Portland Stage Studio Series Presents Workshop of DEATH WINGS

The Portland Stage Studio Series presents a workshop of Death Wings by Portland Stage Affiliate Artist Bess Welden on Thursday May 23 and Friday May 24 at 7pm in the Studio Theater at Portland Stage. The Studio Series is presented by the Affiliate Artists, and hosted by Portland Stage in the Studio Theater. Studio Series Workshops are readings of new plays, rehearsed with actors over one or more days, and developed with the playwright.

Grand is the maker of death wings. She's interested in the fabric and fibers that make up a human life. Her granddaughter Rachel is a scientist determined to fly. Can we transcend the limitations of our bodies? How do we fashion the stories of our own lives? Full of poetry, songs, and a radical re-visioning of the Daedelus/Icarus myth, Death Wings asks us to marvel at the wonder of flight - real and metaphorical - and the mysteries of human love, connection, loss, and letting go.

Death Wings unfolds over the last 100 minutes of Grand's life - her memories, visions, feelings, and questions that help her discover the five sentences that tell her final story. She's dedicated her life to making wings that she believes helps others die, and to raising her granddaughter Rachel, a scientist who is determined to fly. Playwright Bess Welden had this to say about her process "I began writing Death Wings over four years ago. It kept getting pushed to a back burner because I had several other projects that required more immediate attention. The Studio Series Workshop this May is putting me on the hook to gather all of the feedback and discoveries from previous readings of the script and funnel that information into a new draft. It's also a tremendous opportunity to work with a talented and deeply experienced group of local women theater artists. From the beginning, I have envisioned the project as highly collaborative, requiring physical and vocal exploration of the material in order to really understand how the text needs to work. I am eager to co-direct with Dana Wieluns Legawiec, what I anticipate will be a highly creative and experimental, if short, rehearsal process that will lead to the public readings through which audiences can offer responses that will further impact the next phase of development."

Portland Stage is a hub of creative activity and energy that engages and contributes to the entire community. Located in the heart of the arts district on Forest Avenue, Portland Stage is known for its professional Mainstage Theater Productions, its creation of vital Education Programs, both in-schools and in-house, and for cultivating new voices in theater through its New Work Programs that foster experimentation and artistic risk. Visit www.portlandstage.org to see the 2018-2019 Season.