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PORTLANDCENTERSTAGE
Presents
Great Expectations
By Charles Dickens
Adapted by Lucinda Stroud
Directed by Jane Jones
January 16 – February 14, 2016
Artistic Director | Chris Coleman
PORTLANDCENTERSTAGE
Presents
Great Expectations
By Charles Dickens
Adapted by Lucinda Stroud
For Book-It Repertory Theatre
All rights reserved.
Directed by Jane Jones
Scenic Designer
Christopher Mumaw
Costume Designer
Ron Erickson
Lighting Designer
Peter Maradudin
Sound Designer
Casi Pacilio
Composer
Joshua Kohl
Fight Director
John Armour
Dialect Coach
Gin Hammond
Fight Captain
Gavin Hoffman*
Stage Manager
Janine Vanderhoff*
Production Assistant
Stephen Kriz Gardner
New York City
Casting
Harriet Bass
Local Casting
Rose Riordan and
Brandon Woolley
First commissioned, developed and produced in the Book-It
Style® by Book-It Repertory Theatre, founded in 1990, Seattle,
Washington, www.book-it.org.
Performed with one intermission.
Videotaping or other photo or audio recording of this production
is strictly prohibited.
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of
Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
A LETTER FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
By Chris Coleman
“It is easy for us to forget, sitting alone on our couches with our
novels and television shows that, until fairly recently, story was
always an intensely communal activity. For tens of thousands of
years … story happened only when a teller came together with
listeners. For uncounted millennia, story was exclusively oral.”
– The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human,
by Jonathan Gottschall
At PCS we never forget how connected we are to story; our
mission statement is built around it. But as I thought about the
three productions kicking off 2016 in the context of the passage
above, I felt even more connection to the traditions of
storytelling. Two of the pieces – Forever and Each and Every
Thing – are very different works by writer/performers, and the
other one is an adaptation of one of the most beloved novels
ever written, Great Expectations.
What they share (as with all productions at PCS): We will
experience each of them communally.
Great Expectations is one of the books that marked the golden
age of the novel. Growing literacy and the technologies that
made wider distribution of books and magazines possible meant
that the demand for stories grew rapidly. Many of Dickens’
novels, including Great Expectations, were originally published
in serial form before being released as books, which meant that
his characters and plots were more a part of the shared culture
than ever before possible. By bringing this tale to the stage in a
captivating adaptation by Lucinda Stroud, we’re excited to take
this beloved story back to a shared experience.
We are turning over the Ellyn Bye Studio for two months to a
pair of superb storytellers, who each bring a distinct voice to the
American experience.
Some of you may remember Dael Orlandersmith from The
Gimmick, which PCS presented in a special engagement in
2001. She is a brilliant poet/performer whose work embodies the
ancient tradition of storytelling in a very modern way. In
Forever, she pays tribute to the artists who have inspired her as
she shares the personal, harrowing and formative journey of her
own girlhood. I’ve known Dael for many years, and I’m an
admirer of her compelling presence and artistry. I’m thrilled to
bring her back to Portland.
Dan Hoyle is also returning to PCS for Each and Every Thing,
after his previous turn with us in The Real Americans in 2011.
Dan is a keen observer of contemporary society, and in Each
and Every Thing, he takes on the newest threat to shared
experience—personal technology. If we spend time together not
telling each other our stories, but focused on our devices, what
happens to our common humanity? Through his insightful
exploration and capacious imagination, Dan invites us to explore
that question with him.
As we welcome in the first months of 2016, I hope you will
continue to join us as we bring you the most exciting spectrum
of stories we can find, and to be inspired to share your own
stories, communally, with your friends and family.
FROM THE DIRECTOR:
An Interview with Jane Jones
Book-It Repertory Theatre creates adaptations of classic and
contemporary literature for the stage, using its trademarked
style that preserves the text as it is written. Describe the
process of working with Lucinda Stroud on this adaptation
of Great Expectations.
When Book-It first started looking at the probability of adapting
Great Expectations, it was decided we were interested in a
single-evening theatrical event less than three hours in duration.
