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Welcome to Portland Story Theater!Portland Story Theater delivers engaging, true, personal stories for adult audiences. PST creates live theater that has no no fourth wall - it's just the artist and the audience and the honest, authentic story that unfolds between them. Portland Story Theater has been called "raw, revealing, vulnerable," by The Oregonian for our groundbreaking work that "keeps audiences entranced from start to finish." PST consistently hits "emotional pay dirt" (Followspot), tapping into the age-old power of the spoken word tradition. We empower the imagination.Portland Story Theater's mission is to make diverse storytelling, spoken word, performance and narrative arts an integral part of our rich cultural identity while keeping Portland’s love of story alive and vibrant. What We DoPortland Story Theater was launched in 2004 to bring the urban community together for a unique performance experience, telling tales that stimulate the mind and rouse the heart. Our vision is to enrich, inspire, challenge and expand our world through the narrative arts.We are a grass-roots operation, building awareness and appreciation for narrative. In late 2009, we established ourselves as a not-for-profit business. We have a wonderful fan base and 2009-2010 has proven to be a spectacular season so far: tickets for our Halloween show at The John Palmer House sold in record time; we received an outstanding review for Mawson's Mettle; and we sold out the entire run of our annual Valentine's Day show, Seven Minutes in Heaven. Our 2nd annual Solo Performance Festival, Singlehandedly, was met with sell-out crowds and standing ovations culminating with a grand finale StorySLAM!. Portland Story Theater delivers thought-provoking, funny, and sometimes irreverent stories that make you think, evoke an emotional response, and "satisfy the soul" (The Oregonian). Our stories tap into what is universal in the human condition, awakening the listener's own experience. How We Do ItPortland Story Theater uses a collaborative model to produce our work. We invite all kinds of people: storytellers, improv artists, comedians, puppeteers, spoken word artists, actors, monologists - anyone who is passionate about story - to join us in co-creating a program that is woven together collaboratively. We workshop the stories together, creating a synergy within the ensemble, and honing the stories in preparation for performance. It's comradarie at it's finest. We have been priviledged to work with a number of talented people in the Portland urban community, including Sharon Knorr, Brad Fortier, Mary Rose, Will Hornyak, Olga Sanchez, and Rick Huddle, to name a few.Portland Story Theater is driven by our core values:
Catalysts for community relationships and alliances. Passionate advocates for diverse narrative artists and our loyal audiences who support us all. WorkshopsPortland Story Theater provides workshops for adults who want to learn how to tell stories. In the Fall 2009, we delivered a four-week series called Discover Your Narrative Voice to a dozen people in the intimacy of our own home. We shared ideas about finding the stories we need to tell and why we need to tell them, how to use our voices and our bodies, how written stories are different from spoken stories, and how to structure the narrative arc of a story for spoken word delivery. People liked the experience and learned a lot; several of our students have already gone on to tell at public venues. We expect to continue this process branching out to focus on personal narrative as well as traditional material. Let us know if you'd like to participate. We're always looking to expand our community.Our Performance SpacePortland Story Theater calls Hipbone Studio our home. Jeff Burke, proprietor of Hipbone, operates a visual art program and opens the space up to performing artists in the Portland urban community. Hipbone Studio is located in the heart of Portland at 1847 NE Burnside and offers free, off-street parking, and is wheelchair accessible. Hipbone is a warm and intimate space that is perfectly suited to the work of Portland Story Theater.May The Narrative Be With You! Portland Story Theater Board Lynne Duddy Lawrence Howard Penny Walter |
Lawrence Howard and Lynne Duddy PST co-founders join poet Emmett Wheatfall in a Special Spoken Word Roundtable with host Paula Small on KBOO's program, Paula's Picks 
PST's Lynne Duddy champions Portland, Oregon in Chicago at the 1st Ever National Story Slam 
PST's 2010 Solo Performance Festival
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