James X
by Gerard Mannix Flynn
Directed by Gemma Whelan∼
Feb 13 – Mar 1, 2020
Thu – Sat @ 7:30pm, Sun @ 2pm
Preview Feb 13, Opening Feb 14
Confronting Church and State.
Plaintiff James X confronts the defendants, Church and State, for injustices they perpetrated throughout his childhood. While awaiting his trial, James examines his confidential state files compiled over the previous 45 years, and takes us on a journey through the schools, courts, health boards, industrial schools, psychiatric hospitals and prisons. It is part of the secret history of Ireland in the last century.
Show sponsor: Charlotte Rubin
Season sponsor: Ronni Lacroute

- Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Events:
- Jan 30: 7pm Sneak Peek scene and discussion with director, actor, and author Rene Denfeld at Literary Arts, 925 SW Washington St. (free)
- Feb 15: Talkback with Tim DuRoche, World Oregon
- Feb 21: Talkback with Rene Denfeld, author
- Feb 22: ASL interpreted performance and talkback with Jenifer Wagley, Executive Director, Children First for Oregon
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“Pierce's performance is a fast, pulsating tour de force.”
Krista Garver, Broadway World
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“...the manner in which Pierce delivers this intense monologue, is a marvel of acting and a highlight of any theatre season! His rapid-fire spewing of this growing cancer, eating away at his soul, is awe-inspiring.”
Dennis Sparks, All Things Performing Arts
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Marty Hughley, Oregon ArtsWatch
CAST

