PCS Welcomes New Literary Manager Kamilah Bush
Portland Center Stage has hired Kamilah Bush as our new literary manager following a nationwide search. Bush is currently working remotely from North Carolina and will move to Portland in February.
As literary manager, Bush is charged with deepening the literary and artistic core of Portland Center Stage, bringing a lens of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility to script reading and season programming, liaising between artistic, production, and marketing teams, and cultivating a diverse pool of voices and aesthetics to enrich the company’s artistic offerings.
Bush’s new post also includes the role of resident dramaturg for select PCS projects, including the recent holiday offering The Bells That Still Can Ring and the upcoming PCS Remix: Original Works project, which is slated for release in March.
“Kamilah brings a gorgeous approach to excavating text and plays, a wealth of experience with production dramaturgy and pre/post-show conversations, and a beautiful vision for what theater can offer the community in which it's embedded. I know she'll be a significant part of the artistic engine and collaborative work we're all engaged in at PCS,” Artistic Director Marissa Wolf said.
“I am so thrilled to join the PCS team and to become a Portlander,” Bush said. “I see my core values as an artist mirrored in PCS, and I'm excited to build a new home with not just the folks inside the theater, but in the Portland community as a whole.”
Bush is a dramaturg, playwright, and educator originally from North Carolina. Most recently, Bush served as the artistic assistant at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, where her credits include the world premiere of Love in Hate Nation, the new musical by Tony Award-nominee Joe Iconis.
Prior to that, Bush spent several seasons at Asolo Repertory Theater in Sarasota, Florida, and Triad Stage in Greensboro, North Carolina. At Asolo Rep, project highlights include the first workshop of the musical Knoxville, by Frank Galati, Lynn Arhens, and Stephen Flaerty — the celebrated creative team behind Ragtime. Bush holds a B.F.A. in theater education from UNC-Greensboro.
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).
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