Dmae talks with Connie Carley, co-founder and managing director of Passin' Art: A Theatre Company about the company's growth and 38-year history. She's joined by director William Earl Ray who is currently directing August Wilson's "7 Guitars" which opens March 20-April 12, 2020 at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center.
(Aired 11am 3/10/2020 on KBOO 90.7 FM or always on stagenstudio.com and always on iTunes.)
NOTE: THIS INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE BEFORE THE COVID-19 RECOMMENDATIONS. THE SHOW'S OPEN DATE MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST HAVE CHANGED TO MARCH 20TH)
PassinArt presents...
"7 Guitars" by August Wilson
Directed by William Earl Ray
MARCH 13 - APRIL 12, 2020
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC)
5340 North Interstate Ave., Portland OR
Seven Guitars is a 1995 play from August Wilson, a modern American playwright. The plot revolves around seven African American characters after the funeral of a friend in 1948. The play is part of Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, an anthology of plays about African American life in Pittsburgh set in each decade of the 20th century.
The Play’s recurring theme is the African American male’s fight for his own humanity, self-understanding and self-acceptance in the face of personal and societal ills. The rooster is a recurring symbol of black manhood throughout the play and provides a violent and shocking foreshadowing effect when Hedley delivers a fiery monologue and ritualistically slaughters one in front of the other characters.
Shows run on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30pm; and Sunday afternoons at 3pm.
All shows at Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC) located at 5340 North Interstate Ave., Portland. For tickets and more info: http://passinart.org/index.php/shows/52-save-the-date-seven-guitars
Catch the companion exhibit upstairs in the IFCC Gallery
MARCH 12 - APRIL 12, 2020
As a companion to 7 Guitars, PassinArt is pleased to host Racing to Change: Oregon’s Civil Rights Years exhibit, the Oregon Black Pioneers first Pop-Up Kiosk based on its highly successful 2018 exhibit at the Oregon History Museum. The 10-foot-long, double sided kiosk features text and pictures that tell the story of the Black power movement in Oregon as it played out in communities, colleges and activist organizations. It challenges the viewer to examine the unfinished business of civil rights in Oregon.
Connie Carley, Co-Founder and Managing Director, PassinArt A Theatre Company has been involved in the arts administration and coordination of various community and theatrical projects for over 30 years as part of her community service. She served on the board of Sisters Network Oregon and SW Washington Chapter, a breast cancer survivors group for African American women and the Black Women for Peace Executive Committee, a group that works with young people to promote the arts through their peers. She retired from the State of Oregon in 2016 after 23 years working in the area of racial and ethnic disparities among African American youth in the Juvenile Justice System. She worked as the Program Analyst and statewide Positive Youth Development Project Coordinator promoting, prevention services and support for children and youth through the state. Connie has over 25 years of management experience in corporate, public, and community based non-profit agencies.
William (Bill) Earl Ray is a Director/actor with 40 years of experience in the business. William last directed at Passinart for its production of The No Play and Two Trains Running, which received nine Drammy nominations and won two. Other directing credits include Smoldering Fires, Skelton Crew, Ain’t Misbehavin, Lonely Planet, A Raisin in The Sun, Having Our Say, A Soldier’s Play, The Heiress, Sea Marks, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, A Song for Coretta, Fires in the Mirror, Agnes of God, and others. William’s acting credits include The Whipping Man, Master Harold And The Boys, The Meeting, Blues For An Alabama Sky, Driving Miss Daisy, Misery, God’s Favorite, Two Trains Running, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Dirty Work, Cobb, Miss Evers’ Boys, The Sunset Limited, The Piano Lesson, Audience, Of Mice and Men, A Streetcar Named Desire, and others. TV and film credits include The Tuskegee Airmen, The Gas Café, Cadillac Ranch, The Temp, Dr. Giggles, Terror In The Towers, Better Off Dead, Walker Texas Ranger and the soon to be released short film, Con Alma selected for the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. William is a member of Actors Equity, Screen Actors Guild and a graduate of the Evergreen State College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in the performing arts.
- KBOO