JAMES X
CREATIVE TEAM AND CREW

DIRECTOR

SCENIC DESIGN

COSTUME DESIGN

LIGHTING DESIGN

SOUND DESIGN

STAGE MANAGER
Darius Pierce
Darius is a Portland-based actor who has appeared at Portland Center Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Folger Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Broadway Rose Theatre Company, Portland Playhouse, Theatre Vertigo, and more. A proud Third Rail company member, he has performed there in Middletown; The Realistic Joneses; Lungs; Kiss; and Mother, Come Home. He is a Drammy and a PAMTA recipient, and can even sometimes be seen on TV and in films. Darius is a co-founder and the artistic director of the Anonymous Theatre Company. But most importantly, he collects turtles. Hi, Julian!
Cast2
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Gemma Whelan
Gemma is the founding Artistic Director of Corrib Theatre. She has extensive experience working on both classical and contemporary works, ranging from Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Hellman, and Coward, to Arrabal, Mrozek, Sam Shephard, Nilo Cruz, and David Ives, and has directed and assisted in the development of numerous world premieres. For Corrib, she has directed Eclipsed, How to Keep an Alien, Four Last Things, Quietly (Drammy nomination for Best Actor in a Play), Belfast Girls, Chapatti, The Testament of Mary, Our New Girl, Little Gem, The Hen Night Epiphany, St. Nicholas, and A Night in November (Drammy nomination for Direction, Drammy award for Solo Performance). In Portland, she has directed Broomstick and Ithaka at Artists Repertory Theatre, The Call at Profile Theatre, Words that Burn for Los Porteños at Milagro Theatre, and also at CoHo, Boom Arts, and Portland Center Stage’s JAW Festival. She was the founding Artistic Director of Wilde Irish Productions in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she directed The Importance of Being Oscar (Dean Goodman Award for Direction, Dean Goodman Award for Solo Performance), Ariel (US premiere), Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Eclipsed, and Endgame. Other favorites include Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (Cable Car Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Directing) and Vita and Virginia (Curve Magazine, Best Theatre of the Year Award) at Theatre Rhinoceros, Duet for One at Zephyr Theatre, Top Girls at Phoenix Theatre, and Equus at Douglas Morrisson Theatre (Little Theatre Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Directing). Gemma received the Gerald Duff Award for Continuing Contribution to Theatre in the San Francisco Bay Area. Educational credits include Mills College (Chair, Drama Dept), UC Berkeley, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Portland Actors Conservatory, Portland State University, Literary Arts (Delve), Pacific University, Willamette University, and Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Singapore). She is an award-winning filmmaker and a published novelist. BA Trinity College Dublin; MA Theatre UC Berkeley; MFA Cinema, San Francisco State University. Member SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society). gemmawhelan.com
Kyra Sanford
Kyra Sanford is a freelance scenic designer, props master, carpenter, and painter in the Portland area, working for theatres such as Staged!, Theatre Vertigo, Defunkt Theatre, Profile Theatre, Portland State University, Clark College, Lincoln High School, Shaking the Tree Theatre, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, and various others. She received her BFA in scenic design from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University.
sanfordscenic.com
Gregory Pulver
Gregory is currently theatre program director and associate professor of costume design, makeup, and choreography for the University of Portland theatre department and one of the 28 resident artists at Artists Repertory Theatre. He moved to Portland after a successful run as an associate professor of costume design at Western Washington University for 12 years and chair of the WWU theatre department for three and a half of those years. Mr. Pulver holds an MFA in costume design and choreography from Humboldt State University, California. He is the 1993 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival National Costume Design winner for his work on The Three Penny Opera. He is a member of the international board of advisors for The Last Frontier Theatre Conference and participates yearly as a featured artist, mentoring new American playwrights. Designs include sets and costumes for Bag and Baggage Productions, costumes for Broadway Rose Theatre Company, and costumes for Artists Repertory Theatre (Skin of Our Teeth, Broomstick, Cuba Libre, Foxfinder, God of Carnage, Red Herring, and Design for Living). Gregory has also designed for several short films and TV spots in Washington, including a dance for the film Egg Skin. Gregory is also an accomplished director, singer, actor, and dog owner.
Kelly Terry
Kelly Terry is a Portland-based lighting designer for theatre, dance, and events. After graduating with honors from Florida State University, she launched a career that has included designing for everything from modern and original theatre (Next to Normal, Poor Jackie, Jesus Hopped the A-Train), elaborate ballet productions (Snow White, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night's Dream), and innovative classics (The Romeo and Juliet Project, Fiddler on the Roof, Pericles), to haunted houses (Busch Gardens' 2013 Howl-o-Scream) and rock concerts (The Arena Series 2015, The Governor’s Ball 2016-18). These days she works with Greenlight Creative, lighting everything from small weddings to massive corporate events. She would like to thank her ever-patient husband/ALD for his support and genius.
Rodolfo Ortega
Rodolfo Ortega is an award-winning composer for film, television and theatre. Rodolfo received his bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Arizona and his master’s of music degree from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied piano and composition. He has composed music for indie films such as the The Good Lot among others. For television, he has composed music for the documentary No Perfect Answers: The Life and Architecture of Pietro Belluschi. Rodolfo is nationally known for his work in the theatre. He has designed sound and composed for some of the most prestigious theatre companies in the United States, including The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Romeo and Juliet, The Tenth Muse) and Denver Center Theatre Company (The Three Musketeers, Romeo & Juliet). Rodolfo is also an Associate Artist with Santa Cruz Shakespeare (Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream ,Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Man in the Iron Mask, Henry IV, Parts I & II). Rodolfo lives in Portland, Oregon, where his theatrical work has been prolific. Since 2008, he has composed an original musical every year for Northwest Children’s Theatre, including Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid and El Zorrito. For Artists Repertory Theatre, he has designed and composed music for Caught, The Liar, Feathers and Teeth, The Talented Ones, Trevor, and Intimate Apparel. For Profile Theatre, his credits include sound design and music for The Blue Door (Drammy Award), A Lesson Before Dying, Lips Together Teeth Apart, and Master Harold and the Boys. He has recently composed the music for Aurora Theatre Company’s production of The Monster Builder (San Francisco Drama Critics Award). He has also worked with Cleveland Playhouse (Native Gardens) and South Coast Repertory Theater (The Monster Builder). He has composed for Milagro, including their productions of Lorca in a Green Dress (Portland Drammy Award), Ardiente Paciencia, and Elliot a Soldier’s Fugue. He recently was commissioned to compose the music for their production Oye’ Oya’, a bilingual musical adaptation of The Tempest. Rodolfo composed the scores for Oregon Children’s Theatre’s productions of Charlotte’s Web, Tuck Everlasting (Portland Drammy Award), BFG, Holes, and Cyrano. Additionally, he composed the music for the recently published play The Illustrated Bradbury by Ray Bradbury. Rodolfo recently won the Prague Quadrennial Competition in Music for his composition for Artist Repertory Theater’s Magellanica. For the 2000-2001 Portland theatre season, Rodolfo was awarded a Portland Drammy Award in sound design and composition for an entire season of outstanding work.
Amy Katrina Bryan
Amy is an actress, director, and choreographer. Most recently she was on stage in How to Keep an Alien at Corrib Theatre, To Fly Again at Imago Theatre, and the short film Jean. She recently choreographed for the Imago Soiree, and is a founding director and choreographer of a new dance project coming to Portland. She is a musician and singer as well, and plays in several rock and roll groups throughout Portland.
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Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States, appearing under a Special Appearance Contract.
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The Director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.