Action/Adventure in Just Out Magazine

October 2007
Gender Bending? Try Genre Bending

Continued:
TK: Do you see The Fall of the House continuing in the future--like a regular, seasonal thing?

TC: I would really like to continue with this project for as long as we can hold on to the core cast and keep the storyline fresh and moving. We have even talked to a local theater company about coordinating with their season so that an installment of Fall would run after each of their mainstage productions. It's hard to ask actors for a long-term commitment like that, though. Fall is a very intense and challenging process that demands a lot of energy and creativity from the first rehearsal through the last performance. We've also discussed ideas for "spin-offs," you know, following one character into a different environment, such as their workplace or a different living situation. And then, I'd love to experiment with other similarly formatted shows with other premises, etc.

TK: This second season of The Fall of the House is being produced by a new company. Tell me about that.

TC: The new group is called Action/Adventure and it's composed of myself and four of my close friends/colleagues, many of whom were involved with Fall last season (Aubrey Jessen, who plays Julie, Devon Granmo, who was our sound designer, and Miranda King, who may have been responsible for about half of our audience showing up). Though the five of us (including Sabra Choi, who is currently out of the country) have been doing theatre together for a long time, we finally made it official in August, and are gearing up for a lot of exciting projects. Because The Bluestockings and my former collaborator, Vivien Lyon had already given me their blessing to continue Fall on my own, and because Fall really encapsulates a lot of Action/Adventure's ideals (bringing in new audiences, producing accessible and entertaining theatre, experimenting with genres and other disciplines) we felt that this would be a perfect first project for our company.

TK: Tell me more about your new company's mission to build relationships among disciplines.

Miranda King: Our mission to build relationships with artists in other disciplines is really intrinsically linked to wanting to become a part of creating a supportive artist culture in Portland as a whole. Both the music and the visual art scenes in Portland are growing and changing so much right now, and there is a ton of great work being done. There is great work being done in the theatrical community as well, but so often it seems as though it is a genre set apart--that there is not as much intermingling between the theatre community and the music community specifically as there could be. We want to expose people who would be likely to go to see a band on a Friday night, but maybe not seek out theatre as a primary source of art or entertainment--we want to expose them to theatre that is relevant to them. And a big part of that is collaborating with artists that are immediately more relevant to them. Another big part of it is just happening to be lucky enough to have so many talented friends. I have a lot of friends who are in local bands that I think are making really exciting music, and I wanted to be able to utilize that and support them- and in turn, they will come out and support us.

And this is very much the case for everyone working on Fall of the House. Everyone knows people who are involved in other local art projects, be they bands or more--and it makes a project like this a ripe opportunity for collaboration. Also, while FOTH is a universal story, it is also a very Portland story. And the burgeoning music and art scenes here are something that many Portlanders in their 20s are involved in--we wanted the music in FOTH to reflect the culture in which the characters are immersed. The way in which we will be incorporating local music is mostly through the recorded soundtrack to the episodes that will feature quite a few local bands. We will also be selling the band's merchandise at the shows for people who like what they hear and want to pick up an album afterwards. Eventually we would really like to incorporate live music into FOTH and the other shows our company does—so look forward to that being a significant part of some of our future work. Some friends of mine have a great local record label, Bladen County Records, and we are going to be using some of the bands that record with them, such as The Builders and the Butchers and Oh Captain, My Captain. We are also planning on using music from Blue Horns, The Crosswalks, Slubst (who have written an original theme song for this season of Fall of the House), and more. We will also be hosting a Fall of the House Season 2 Closing Party and Benefit for Action/Adventure Theatre at the end of the run at Someday Lounge on November 11th. It will feature music from The Crosswalks and Blue Horns (with possibly one or two other bands), as well hang out with the cast and crew of FOTH, participate in some theatrical contests/games, and get a preview of what is upcoming from Action/Adventure theater.