HEART BEATINGS, REASONS TO BE PRETTY & More Set for CoHo's New Season

CoHo Productions began with a world premiere play written by a then-local playwright, Gary Cole, and directed by Robert Holden. Our first play was nominated for a Drammy award. Since then, CoHo Productions has used its unique co-production model to champion 6 additional world premieres, several Portland or northwest premieres, and sustained the highest quality of performance on stage and behind the scenes in earning 16 Drammy awards for its co-productions. Our 2010-2011 season continues that tradition of blending high quality production, new works and top local talent.

2010/2011 Subscriptions are on sale now! Buy before July 31, 2010, and take an additional $5 discount off the regular price! Call (503) 205-0715 for tickets or online here. (No handling fees for subscribers!)

Heart Beatings

by Mark LaPierre
Directed by Diane Englert
Co-Producers: Mark LaPierre & Diane Englert

*WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL!

October 15 - November 20, 2010

Has your head ever stopped your heart? Have you ever felt so afraid of screwing up a good relationship that you became paralyzed? Have you ever felt you would die if you couldn't have the person you loved? Then you have experienced Heart Beatings! In Heart Beatings, an intrepid group of four explores all the exciting and terrifying levels of love, from dating to marriage, reproducing to mourning. Presented in humorous magical realism, the vignettes of Heart Beatings include compulsive liars trying to make a date, a woman's teddy bear challenging her suitor, workaholic superheroes on a honeymoon trying to relax, an expectant father koi fish contemplating suicide, professional mourners, and a dead guy singing.

Jeff Landsman, Literary Manager at the Off-Broadway York Theatre, described Heart Beatings as "similar to I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change-- only better."

Like a musical theatre version of David Ives' All in the Timing, the vignettes are hysterically funny, often sweetly touching, and add up to 90 minutes of unhinged romantic comedy.

Kid-Simple, a radio play in the flesh

by JorDan Harrison
Directed by Tom Moorman
Co-Producer: call in sick Productions

February 18 - March 26, 2011

Moll, a girl who invents things, wins the science fair with a machine for hearing sounds that can't be heard. But when a shapeshifting Mercenary steals the invention (and her heart), she must embark on a quest to save noise as we know it. Accompanied by the last boy-virgin in the eleventh grade, Moll crosses chasms and rafts rivers into a world where sound is always more than what meets the ear. A quirky fable of innocence and experience, featuring live sound effects, mutinous onomatopoeia, and a host of woodsy temptations.

Reasons to be pretty

by Neil LeBute
Directed by Kurt Conroyd
Co-Producer: Lucky Apple Productions
May 13 - June 18, 2011

In reasons to be pretty, Greg's tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his offhand remarks about a female coworker's pretty face and his own girlfriend Steph's lack thereof get back to Steph. But that's just the beginning. Greg's best buddy, Kent, and Kent's wife, Carly, also enter into the picture, and the emotional equation becomes exponentially more complicated. As their relationships crumble, the four friends are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity, and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?

What's Next at CoHo:

This Lime Tree Bower by Conor McPherson

Co-producers:
Our Shoes Are Red/The Performance Lab

Directed by Devon Allen

Starring Matthew DiBiasio, Dennis Kelly, and Matthew Micucci

May 7-June 12
Thursdays-Saturdays @ 8 and Sundays @2
Tickets: Thurs: Pay-What-You-Will;
Students, Educators & 60 and better: $20;
Reg $25

"A touching, marvelously entertaining play which tells a gripping tale with absolute panache" wrote The London Daily Telegraph. Conor McPherson's play This Lime Tree Bower brought McPherson to the attention of critics and audiences. This Lime Tree Bower tells the overlapping tales of three young men from a Dublin seaside town, recollecting one fateful night that included an embarrassing episode at a college lecture, a rape, and a robbery done for retribution that ties it all together. Gorgeous language and three compelling characters make this a must-see of the season.

About Coho

Coho Productions is a non-profit theatre company located just off NW 23rd Avenue in Portland, Oregon. Coho's mission is unique in that it co-produces with Portland area theatre artists. Each year Coho solicits submissions and selects three shows for its main season. Since 1995, Coho has co-produced 36 plays, including seven world premieres, and won 16 Drammy Awards for outstanding achievement in Portland theatre. Supporting new plays remains a major part of Coho's mission.

For more information, visit www.cohoproductions.org

 

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