Pavement Productions

 

Since 1990, Pavement Productions has produced over 20 plays in Portland, Oregon, all of them world premieres.

Pavement Productions is based in Portland, Oregon. (For more information on Portland's drama scene, see Portland Theatre.) It is a small, independent production company that solely develops and produces new plays. It has been especially successful in producing "anthology" shows composed of short plays written by a number of playwrights around specific themes.

Playwright Steve Patterson and artist/director/playwright Kyle Evans (see The Evans Gallery) formed Pavement Productions in 1990 to produce Patterson's play Controlled Burn.

Evans directed, and he and Patterson split the production chores. To their chagrin, the show did well. They swore never to do that again.

In 1991, they did it again, producing Patterson's Bombardment, which went on to be a Finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Despite their best intentions and the pleading of others in the theatrical community, their collaboration continued with...

Third Tuesday Theater

Beginning in the Fall of 1991, Patterson and Evans presented Third Tuesday Theater, a staged reading program at Portland's Conant & Conant Books. Each Third Tuesday of the month during the regular theatre season, they presented original plays as staged readings. Their goal was not only to break new plays, but to introduce new directors, actors, and other theatre artists. The reading series became quite popular and, in two years, premiered 15 new plays and introduced Portland to scores of actors and writers who have actually gone on to future productions, Drammy Awards, Oregon Book Awards, and even paying gigs.  Suffering from total burnout, Patterson and Evans retired Third Tuesday in 1993, fully convinced they had reached the pinnacle of their theatrical achievement.

Pavement Productions Mobile Theatre

Alas, two years of staged readings was fun, but maybe it was time for a full production.  Plus Patterson had a new play and needed a gig, giving birth to Patterson's Malaria, this time directed by Lorraine Bahr. Evans formally took over the production design chores (which he'd been doing anyway). The mobile theatre moved into a dormant theatre space and revitalized it for the show. Though Pavement moved out when the show was done, the space has continued to be a viable theatre, supporting a number of Portland theatre groups and continues today as the home of Brody Theatre [add link].

And More

From there, Pavement began an extended collaboration with Portland's Stark Raving Theatre, where it produced Expatriates as a benefit for the Oregon Literacy Foundation, aided in the production of Waiting on Sean Flynn (where director Lisa L. Abbott and technical director Sean DeVine came aboard the company), and, in May 1998, produced a remarkably successful late night show, Life and Death on the American Road. They also produced Curl of Smoke at Portland Women's Theatre, Between the Sheets at the Clinton Street Theatre, and Deuces at Portland's ArtQuake Arts Festival.  In 2001, Pavement produced Patterson’s Delusion of Darkness [link], which received excellent critical notices and played to sold-out houses for the entire run.  The play has since gone on to critically and commercially successful productions in Tampa, FL, and Christchurch, New Zealand.  For a couple years, Pavement took a breather from production, though it facilitated private script development through informal meetings dubbed The Sewing Circle.  In 2003, Pavement staged Patterson’s Altered States of America [link], which, to complete the circle with the company’s early Nineties beginnings, was also chosen as a Finalist for the Oregon Book Award.  Pavement is currently on hiatus and is not accepting new plays for consideration.  Portland playwrights seeking script development might check out Portland Center Stage’s JAW/West festival, Stark Raving Theatre’s New Rave program, or the new Miracle Gro collaboration between Miracle Theatre Company and Portland Theatre Works.

 

Pavement Production's Honor Roll

  • Altered States of America by Steve Patterson (November-December 2003), Theatre! Theater!, Portland, Oregon.
  • Delusion of Darkness by Steve Patterson (July-August 2001), Back Door Theatre, Portland, Oregon.
  • Life & Death on the American Road (Five Plays, Various Authors) (May-June 1998), Stark Raving Theatre, Portland, Oregon.
  • Curl of Smoke by Steve Patterson (5/97), Portland Women's Theatre, Portland, Oregon.
  • Between the Sheets (Six Plays, Various Authors) (2/97), Clinton Street Theatre, Portland, Oregon.
  • Malaria by Steve Patterson (4/95-5/95), Pavement Productions Mobile Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Expatriates Adapted by Steve Patterson (2/94), Stark Raving Theatre, Portland, Oregon.
  • Between the Lines: Life & Death on the American Road (Six Plays, Various Authors) (5/93), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Bending the Rules by Dori Appel (4/93), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • 'P' is for Pavin' by March Brooker (4/93), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • A Cynic's Valentine by Theatre Out from Under (3/93), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Continental Tales, Three Plays by Jerry Seifert (2/93), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • New Year/New Voices (Five Pieces, Various Authors) (1/93), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • guerrilla theater by 100th Monkey Theater Collective (10/92), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Something at the Wrong End of the Dial by Silvia Curbelo & Dionisio D. Martinez (10/92), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Behind the Eyes (Five Plays, Various Authors) (5/92), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Right of Passage by Run Vzel (4/92), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Palm Readings by Gregory Tozian (3/92), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Male Bondage by Kyle Evans (2/92), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Mata Hari by Jan Baross (1/92), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • The Insurgent by Richard Wiltshire (11/91), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Deuces by Steve Patterson (10/91), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • The Pedestrian by Judith Voss (9/91), Third Tuesday Theater, Portland, Oregon.
  • Controlled Burn by Steve Patterson (9/90) FUSE Gallery, Portland, Oregon.

Here’s thanking all the splendid artists who graced our journey.

 

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