A story with such a massive plot as Great Expectations, that
spans two decades and traverses many geographic locations, is
always going to present immense challenges. So early on, we
decided to chiefly follow Pip's journey through the novel,
concentrating on the events that specifically move and shape his
future. We also decided to experiment with a smallish cast, nine
actors, which is rare for Book-It. That led us to deciphering
which characters we perceived were of utmost importance to
Pip's story, and which could be edited away, always a painful
exercise. Lucinda and I then shared what Book-It calls the
"purple passages" from the novel; those lines of dialogue or
narrative that are, subjectively, the "to be or not to be's" of the
text. This is also a difficult process because, with a writer who is
as descriptive and emotionally available as Dickens, the instinct
to preserve as many lines as possible is irresistible. Next came
the assignment of the double casting of the actors, and then
Lucinda went to work! What transpired was a series of edits and
rewrites, primarily with the company and Lucinda daily in the
rehearsal room, which culminated in the creation of this script.
One of our greatest joys would be the inspiration of this
adaptation to encourage our audience to read the entire novel.
There have been hundreds of adaptations of Great
Expectations, from major films to numerous television series,
and even a South Park episode. What is it about this work
that continues to captivate and inspire generation after
generation?
This book is thought by many to be Dickens at his best. I have
read that over and over while researching the novel. It’s also
said to be his most autobiographical. I certainly can't speak for
the generations, but for me, I am moved by the humanity of this
story. It seems every human being has dreams, goals, things that
we hope we will accomplish during our lifetimes. We hope to
fall in love, have a comfortable if not elevated means for taking
care of ourselves and our families. We hope we will achieve
circumstances that will allow us a life of contentment; a life we
will be proud of when we look back on our own time aboard
planet earth. From the very start of Pip’s journey, he is
dissatisfied with his given circumstances. He laments his lowly
origins and proclaims: “It is a most miserable thing to feel
ashamed of home.” How sad for such a youngster. Dickens’
origins were not as lowly as Pip’s, but apparently he suffered
from low self-esteem and shame regarding his family
background. His father’s time spent in debtor’s prison, and his
past, which included working in a blacking warehouse, were
secrets from his own children. He also wrote that a true love was
the “one happiness I have missed in life, and the one friend and
companion I never made.” These conflicts are the soul of the
novel and the quest for Pip’s great expectations. You know the
adage about expectations, try not to have them and you will be
much happier? Well, Pip is loaded with expectations and every
turn he makes tethers him closer to them, unrealistic as they are.
He casts aside the young woman who truly loves him and wastes
away his adoration on a woman whose “heart is made of ice.”
He really goes through quite a wretched set of events that
eventually leads him to see the missteps and bad choices he has
made. In the end, he is humbled to understand the true nature of
gratitude, a good, honest job and the value of family. And with
the re-write of Dickens’ original ending, now commonly read as
THE ending, we are led to hope he will ultimately find true love
as well. He’s just a really complicated character, and I think we
are always interested in holding up our own narratives in
comparison to the ways other people live their lives. It’s
comforting to know you’re not the only one who has had to dash
hopes and dreams for reality.
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
Dana Green
Mrs. Joe/Miss Havisham
Dana Green is delighted to be working again at Portland Center
Stage after appearing in Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream
and JAW 2014. Other Portland credits include work with Third
Rail Repertory Theatre and Profile Theatre (Drammy Award for
Dead Man's Cell Phone). She spent four seasons with the
Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where some of her favorite roles
included Isabella in Measure for Measure, Carol Cutrere
in Orpheus Descending and Viola in Twelfth Night. She has
performed at numerous regional theaters, including The Old
Globe, South Coast Repertory, Yale Repertory Theatre, Chicago
Shakespeare Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, Santa
Cruz Shakespeare, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Court
Theatre, Meadow Brook Theatre and Shakespeare Dallas.
Television credits include Early Edition and Grimm.
Gavin Hoffman
Joe Gargery
Gavin is very happy to be back at Portland Center Stage where
he played Ligniere in Cyrano, Iago in Othello and Karl/Steve
in Clybourne Park, and appeared in the last three JAW festivals.
