The Fertile Ground Festival of New Works is a citywide, multi-week performing arts festival taking place in venues throughout Portland, Oregon and the surrounding areas.
This year's lineup includes site specific theatre, dance, solo shows, aerial performance, puppetry, and dozens upon dozens of brand-new scripts by some of Portland's most celebrated and prolific playwrights.
Schedule of Events:
12:00pm - LineStorm Playwrights Present: JUNIOR YEAR ABROAD by Sofia Molimbi
June has a dream, and it’s not just to be on Junior Year Abroad in France, oh no, it’s to become a whole new person, perhaps even a French person? The only problem is she’s going to need to find the legendary Christie B. to make this dream come true. Journey through the dark cobblestone streets of Paris with June and her friends, whose search leads them down pathways they never could have imagined, only to discover, wherever you go, there you are. Junior Year Abroad by Sofia Molimbi is a fast-paced comedy about being young and experiencing the world beyond home.
Performance Length:
75 minutes, no intermission
Rating/Recommended Age:
All ages
Location: Artists Repertory Theatre 1515 SW Morrison St Portland , Oregon , 97205
Conciliation by David
1:30PM to 3:00PM - Conciliation by David
“Conciliation” is a play that portrays a therapy session in Germany where descendants of Nazi perpetrators and descendants of Holocaust victims meet to act out their fraught histories and seek a path towards understanding. The play focuses on the possibility of making amends and can be viewed as a Holocaust education tool. It also speaks out to the truth that must be faced in our people’s past and the international violence and issues of anti-Semitism on the current world stage.
Performance Length:
70 minutes (including an introduction) + 25 minutes for an audience response talk-back
Rating/Recommended Age:
PG-13. Primarily relevant to adults given the Holocaust subject matter.
Location: The Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE)724 NW Davis Street Portland , 97209
2:00pm - UNFIT: The Tale of One Pregnant Teen in the Bible Belt before Women Had Choice by Lani Leigh
In the decades between World War II and Roe v. Wade, an astounding 1.5 million girls and young women were sent to maternity homes and coerced into relinquishing their babies. Lani Jo Leigh was one of those girls.
In 1971, it was the Age of Aquarius and a time of sexual freedom, yet in Moore, OK, sex, drugs, and rock & roll were still the devil's handiwork. In the repressed fundamentalist culture of her small hometown, Lani Jo struggled with the "sin" of her sexuality. When she learned that she was pregnant, she was given one option--banishment to a maternity home in New Orleans. While most girls were sent away for the third trimester, Lani Jo spent six months at Sellers Baptist Home for Unwed Mothers. UNFIT tells the story of her time there--a time of despair, rage, betrayal, and abandonment. With 24 high school and college age girls resideing at the Home at any one time, it is also the story of friendship and genuine caring told with humor and pathos.
Now that women's reproductive rights are once again fueling a divisive national debate, UNFIT provides a poignant, heartbreaking and personal look into our nation's grim history when abortion was illegal, sex education was almost non-existent, and birth control was tightly restricted.
Performance Length:
60 minutes, no intermission
Rating/Recommended Age:
18+
Location: Clinton Street Theater 2522 SE Clinton Street Portland , Oregon , 97202
5:00pm - LineStorm Playwrights Present: SONGS FROM THE STAGE by Holly Richards & Lolly Ward
Join Holly Richards and Lolly Ward for an evening of music and insight featuring talented Portland musicians! We'll be sharing songs from our collaborative projects, including new material from CESSAIR (you might remember Act I from Fertile Ground last year). We'll also delve into our past work and share stories from our songwriting journey.
Performance Length:
60 minutes, no intermission
Rating/Recommended Age:
All ages
Location: Artists Repertory Theatre 1515 SW Morrison St Portland , Oregon , 97205
Shelf Life by Rebecca Berger-Howe
Shelf Life is a solo show written and performed by Rebecca Berger-Howe, and directed by Brooke Totman. It follows the journey of a woman who revisits her childhood memories, stashed away in the attic of her childhood home. As she slowly opens each box, she takes audiences through her childhood memories via the mementos stored inside. Audiences will see the transition of a young girl dreaming of becoming a world famous pop-star, only to see the realities of adolescence and adulthood dragging those hopes into question. How is one girl supposed to become an international superstar when they can’t get a grasp on their own catholic guilt, their parent’s divorce, or the landmines of navigating puberty?
Performance Length:
60 minutes, no intermission
Rating/Recommended Age:
12+
Location: 21ten Theatre 2110 SE 10th Ave Portland , Oregon , 97214
Additional Dates:
