The Theatron Project
The aim…
To create a connected artistic community that can engage in our work.
Community
To reimagine stories with contemporary perspectives while giving universal access to this content digitally.
Content
To explore familiar stories and to create new ones, utilizing technology and experimenting with form as we connect to each other.
Creativity
Theatron:
Greek for “seeing place”. While widely considered as a physical part of the performance space, we want to explore a more literal vision of this definition and investigate what a “seeing place” for theatre can be without the constraints of brick and mortar. Our “seeing place” is everywhere around us and accessible at all times. This is our Theatron Project.
Season One Programming:
Follow along as we create a brand new adaptation based on Washington Irving’s The Devil and Tom Walker.
Theatron Presents is our home for new work. This is the spot for pure performance including new adaptations, original work, and experiments
We unearth some older stories and answer the question: should these works be refreshed, or reshelved?
We get actors drunk. Throw a script at them. Hope for the best. This is Cold and Drunk.
Matthew Jared Lee (creator)
“The goal of my work is to remind everyone that theatre is an event. I explore this through the relationship between the audience and the playing space. I look for occasions where I can explore a sense of immersion. This immersion goes beyond pulling the audience on stage, actors leaving the playing area, or even audiences walking through an abandoned space and exploring, but rather a moment of shared investment on the part of everyone. Theatre should attack our senses; it moves us instinctually, intellectually, and emotionally and for my work, I prefer that order. As a result, hopefully, a deeper level of the “event” and investment is achieved, turning passive audience members into active participants. “
Originally from Missouri, Jared received my B.S.Ed in Speech and Theatre Education from Missouri State University; while finishing this degree he had the opportunity to open his first theatre, Springfield 2nd Stage, a 150+ seat black-box performance space. After almost two years of being a Producing Artistic Director at this space, the decision was made to uproot and move somewhere else in search of new audiences. He picked Portland. While in Portland, he created a new theatre company, The Factory Theatre. Also during this time in Portland, he received an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Portland, all the while having the privilege to work alongside some fantastic artists, theatres, and companies. During a brief stint in Detroit, MI, he also received an M.F.A in Theatre Management in further service of his pursuit of Artistic Leadership. Jared is always looking for new ways of embracing technology, performance, and immersion.
To learn more about Jared, please visit mjaredlee.com
Contributors
Season 1 Actors
Jacob Chapman
Nevan Richard
Tyler Hunt
Jim Vadala
Taylor Benjamin
Season 1 Writers
Andrew Wardenaar
The Adaptation Project: The Devil and Tom Walker
Andrew is the founder and artistic director of Orphic, an organization that commissions playwrights to write original plays based on specific Greek tragedies. After four years in operation, Orphic is helped to develop and present Brian Kettler’s Iphigenia 3.0, Karin Magaldi's Remain(s), Anya Pearson’s The Killing Fields, Josie Seid’s Path of Glory, and Jeffy Denight’s Huck is Dead. Andrew has a history of working closely with playwrights, and is one himself. His produced plays include Spokes, The Sweatermakers, The Pool Behind the Old Brick School, and Home, or Wherever. Andrew currently teaches Introduction to Fine Arts at University of Portland, where he graduated in 2014 with an MFA in directing.
Cody Walker
Theatron Presents: Morningstar
Cody Walker is a high school English teacher in Southwest Missouri where he resides with his wife and two children. He is the author of the Midwest murder mystery “Welcome to Pinhook” and the YA horror fantasy “Everland: To Kill a God.” He also has written two collections of poetry - “Loot the bodies” and “Songs for Sisu.”
Find out more about Cody’s writing and support his creative works at his patreon here: www.patreon.com/popgunchaos