money Shot'; Drammy Award, 2003, Acting Ensemble, "ElectroPuss"