Portland Story Theater's Urban Tellers Brings the Stories of Immigrants and Refugees to Life

Portland Story Theater is thrilled to be creating a very special edition of Urban Tellers, featuring the real, true stories of immigrants and refugees now living in Portland, Oregon. Our goal is to address the 'othering' that has escalated in our country by humanizing and building connection within our urban community. Portland Story Theater is very excited to have Mexico (Fernando López García), Denmark (Philip Lund), Indonesia (Lily Ningsih), Argentina (María Luisa Baragli), Iran (Yashar Vasef), and Somalia (Zahra Abukar) represented. This program is made possible through the generous support of the Oregon Cultural Trust, The Collins Foundation, and The Old Church.

The show is scheduled for Portland Story Theater's regular time slot on the first Friday of the month, April 7th, at our usual venue, the Fremont Theater, located at 2393 NE Fremont Street. Before the group even met to begin crafting their stories, this show sold out! We have scheduled an encore performance for the next evening, Saturday, April 8th, at The Old Church, located at 1422 SW 11th Avenue in downtown Portland. Both shows start at 8 pm, with doors opening at 7 pm. Both shows are limited to 21+.

The increasingly acerbic, anti-immigrant language of the current political season has convinced us that now is a perfect time to celebrate and support immigrants and refugees by hearing their stories. These narratives will enrich our community by helping them realize the humanity we share with our immigrant and refugee neighbors. This special edition furthers Portland Story Theater's vision of "changing the world, one story at a time."

There is never a pre-set theme for Portland Story Theater's Urban Tellers and this special edition is no exception. Our purpose is not to set immigrants and refugees apart as a separate segment of society; our purpose is to show that immigrants and refugees are ordinary people, like everyone else, with the same hopes and dreams and feelings. Through our personal stories, we strive to show that we are all one family, sharing the human experience. There is no us and them; only us. For that reason, we have not required the participants to tell their immigrant and refugee stories; they are free to tell personal stories about anything that has meaning for them. A theme that ties all the stories together will emerge organically within the group as the stories develop and take shape.

Urban Tellers Immigrant and Refugee Edition

Friday, April 7th
Fremont Theater, 2393 NE Fremont

Saturday, April 8th
The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Avenue

Doors 7 pm
Stories 8 pm

Tickets available to the general public at www.pdxstorytheater.org
$15 Advance | $18 Day of Show | $5 Arts for All PDX

A portion of the ticket proceeds will go to the United Nations Association Adopt-A-Future Program, while a limited number of tickets are available free of charge to the immigrant and refugee community

Portland Story Theater is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization which strives to make the narrative arts an integral part of Portland's rich cultural identity. Founded in 2004, the organization is committed to bringing an authentic story and theater experience to enrich, inspire, challenge and expand Portland's urban environment through the narrative arts. For more information, visit pdxstorytheater.org.

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