Portland: Harry in The Understudy and Dieter in The MonsterBuilder at Artists Repertory Theatre; Ellard in The Foreigner at
Lakewood Theatre (Drammy Award 2011, Supporting Actor);
Wolf/Red in To Cape, The Tripping Point at Shaking the Tree
(Drammy Award 2012, Solo Performance); Ken in Fifth of July
at Profile Theatre; Frank in Body Awareness for CoHo
Productions; and Hank in A Noble Failure at Third Rail
Repertory Theatre. He has worked regionally and in New York
City. Gavin has guest-starred in The Big Easy (USA)
and Leverage (TNT), and co-starred in Grimm (NBC). He is a
member of Actors’ Equity and SAG-AFTRA. Gavin is a
graduate of P.C.P.A. and has a B.F.A. in acting from Ithaca
College.
John Hutton
Magwitch/Jaggers
John has spent most of the last 25 years as a member of the
resident acting company at Denver Center Theatre Company.
Prior to his time in Denver, he was based in New York and
worked there, as well as at theaters across the country. He was
the dashing, but simpleminded Peter Love on Another World.
Since Denver, he’s been to Prague for PBS; Oslo for a
miniseries called Nobel; Northern Stage in Vermont, to play the
Stage Manager in Our Town; Richmond, VA, for Lincoln;
Arizona to play Lear in Southwest Shakespeare Company’s
production of King Lear; and to Brooklyn to shoot Power for
Starz network.
Damon Kupper
Pumblechook/Wemmick and others
Damon was last seen at Portland Center Stage as Desiree in
Cyrano. Other PCS productions include Othello, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream and Pillowman. Damon is a company member of
Third Rail Repertory Theatre and has performed most recently
in its productions of Or, The Night Alive, Middletown and The
Beauty Queen of Leenane. Locally, he has also acted with Corrib
Theatre, Artist Repertory Theatre, Portland Playhouse, Profile
Theatre, Oregon Children's Theatre and the Well Arts Institute.
Damon has worked as an instructor for various educational
theater programs, both domestically and abroad, through Young
Musicians and Artists, Stop-Gap Theatre, Vietnam American
Theatre Exchange and many others.
Isaac Lamb
Compeyson/Orlick and others
Isaac is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University, a proud
company member of Third Rail Repertory Theatre, and is
thrilled to be returning to PCS where he was seen in A Small
Fire, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and JAW.
For several years, Isaac starred in the national tour of Defending
the Caveman, Broadway’s longest running one-person show,
and worked regionally throughout the country. Select local
credits include Third Rail (Belleville, The Mystery of Irma Vep,
The Aliens), Artists Repertory Theatre (Playboy of the Western
World, Assassins), Broadway Rose Theatre Company (Sound of
Music, Ripper), Portland Playhouse (Mr. Burns: a post electric
play, Famished), Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (The
Three Sisters), CoHo Productions (International Falls),
Northwest Children's Theatre (Beauty and the Beast - Drammy
Award) and many others. Isaac also directs professionally in the
Portland area at Third Rail, Portland Playhouse, Broadway
Rose, Oregon Children’s Theatre, CoHo and Lakewood Theatre.
Sean McGrath
Drummle and others
Sean is elated to be making his Portland Center Stage debut.
Portland audiences may know him from the ten years he spent
onstage with Live Wire Radio, Maple and Vine (CoHo
Productions), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Portland
Playhouse), Weekend at Bernie's (Funhouse Lounge) and
Roadhouse (Bad Reputation Productions). TV and film credits
include Grimm, The Librarians, Deep Dark and a slew of local
and national commercials. He is also the proud creator of Bath
Night sketch comedy. Special thanks to his acting teachers, the
cast and crew for all the laughs, Ma and Pa, Ryan and Terry,
true blue pals who come out to his shows, and especially Jane
Jones for taking a chance.
Chris Murray
Herbert Pocket and others
Chris is an actor and producer in Portland who was last seen at
Portland Center Stage in Our Town. Previous shows at PCS
include futura, Sometimes a Great Notion, and 10 years at the
JAW festival. Chris has appeared around town at Artists
Repertory Theatre (The Liar, Playboy of the Western World,
Xmas Unplugged, I am Still (The Duchess of Malfi), Mr.
