Introducing: In A Different Reality She's Clawing At The Walls
This past weekend at Shaking the Tree Theatre, In A Different Reality She's Clawing At The Walls premiered to echoes of shock and praise. Written by New York-based playwright Max Yu and directed by Associate Artistic Director Rebby Yuer Foster, this new script is a brutally honest meditation on the relationships we have with technology, capitalism, and each other. It is a visceral awakening to the multiple realities we inhabit, and a call to be present to the one that is most important.
This is the first full-length scripted play directed by Shaking the Tree’s Associate Artistic Director, Rebby Yuer Foster. Prior to this, they had produced projects in other mediums with the company, including memoir/documentary film 家 人 (Jia Ren), anthology of experimental digital media Short Flix, and 行为艺术 (behavioral art) installation/performance MODELMINORITY. This next piece is the most recent iteration of their individual brand of work as a figure of the emergent generation of young theatre artists in Portland.
A large focus of Rebby’s work is to highlight the voices of Asian diaspora in the world of performance. With this piece in particular, their aim was to tell a universally “human” story with Asian actors, after witnessing too many theatres almost exclusively casting actors of color with their heritage as the sole defining element of the story they are being asked to tell. Changing the narrative of what stories Asian artists can and can’t be a part of, this production features the work of an all-Asian cast and a largely Asian design team.
The show runs from May 20th to June 17th. Book your tickets here to witness the ferocious performances of actors Akitora Ishii, Kiana Malu Willhoft, Heath Hyun Houghton, and Alanna Fagan.
~Kai
P.S. As a sneak peak, here is a companion piece to the production written by dramaturg Emily Hogan, part of our interactive Collective Audience Screen Time Bank: