"Next of Kin" Info

/ Steve Patterson / 1 Comment

A little while ago, I noted that Portland Theatre Works will be presenting a free reading of my play “Next of Kin,” which is my first new full-length since “Lost Wavelengths” in 2006. Info on the production follows below. Just as a note: even though “Next of Kin” is an extremely heavy play, dealing with Iraq, the costs of war, veterans issues, and so on, it has a weird, sneaky thread of gallows humor running through it. The show is Monday, 10/20, at 7:00 PM in Profile Theatre, 3430 SE Belmont, Portland.

Hope to see you there….

Steve

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FreshWorks@Profile in October
October marks a return visit for Steve Patterson in FreshWorks. In 2006 we read his play Lost Wavelengths which went on to be selected for that year’s JAW Festival at PCS and which has now been nominated for an Oregon Book Award (see more on that below). This month we’re proud to present Next of Kin:

Mike is a Marine Casualty Assistance Officer who informs parents and spouses their loved one has been killed. Mike’s brother Rich is a Marine recruiter trying to fill his quotas. Their sister Angie was left at home to care for their father, a Vietnam Vet and former Marine, who now lies in a coma having attempted to kill himself. Reuniting over their father’s deathbed, they are forced to face the complex relationships they have with each other as they pick up the pieces their father left behind.
Portland playwright Steve Patterson, has written over 25 plays, with works staged in Portland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Austin, Tampa, and other cities in the U.S. as well as in Canada and New Zealand. The Centering, a one-man play he co-wrote with Portland actor Chris Harder, has been featured at the Edmonton Fringe Festival and the Boulder Fringe Festival, and, in 2007, Mr. Harder won a Drammy Award for Best Actor for his performance of the play. His full-length works include Waiting on Sean Flynn, Malaria, Altered States of America, The Continuing Adventures of Mr. Grandamnus, Turquoise and Obsidian, Bombardment, and Delusion of Darkness.

The cast will include Garland Lyons, Lindsay Matteson, and Nick Zagone.

Next of Kin by Steve Patterson
7 p.m., Monday, Oct 20th
Profile Theater at Theater!Theatre! (3430 SE Belmont St., Portland, OR)
FREE and open to the public

The FreshWorks program is designed to give playwrights to the opportunity to hear a draft of their play read by some of Portland’s finest actors. FreshWorks readings are free and open to the public.

These readings will take place at 7 p.m. on the 3rd Monday of every month in the Theatre Noir at Theater!Theatre! in southeast Portland. We’re very pleased to be partnering with Profile Theater in presenting this program.

Congrats to Steve Patterson and Francesca Sanders!
Steve and Francesca have both been named finalists for the Angus L. Bowmer Award for Drama for the 2008 Oregon Book Awards. Steve’s finalist play Lost Wavelengths was given a FreshWorks reading in May of 2006 and Francesca’s play I Become a Guitar was developed through a workshop way back in May of 2004. Portland Theatre Works is a big fan of Steve’s and Francesca’s work and very proud to have been a part of the development of these 2 outstanding plays.

Final Debate Recap

/ Steve Patterson / 3 Comments

In case you missed the last big debate, here are some highlights.

As you may know, McCain, ever sensitive to racial stereotypes, declared yesterday that he was a-goin’ to “whip his you-know-what.” Here’s McCain during debate prep.

Here they are during the actual debate. Schieffer’s just asked them what stuff they’re going to have to give up because the economy’s totally screwed.

Here McCain finally makes his move, hitting Obama on hanging around with Bill Ayers, who blew some shit up and stuff during the 1960s, when Obama was working on his times tables and we were having another stupid war.

Obama pretty much responds, dude…what? Are you high?

The big move fizzled, and then McCain talked a lot about the American people being scared and angry. (In other words, projection.) And he said Sarah Palin’s a bitchin’ babe who digs puppies. CBS’s snap poll shows Obama winning 53% to 22%. (The remaining percentage was in the restroom or too drunk to respond after playing the “my friends” drinking game.)

Finally, here’s a last, fond shot of McCain immediately after the debate.

The end. Now, let go vote and get this sucker over with.

Good Times

/ Steve Patterson / Leave a comment

The McCain people have been swaggering about, claiming Obama’s already been “measuring the drapes” in the White House (like he doesn’t have better things to do), but, in fact, all presidential candidates have a “transition team” in place in case they actually win. McCain does, for instance, and it turns out his head transition dude has plenty of experience working for cranky old guys who know what it’s like kill people and stuff:

McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort

That’s not change we can believe in, my friends.

Gravity is Not Your Friend

/ Steve Patterson / 7 Comments

So it’s like this: one Sunday, I got up and my back was a little creaky. It’s always given me trouble–when I was 16, I managed to fall off a house I was roofing, and it’s been a bit weird ever since. So much for working with my hands. Anyway, by midday Monday, I realized something was a little more wrong than expected; I couldn’t sit through the day. I went to my doctor on Tuesday, figuring it’d be, oh yeah, it’s out of alignment, crunch, here’s a couple prescriptions and remember to bend your knees. The usual drill every three to five years.

Well, no. This time he gave me that grave look that I think they have doctors practice in mirrors at medical school (in a big room resembling a dance studio): you have a bulging disk. (I checked the impulse to reply “Or are you just happy to see me” because the interior voice was going “uh-oh.”) Not the end of the world, very common, but it’s taking longer to get over than usual, and I’m spending a good part of my off-work time horizontal in this narcotized cocoon. Which sounds great at first, but, after awhile, you find yourself repeating Major Tom’s mantra in “Ashes to Ashes”: want to come down right now! Plus it’s kind of thrown a curve into my many nefarious plans–being a photographer, playwright, theatregoer, gardener, and, of late, guitar slinger. (I definitely need to branch out more, no?)

So, to my theatre friends: sorry I’ve been missing your shows. I’d like to go, but I seem to be having this problem with gravity.

S

Turn Your Head and Cough

/ Steve Patterson / Leave a comment

I’m ruthless, but…damn. This quote from a commenter on the fabulous Wonkette website:

Sarah Palin is kind of like testicular cancer.

If you’re McCain, would you rather just live with the pain and agony it causes for a while longer, or would you immediately amputate and show the world that you have no balls?

And the sad part is…it’s true.