Arts on the Couch

…a collaboration between the Oregon Psychoanalytic Center (Outreach Committee) and the Artists Repertory Theater in Portland, Oregon. Our mission is to further the understanding of psychoanalytic ideas through the rich and evocative media of theater, music, dance, and the visual arts. Community collaborations provide a "place" for conversations about any and all facets of the human condition as expressed through the arts.

 

Artists Repertory Theater’s 2019-20 Season

1515 SW Morrison • (503) 241-1278 • www.artistsrep.org

  • OPC member facilitated post-play discussions, listed 2pm Sunday matinée.
  • Post-play discussions are free/open to the public. Can attend any performance.
  • Discount ticket packages available online or through box office: (503) 241-1278.
  • Please visit each venue website for more information regarding transit and parking. 
Downloadable Flyer


1984
by George Orwell
a new play by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan
directed by Dámaso Rodríguez
September 7 - October 6 at 2:00 PM
Location: Imago Theatre
Discussion after the matinee on Sunday, October 6th with Garrick Duckler, PhD, LMFT


Always under the watchful eye of Big Brother, Winston has nowhere to turn and no one to trust as anyone or anything could be running surveillance on behalf of the government. The Thought Police monitor society and dole out nightmarish punishments on behalf of the authoritarian Party, who propagandize ‘Ignorance is Strength’. Based on the iconic novel by George Orwell, 1984 is an intense theatrical reflection of how far technology and falsifying reality has come. 

Awards for Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan
2018 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play (People, Places & Things): Duncan Macmillian
2016 Laurence Olivier Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director (Oresteia): Robert Icke
2015 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show (Every Brilliant Thing): Duncan Macmillian
2012 Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play (Lungs): Duncan Macmillian

“astonishing, riveting, and almost literally shocking” – Steven Suskin, The Huffington Post


LA RUTA
by Isaac Gomez
directed by Dámaso Rodríguez
November 2 – December 1 at 2:00 PM
Location: Portland Opera
Discussion after matinee on Sunday, December 1st with Phyll Zuberi, MD


Since 1993, the women of Juárez, Mexico have been disappearing and no one has solved the mystery. The bus route that takes these women to and from their U.S.-owned factory jobs is often the last place they are seen. Based on real life testimonies, each woman represented in La Ruta bears witness to the secrets buried under the hot desert sun. Bouncing back and forth in time and featuring live music, the intensely harrowing La Ruta gives a passionate voice to the women who have disappeared. 

Awards for Isaac Gomez
2018 Lanford Wilson Award

“countless moments of sheer theatrical beauty” - Ben Kaye, New City Stage


THE STRANGE UNDOING OF PRUDENCIA HART
by David Greig
directed by Luan Schooler & Dámaso Rodríguez
November 30 – January 5 at 7:30 PM
Location: Tiffany Center
Discussion after the play on Sunday, January 5th with Ann Dart, MD

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart will be performed among the audience in a pub-style setting. Enjoy traditional Scottish pub fare, beverages, and (of course) whiskey for a nominal additional fee.  Prudencia Hart is an academic scholar of traditional Scottish folklore and immensely dislikes all things pop culture, including her work adversary, Colin Syme. After a particularly long night full of draughts and drams at a pub, Prudencia gets lost in the snow-covered forest and winds up getting saved by a man who may have nefarious intentions. Bewitchingly exuberant, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart is a wild romp through Scottish ballads, karaoke mainstays, and devilish encounters.  

Awards for David Greig
2013 Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award (The Events)
2012 Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award (Midsummer)

“satirical, absurd, a literary parlor game, a crazy surf through folkloric history, and a wild and celebratory slice of storytelling-as-art”
- Tim Teeman, Daily Beast


 

INDECENT
A co-production with Profile Theatre in association with Portland State University
by Paula Vogel
directed by Josh Hecht
February 19 – March 8 at 2:00 PM
Location: PSU: Lincoln Hall
Discussion after the matinee on Sunday, January 8th with Don Rosen, MD

Sholem Asch’s play The God of Vengeance made a splash on Broadway in 1923, when it was shut down after six weeks of running, and all of the actors were arrested on charges of obscenity. Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Paula Vogel weaves scenes of Asch’s play with the imagined conversations of the risk-taking company that brought the script to the stage. Indecent is a riveting backstage drama filled with music, the history of Jewish theatre, and stage magic.

Awards for Paula Vogel
2013 Inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame
1999 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Award
1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (How I Learned to Drive)
1997 Obie Award for Playwriting (How I Learned to Drive)
1992 Obie Award for Best New American Play (The Baltimore Waltz) 

“beautiful stage pictures give way to quiet, devastating moments of realism”
– Dan Jakes, Chicago 


LOOKING FOR TIGER LILY
by Anthony Hudson
directed by Michael Mendelson
May 2 – May 31 at 2:00 PM
Location: PCS: Ellyn Bye Studio
Discussion after the matinee on Sunday, May 31st with Deborah Kass, LCSW


Carla Rossi – Portland’s premier drag clown – has taken over Anthony’s life and Anthony would like it back now. Anthony’s identity is a confused tangle of Native American/white/queer, and Anthony grew up looking to the Indian princess Tiger Lily from Peter Pan for cultural guidance. Looking for Tiger Lily is a kaleidoscopic, funhouse trip, following Anthony’s quest to find validation as a real Native artist – where the artist and the muse can coexist. 

Awards for Anthony Hudson
2019 Individual Artist Fellowship in Performing Arts from Oregon Arts commission
2018 Creative Heights Award from Oregon Community Foundation 
2018 Native Arts & Culture Foundation National Artist Fellow in Artistic Innovation
2018 Inaugural cohort of the Western Arts Alliance’s Native Launchpad program
2016 Regional Arts & Culture Council Grant