Stark Raving Theatre

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.

tarting up

The company was founded by playwrights Rod Harrel, 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, Michelle Maida, 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.

The first productions in the spring of 1989 were Harrel's farce "Trial By Error" and 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. Also on the bill was a screening of Harrel's video work "Jack".

eason One, 1989-1990

Stark Raving opened its regular season in the fall of 1989 with Harrel's production of Elmer Rice's "The Adding Machine", Westlake's parody of absurdism "From Here to Absurdity", and Suttle's innovative take on "Titus Andronicus". 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. The three founders split up at this time 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 and director 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.

eason Two, 1990-1991

The season was advertised as an "adventure" to support a "remarkable risk-taking group," and used a quote from the Marquis de Sade: "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 Bertold 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 Walls"by 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".

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.

eason Three, 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 AIDS 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. 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 on Hawthorne Street in Southeast Portland.

Later seasons