Portland’5 and the Red Door Project present: Evolve
Evolve
Presented By the August Wilson Red Door Project
Evolve is a new performance experience that explores the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. Interweaving monologues from Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments, and Cop Out: Beyond Black, White & Blue, Evolve seeks to stimulate conversation in a new way and help us to bridge a seemingly intractable divide. Evolve has been performed in Oregon for public audiences, police officers, FBI agents, judges, district attorneys, and other leaders from the community and criminal justice sectors. The Red Door is currently preparing to tour the production to various markets across the United States.
Learn More:
About the August Wilson Red Door Project
The August Wilson Red Door Project's mission is to change racial ecology through the arts. In 2017 the Red Door was recognized as the Organization of the Year by the City of Portland. Additionally, the Red Door has been the recipient of Portland Monthly’s best new nonprofit award and the Regional Arts and Culture Council’s Juice Award for innovation.
In 2016, The Red Door Project produced Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments, a powerful set of monologues written in the wake of police shootings of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO, John Crawford III in Beavercreek, OH, and others. Seven black playwrights were commissioned by The New Black Fest to write monologues that explore their feelings about the well-being of black people in a culture of institutional profiling. Over the following three years, the Red Door toured Hands Up throughout Portland and the greater Pacific Northwest area.
Their work with Hands Up led the Red Door to partner with members of the Portland Police Bureau, with whose support they developed a new show called Cop Out: Beyond Black, White & Blue. Writers from across the country were commissioned to interview law enforcement officers and develop these monologues, which depict cops of all ranks and experience as they interact with the community, each other, their families, and the institutions they represent. Many of the monologues highlight the experiences of officers of color who live at the intersection of this complex conversation.
Learn More:
Video: Protect, Expand, EVOLVE
Video: The Evolve Experience
PBS Newshour: How Portland's Black Community and Police are Sharing Their Stories Through Theater
Curriculum Requirements & Themes
Reserve Seats
Before you begin reserving seats, please review the following details:
WHAT: Evolve
SHOW DATE: November 20th, 2019
TIME: 10:30am-12pm
WHERE: Winningstad Theatre | 1111 SW Broadway
RESERAVATION REQUIREMENTS:
Reservation sign-ups will be awarded on an access and exposure not necessarily first-come, first-served basis. You'll be notified via email confirmation whether or not your reservation is granted.
If multiple teachers are bringing several students from one school, a lead teacher can enter the information in for all the other teachers. Otherwise, each individual teacher will need to reserve their own space.
Teachers are responsible for having the school's secretary call PPS or your District Transportation Services to order buses to the event. The PPS number is 503-916-6901. Indicate that Portland'5 will be the responsible paying party.
Please review the study guide and plan to incorporate it into your curriculum. Teachers will also be asked to do a short, post-show evaluation to provide any additional narrative of the experience.
Please do not directly contact Portland'5 or the theater venue.
GRADE LEVEL: 9-12
CURRICULUM GUIDE: Permission form required due to adult themes.
TO RESERVE SEATS: The form below will go live at 4:00pm on Tuesday, Oct 15th
Evolve Performance Reservation Request 2019
If you have any further questions about the project, please contact Kristen Brayson, Program Administrator for Visual & Performing Arts, at kbrayson@pps.net.