Marmalade, Take Me Out), Third Rail Repertory Theatre (A
Bright New Boise, Penelope, The Aliens, A Skull in Connemara)
and several shows at Profile Theatre, CoHo Productions,
Portland Playhouse and more. Chris has been in many feature
films you've probably never heard of, a few TV shows you
probably have, and was called a pinhead by Bill O'Reilly on The
O'Reilly Factor for his portrayal of Jesus in Everclear's music
video, Hater.
Stephen Stocking
Pip
Stephen is thrilled to be making his Portland debut at Portland
Center Stage. Selected New York and regional credits include: A
Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare Theatre Company);
Heidi Armbruster’s Every Good Girl Deserves Fun — and
Other Misremembered Things; The Casebook of Rudolf H- (New
York Theatre Workshop, studio); Romeo and Juliet and
Anything Goes (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Dance Dance
Revolution (Les Freres Corbusier). NYU credits include:
Describe the Night (world premiere by Rajiv Joseph), Desire,
Three Sisters, Plenty, Landscape of the Body, The Beaux’
Strategem and Pale Fires. Stephen recently appeared in the
Amazon TV pilot Z: The Beginning of Everything. M.F.A.,
NYU, Graduate Acting.
Maya Sugarman
Biddy/Estella
Maya Sugarman is thrilled to be making her Portland Center
Stage debut. A Seattle-based actor, she grew up performing at
ACT Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, 5th Avenue Theatre
and Seattle Children’s Theatre. Favorite recent productions
include Mary’s Wedding with New Century Theatre Company,
Tartuffe with Seattle Shakespeare Company, As You Like It with
Seattle Shakespeare Company’s Wooden O and The
Memorandum with Strawberry Theatre Workshop. After earning
a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard, Maya also worked in
public health in New Mexico and Boston, where she performed
with Fort Point Theater Channel and the American Repertory
Theater Institute. She is very grateful to her parents for their
support.
FEATURE I DOUBLE TROUBLE: COMING OF
AGE WITH GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Dickens’ epic narratives are often populated by multitudinous
casts of colorful characters, and Great Expectations is no
exception. Lucinda Stroud’s adaptation hones in on the journey
of Pip, Dickens’ protagonist and narrator. Pip’s story harnesses
many tropes of the “coming-of-age” genre, or Bildungsroman
(“novel of education/formation”), and his growth is spurred on
through his interactions with dozens of diverse individuals. So
many individuals, in fact, that it would be nearly impossible to
have as many actors on stage as there are characters in the novel.
One of the challenges in bringing Great Expectations into the
theater, therefore, is determining how to include all these
characters. Stroud and director Jane Jones have employed a
quintessentially theatrical and spirited solution: an extensive use
of role doubling. As you will see in this production, an ensemble
of nine actors takes on multiple roles, transforming themselves
from one character to the next as they chart Pip’s journey. This
doubling not only capitalizes on the playful liveness unique to
the theater, it also aligns itself with one of Dickens’ genius
strokes: the extensive use of literary doubles. Dickens frequently
juxtaposes two characters whose relationships to Pip are similar,
but whose attitudes and methods are polar opposites from one
another. These “doubles” expose Pip to a wide range of
humanity and lead him to formulate his own definitions of right
and wrong.
As a start, we have pointed out a few possible pairs of doubles
with thematic significance on this page, and we encourage you
to think about how the complex web of relationships resonates
with you. What other doubles do you see in the story — and
how do juxtapositions like these affect your interpretation of
Great Expectations?
________________________________________
PAIRING #1
PHILIP PIRRIP (a.k.a. “PIP”)
Our hero. Possessed of an open mind and an ambitious spirit,
which leads him on a journey from the rural life of a poor
blacksmith to the aristocratic social circles of London. His
experiences give him the necessary scruples needed to consider
situations and people from multiple perspectives.
