Sojurn Theatre
Sojourn Theatre's company members met and first worked together at the Virginia Tech University Theatre Department in the 1990s in Blacksburg, Virginia. Now based in Portland, OR, Sojourn makes three kinds of original work: mainstage productions; community collaborations around the nation; and touring shows, which focus on youth-related issues to facilitate community dialogue.
Sojourn brings a history of community engagement and innovative performance-making to its work, in part due to artistic director Michael Rohd. His national body of work includes the publication of Truth and Beauty (co-created with Ping Chong) published in the March 2001 issue of American Theatre magazine, and his book, Theatre for Community, Conflict and Dialogue, used as a text internationally.
Recent and Upcoming Projects:
Cities on a Hill was a multi-lingual, movement-based performance piece investigating the history of Asian immigration and the American Dream in the Pacific Northwest. This show was developed from interviews and community workshops around the nation utilizing Sojourn's unique devising process. January/February, 2001.
The Justice Project engaged law enforcement, correctional facilities, social service agencies, judges and others in a four-month material gathering process around images and stories of Justice. The resulting movement/documentary theatre piece had a highly acclaimed run inside a historic Federal courthouse in downtown Portland. June/July, 2001.
Look Away is an original touring show for youth exploring issues of hate, alienation and community climate. This highly imagistic piece was created out of interviews and workshops with young people in five states. It has played to over 20,000 people in the US over the past year, and goes to Korea in fall 2002.
HIDDEN explores connections between the story of Anne Frank and narratives of community, discrimination and complicity in contemporary Portland. It premieres as part of the nationally touring "Anne Frank: A History for Today" exhibit inside a refurbished department store at Portland's famed Lloyd Center. April, 2002.
REASON, a work created in collaboration with internationally acclaimed New York City based theatre artist Ping Chong, has its world premier in Portland in spring 2003.
503-312-3493
sojourntheatre@aol.com
