JAW Play Reading: Safe Ride
This event's date or start time has passed.
View Upcoming EventsDid you attend this JAW reading? Thank you for supporting new work! Please fill out our brief survey and answer questions from the playwright.
Safe Ride
Written by Dorcas Sowunmi
Directed by Kristolyn Lloyd
Safe Ride focuses on the board members of an SGA (Student Government Association) in a high school in the south. These students, fiercely led by President Marshall and his twin sister Vice President Chisholm, strive to operate like an ideal democratic government where all of their voices are heard and valued. But in the midst of planning for their senior legacy project egos, attitudes, and beliefs systems come into play. And as more and more southern states begin to pass “Fetal Heartbeat” Laws, these students are pushed to their tipping point and go far beyond protesting in the streets to taking the law into their own hands.
CAST
Charles Grant Marshall
Linda Hayden Tammy
Cycerli Ash Cleaver
Lizzy Rees Reagan
Sami Yacob-Andrus Burke
Andrea Vernae Chisolm
Kayla Kelly Jordan
Mac Schonher Stage Directions
Stage Manager: Gillian Lelchuk
Production Assistant: Caríssa Rodriguez
JAW New Play Festival FREE! July 28-30
A week-long assembling of artists and audiences to create new plays! Artistic teams, including playwrights, directors and actors, come together to rehearse — and a lot of times rewrite! — a play. The final piece of the process happens during the weekend, when we share “music stands readings” with audiences so the playwrights can hear their work, often for the very first time!
Dorcas Sowunmi is a Playwright/Performing Artist/ Educator, based in New York, originally from Texas. Most recently, her play SAFE RIDE was workshopped at The Emerging Playwrights of Color Conference at Quick Silver Theater Company. Dorcas was also in the first cohort of playwrights in The Echoes Writer’s Group at Primary Stages in New York City. She has also studied at the Dramatis Guild and The Commercial Theatre Institute. As a performer, Dorcas has worked extensively in theatre, film, and television throughout North America. Dorcas holds an MFA in Acting from The University of Texas at Austin. She has also trained at The Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Training at The Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada, The School at Steppenwolf in Chicago, and Stella Adler Actor's Studio in New York.
Current & Upcoming
Improvisation Classes for Beginners
Whether you're looking to get more confident in social situations, think quicker on your feet, or get in touch with your imaginative side, these "one-off" improv classes will set you on the path to success!
Adult Class : TWELFTH NIGHT, Before & After
Join veteran actor Joe Costa for a unique opportunity to take a “deep dive” into both Shakespeare’s text of Twelfth Night, and the PCS Production. Participants will read the play out loud as a group, with “intermissions” provided for lively discussion of themes and content. Interested participants will have a chance to act in selected scenes, guided by the instructor.
Improv Comedy: Love, Shakespeare
Witness the Magic of unscripted Elizabethan comedy! Step into the offbeat world of Love, Shakespeare, where seasoned Portland comedians attempt something audacious: performing a fully improvised Elizabethan play based on your suggestions!
Albina Music Trust presents A Brown Branch Christmas
Celebrate this holiday season with A Brown Branch Christmas at Portland Center Stage. Now in its fourth season, this two-night big band celebration features directors Domo Branch and Charlie Brown III guiding a heavy 15-piece lineup of regional and national musicians.
BIPOC Affinity Night DJ Party with ALoSo
Join us for a double feature BIPOC Affinity Night, featuring a live DJ set by ALoSo, plus holiday craft market vendor tables, art exhibits by Albina Music Trust Wall to Wall Sound and Jason Hill's Favorite Things, with complimentary select drinks provided by Multnomah Whiskey Library and Deschutes Brewery while supplies last.
Winter Teen Academy: Scene Work
Calling all teens! Are you looking to expand your acting skills and be the best scene partner you can be for your fellow actors? In this class, we will dig deep into scene study, character motivation, and active listening, while learning the necessary questions to ask in every rehearsal situation. You'll develop fuller characters and deeper relationships on stage by partnering in scene work — and have lots of fun too!
Portland Center Stage is committed to identifying & interrupting instances of racism & all forms of oppression, through the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, & accessibility (IDEA).
JAW Sponsors
Season Superstars
Season Supporting Sponsors