ORLICK
Another of Joe’s blacksmithing apprentices. Darkhearted and
wrathful, he feels trapped by his circumstances. His egotistical
point of view, coupled with his extreme jealousy of Pip, leads to
violence.
________________________________________
PAIRING #2
ESTELLA
Miss Havisham’s adopted daughter. A model of coolheaded
refinement and upper class privilege. A forerunner of the
“femme fatale” archetype, Estella has been raised to break the
hearts of men without remorse and has mastered the art of
concealing her true feelings.
BIDDY
An intelligent orphan from Pip’s village. Biddy is warmhearted
and generous, in contrast to Estella. Pip overlooks Biddy’s
affection in his pursuit of Estella. Over time, Biddy becomes a
voice of reason whenever Pip forgets his roots or finds himself
in a moral quagmire.
________________________________________
PAIRING #3
JOE GARGERY
Pip’s brother-in-law. A blacksmith. Joe and his wife, Pip’s illtempered sister, raise the orphaned boy. What Joe lacks in
cosmopolitan breeding, he makes up for with kindness and
integrity. He is an anchor for Pip’s moral compass in a sea of
deceit and intrigue. Despite his lack of formal schooling, he is
influential in Pip’s education as a human being.
MISS HAVISHAM
A wealthy, reclusive spinster. Mistress of her estate at Satis
House and guardian of Estella. The romantic trauma of her
youth instilled in her not only a hatred of men, but also an
eccentric need to distort the innocence of young love. She has a
special affinity for Pip, whose sincerity challenges her
manipulative nature. Her presence provides an edgy
counterpoint to Joe insofar as Pip’s education. Historically
speaking, her presence also suggests the lack of agency of
Victorian women fallen from social graces.
________________________________________
PAIRING #4
HERBERT POCKET
Pip’s friend and fellow student of the gentlemanly arts. Sanguine
and dependable. Herbert is one of the few people who not only
witnesses Pip’s transformation but also takes part in the process.
He becomes Pip’s lifelong companion, business partner, and de
facto sidekick.
BENTLEY DRUMMLE
A young aristocrat. Pip’s rival for Stella’s affections. Despite the
nobility of his birth, he is duller, ruder, and more abusive than
his counterparts born of lower class.
________________________________________
PAIRING #5
MAGWITCH
A mysterious escaped prisoner. He is possessed of an emotional
complexity masked by his gruff exterior. Magwitch’s journey
runs parallel to Pip’s and is marked by similar reversals of
fortune. His actions challenge the prejudices of a class-based
justice system and demonstrate the lengths humans are willing
to go to redeem themselves.
COMPEYSON
Magwitch’s fellow prison escapee. An educated, sophisticated
con artist. His brutal and deceptive nature contrasts with
Magwitch’s. Like Drummle, Compeyson’s presence in the story
questions the assumption that goodness and honor are a matter
of class and breeding.
—Benjamin Fainstein, PCS Literary Manager
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CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES
Charles Dickens
Born on February 7, 1812 to a Naval Pay Office clerk, Dickens
spent his early years in London, a period of his life he would
later describe as idyllic. His childhood came to an abrupt end
when his family found themselves in debtor’s prison in 1824. At
the age of 12, Dickens was sent to work twelve-hour days at a
shoe polish factory to earn extra money for his family. The harsh
working conditions made a lasting impression on the young
Dickens, undoubtedly shaping his convictions on social reform,
status and the corruption of innocence — prevalent themes in his
writing. In 1829, Dickens first tried his hand at writing as a
freelance reporter at Doctors’ Commons Courts, eventually
finding steady work at a newspaper. Dickens’ first published
collection, Sketches by Boz, was a set of periodical sketches, the
success of which led to the serialization of his first novel, The
Pickwick Papers. Released in monthly, two-chapter
installments, The Pickwick Papers was unprecedentedly popular,
a publishing phenomenon, launching Dickens’ literary career.
Most of Dickens’ works, including Oliver Twist, David
Copperfield, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities and
Great Expectations, were published serially, explaining
Dickens’ tendency towards cliff-hanger chapter endings. Sudden
plot twists and suspenseful foreshadowing ensured his audience
would continue to subscribe. Great Expectations, Dickens’
thirteenth novel, was published weekly in the magazine All the
Year Round from 1860-1861. At the age of 24, he married
Catherine Hogarth and together they had ten children, but
separated in 1858 due to, as Dickens himself described, being
“temperamentally unsuited” for one another. Over the course of
his life, Dickens boasted a highly prolific career, writing more
than 25 books, managing a theatrical company, traveling
internationally, and attending scores of public readings, a
demanding schedule that eventually took a toll on his physical
well-being. As his health deteriorated, and against his doctor’s
advice, Dickens maintained his productive fervor until he died
from a stroke on June 9, 1870.
Lucinda Stroud
Adapter
Lucinda Stroud began her theatrical career in Seattle by
interning with Book-It Repertory Theatre as dramaturg and
assistant director on Emma (dir. Marcus Goodwin) and The
Cider House Rules Part I: Here in St Cloud’s (dir. Jane
Jones). Her work there and background in creative writing led to
her adapting Great Expectations. She has also worked as an
assistant director with BASH Theatre and as a director with
Freehold Theatre’s INCUBATOR Studio Series. Most recently,
she directed and co-adapted A Gogolplex, based on the short
stories of Nikolai Gogol, with Ghost Light Theatricals. A
graduate of the University of Puget Sound, she is honored and
excited to see this work brought to new life at Portland Center
Stage.
Jane Jones
Director
Jane is the founder of Book-It and founding co-artistic director
of Book-It Repertory Theatre in Seattle with Myra Platt. In her
25 years of staging literature, she has performed, adapted and
directed works by such literary giants as Charles Dickens,
Eudora Welty, Edith Wharton, Raymond Carver, Jim Lynch,
Amy Bloom, John Irving, John Steinbeck and Jane Austen. Her
directing credits include work with Seattle Repertory Theatre,
Portland Center Stage (Drammy Award, Best Production and
Best Director, Twelfth Night), Mark Taper Forum (Ovation
Award, Best Director with Tom Hulce, The Cider House Rules),
Atlantic Theatre Company, NYC (Drama Desk nomination) and
Book-It (Gregory Awards, Best Production, 2010 and 2011).
Favorite Book-It productions include Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn: Uncensored, The House of Mirth, The Awakening, Owen
Meany's Christmas Pageant, Truth Like the Sun, The Dog of the
South, A Tale of Two Cities and Howard's End. In 2008, she and
Co-Artistic Director Myra Platt were honored to be named by
The Seattle Times among seven Unsung Heroes and Uncommon
Genius for their 20-year contribution to life in the Puget Sound
region. She is a recipient of the 2009 Women's University Club
Brava Award, a 2010 Women of Influence Award from Puget
Sound Business Journal, and the Paul G. Allen Family
Foundation's 20th Anniversary Founders Award. Jane was a
finalist for Stage Directors and Choreographers' 2012 Zelda
Fichandler Award. She is delighted to return to PCS, where she
last directed Cyrano in the spring of 2015.
Christopher Mumaw
Scenic Designer
Christopher is a freelance theater artist based in Seattle,
Washington. He received his Masters of Fine Arts from the
University of Washington and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from
Wright State University in his home town of Dayton, Ohio.
Scenic design credits include: Grease: The Musical (The 5th
Avenue Theatre), a new opera workshop of Heart Mountain
(Vespertine Opera Theater at Inscape), The Magic Flute (Pacific
Music Works), The Dog of the South (Book-It Repertory
Theatre), SPRAWL with Pete Rush (Washington Ensemble
Theatre), Judy’s Scary Little Christmas (ArtsWest), Gregory
Award-winning production of The Amazing Adventures of
Kavalier & Clay (Book-It), The Rape of Lucretia (Vespertine
Opera Theater at St. Mark’s Cathedral), Little Women
(ArtsWest) and The Last Five Years (Cornish College of the
Arts). Christopher is thrilled and honored to be working with
such a talented and genuine group of artists here in Portland.
www.ChristopherMumaw.com
Costume Designer
Ron Erickson
Ron Erickson had the privilege of designing the costumes for
Book-It Repertory Theatre’s original production of Great
Expectations, and he is thrilled to have the opportunity to design
this production for Portland Center Stage. Other Book-It
costume designs include Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, A Tale of Two
Cities, Lady Chatterly’s Lover and Hard Times, to name just a
few. Ron Erickson has also designed costumes and scenery for
many other northwest theaters, including Pacific Northwest
Ballet, Intiman Theatre, Tacoma Opera, Spectrum Dance
Theater, Seattle Shakespeare Company and Strawberry Theatre
Workshop. Ron is a founding faculty member of the
performance production department at Cornish College of the
Arts in Seattle. After more than thirty years he recently retired
from his position as professor of costume design and costume
design area head. Ron is currently head of wardrobe at Seattle
Opera.
Peter Maradudin
Lighting Designer
Peter Maradudin is pleased to return to Portland Center Stage,
where previous work includes Threesome, Othello,
Ragtime, Crazy Enough, West Side Story, Anna in the
Tropics, Hamlet, King Lear and Terra Nova, among many
others. He is also the lighting designer for the lobby spaces of
the Gerding Theater at the Armory. On Broadway, he designed
the lighting for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and the Pulitzer
Prize-winning The Kentucky Cycle, and Off-Broadway for
Threesome, Hurrah at Last and Ballad of Yachiyo. Peter has
designed more than 300 productions for such companies as the
Guthrie Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley
Repertory Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse,
Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, South Coast
Repertory and Steppenwolf. He is the Studio Director of the
architectural lighting group StudioK1, and is the author, under
his pen name Peter Alexei, of the novels The Masked
Avenger and The Queen of Spades.
Casi Pacilio
Sound Designer
Casi is the resident sound designer at PCS, where recent credits
include Our Town, Three Days of Rain, Cyrano, The People’s
Republic of Portland, Other Desert Cities, Threesome,
Dreamgirls, The Last Five Years, Othello, A Small Fire, Twist
Your Dickens, The Mountaintop; Vanya and Sonia and Masha
and Spike with composer Jana Losey; and nine seasons of JAW.
National shows: Holcombe Waller Surfacing and Wayfinders;
Left Hand of Darkness, My Mind is Like an Open Meadow
(Drammy Award, 2011), Something’s Got Ahold Of My Heart
and PEP TALK for Hand2Mouth Theatre. Other credits include
Squonk Opera’s Bigsmorgasbord-WunderWerk (Broadway,
PS122, national and international touring); I Am My Own Wife, I
Think I Like Girls (La Jolla Playhouse); Playland, 10 Fingers
and Lips Together, Teeth Apart (City Theatre, PA). Film credits
include Creation of Destiny, Out of Our Time and A Powerful
Thang. Recordings: Glitterfruit’s fruit snacks.
Composer
Joshua Kohl
Joshua Kohl is thrilled to work with Jane Jones and the fantastic
PCS crew! Joshua's main artistic output is as music director,
composer and co-artistic director of Degenerate Art Ensemble
(DAE). Joshua has led the musical evolution of the group
through manifestations including punk, big-band, orchestra, altrock combos and chamber music — each birthed to conjure the
spirits needed for the work at hand. Joshua’s work “Warrior”
was performed by the Kronos Quartet in 2012 and 2015. DAE’s
work “Red Shoes” was awarded the Music Theatre Now Award
in 2012 from the International Theatre Institute. Joshua recently
collaborated with his father, author Herbert Kohl, for a Frye Art
Museum commissioned work that has become a part of the
museum’s permanent collection. Also an avid conductor of the
works of his peers, he conducted the music of composer Jherek
Bischoff with the Wordless Music Orchestra in New York at
Lincoln Center with vocalist David Byrne in 2012. In 2015, he
was the music director for 95 Rituals by the Bay Area dance
company inkBoat, to celebrate the 95th birthday of
choreographer Anna Halprin.
John Armour
Fight Director
John is an actor and fight director who has been choreographing
violence for more than 25 years. He is based in Portland,
Oregon, where he choreographs for many local theater
companies and teaches throughout the region at colleges, high
schools and middle schools. John’s work has been seen regularly
on stage at Portland Opera, Portland Center Stage, Artists
Repertory Theatre, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Miracle Theatre
and many others. John’s work has twice been recognized within
the Portland theater community for best fight design.
Gin Hammond
Dialect Coach
Gin Hammond is honored to be making her coaching debut at
PCS. She is a certified vocal coach and co-founder of the Seattle
Voice Institute. Her voice can be heard on commercials,
audiobooks and a variety of video games, including Undead
Labs: State of Decay and DotA 2. A graduate of the A.R.T.
Institute at Harvard University/Moscow Art Theater, Hammond
has performed nationally at theaters such as Guthrie Theater,
Arena Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Seattle’s ACT, The Pasadena
Playhouse and Studio Theatre in Washington D.C., where she
won a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Internationally, she has performed in Russia, Germany, Ireland,
Scotland and England.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
CHRIS COLEMAN
Chris joined Portland Center Stage as artistic director in May,
2000. Most recently, he directed the Off-Broadway debut of
Threesome at 59E59 Theaters (a production that had its world
premiere at PCS and was also presented at ACT-Seattle). Before
coming to Portland, Chris was artistic director at Actor’s
Express in Atlanta, a company he co-founded in the basement of
an old church in 1988. Chris recently returned to Atlanta to
direct the world premiere of Edward Foote at Alliance Theatre.
He also directed Phylicia Rashad and Kenny Leon in Same Time
Next Year at True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta, in 2014.
Favorite PCS directing assignments include Ain’t Misbehavin’,
Three Days of Rain, Threesome, Dreamgirls, Othello, Fiddler
on the Roof, Clybourne Park, Sweeney Todd, Shakespeare’s
Amazing Cymbeline (which he also adapted), Anna Karenina,
Oklahoma!, Snow Falling on Cedars, Ragtime, Crazy Enough,
Beard of Avon, Cabaret, King Lear, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Man
and Superman, Outrage, Flesh and Blood and The Devils. Chris
has directed at theaters across the country, including Actor’s
Theater of Louisville, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ACTSeattle, The Alliance, Dallas Theatre Center, Pittsburgh Public
Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop and Center Stage in
Baltimore. A native Atlantan, Chris holds a B.F.A. from Baylor
University and an M.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon. He is currently
the board president for the Cultural Advocacy Coalition. Chris
and his husband, Rodney, are the proud parents of an 18-lb Jack
Russell/Lab mix, and a 110-lb English Blockhead Yellow Lab.
SPONSOR STATEMENTS
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines is proud to sponsor Portland Center Stage's
production of Great Expectations. With daily non-stop service
to Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, Atlanta,
Detroit, Salt Lake City, Tokyo and Amsterdam, and convenient
connections beyond, Delta connects Portlanders not only to the
arts in our home town, but to destinations across America and
the globe. Plan your next trip at www.delta.com.
Stoel Rives
Portland Center Stage presents an adventurous adaptation of the
classic Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations. An orphaned
boy named Pip meets three people that will forever change his
life, and will eventually lead to clandestine and unforeseen
encounters. A long-time supporter of PCS, Stoel Rives is
delighted to sponsor this classic yet innovative production,
adapted by the talented Lucinda Stroud.
Viridian Reclaimed Wood
The vintage wood used for this production was rescued from
backyard fence boards by Viridian Reclaimed Wood. Its years of
exposure to the elements create a natural patina that speaks to
the passage of time and extreme nature of this story’s
surroundings. Portland-based Viridian upcycles reclaimed wood
materials into paneling, flooring and furniture of unparalleled
character. Once the show closes, Viridian will reclaim and remill the wood into high quality wall paneling. To learn more
about Viridian’s unique wood products please visit them at
www.viridianwood.com.
LEAD CORPORATE CHAMPION
Umpqua Bank
Actors take chances. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they
don't. But none of these actors would be on stage tonight
without taking chances. It's part of growth, and we're all made to
grow. That's why we're such a proud supporter of Portland
Center Stage. Let this performance inspire you to take the
chances that power your own growth.