Portland Playhouse

Mission

For 17 years, Portland Playhouse has celebrated the complexity of the human experience through the power of performance with vibrant plays, transformational education programs, and cathartic community events. We envision a world awakened by the wonder of theatre—build this world with us!

Bottom Line for Portland

This year, Portland Playhouse will welcome 10,000+ audience members and 125+ theatre professionals to our “House of Play” in Portland’s King neighborhood for colorful mainstage productions and intimate community events. Our responsive theatre education programs will provide opportunities for self expression to 400+ students at schools across the Portland Metro Area—at no cost to students.

Your donation helps us boldly realize new works, invest in our rich community of local artists, and collaborate with theatre-makers from across the country. Your support also helps us make sure ticket prices aren’t a barrier to access, because we firmly believe that creative expression is for everyone.

Quote

“I am eternally grateful for my relationship with Portland Playhouse. As an institution, they speak from a place of trust and they hold on to their word. If they don’t get it right, they ask, ‘Where did we mess up? How can we do better? How can we move forward?’ That's what I love about them. They are forever evolving, forever growing.” —Cycerli Ash-Barlocker, actor and director

“My dream for Portland Playhouse is that we continue to be a home for Black stories. We have built an organization that uses theatre as a catalyst to change the narrative of what it means to be Black in a city and a state marked by racial exclusion.” –Charles Grant, Producing Director and 2024 Skidmore Prize Winner

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Portland Playhouse practices antiracist theatre and our goal is to create a community of care. We are dedicated to changing the structures and systems of institutionalized oppression in our industry. You can find a living document detailing our commitment to anti-racist practices here. 

Since our founding in 2008, Portland Playhouse has intentionally produced plays by artists under-represented on American stages (women, POC, & LGBTQ+). Located in the heart of the historically Black King neighborhood, we put on plays and events that reflect our neighborhood’s diversity in its many expressions, and we remain committed to centering Black stories and artists.

Incentives

Double your impact! Our friends at the Raymond Family Foundation have pledged to match all donations made to our Give!Guide campaign, up to our to $35,000 goal. 

Partner(s)

Thank you, Pure Environmental NW, for sponsoring our Give!Guide campaign!

Thank you, PassinArt, our nonprofit partner for this year's campaign! PassinArt is Oregon's longest producing Black and multicultural theatre company—check them out!

Thank you, Mollet Printing, for donating marketing materials!  

PHOTO CREDITS

Left: Lester Perry in A Christmas Carol, 2023. Photo by Kirk W Johnson. Top Right: Noah LaPook, Emmanuel Davis, Eliza Jane Schneider, and Elleon Dobias in Amelie, 2024. Photo by Shawnte Sims. Bottom Right: Lo Steele, Charles Grant, and Jasonica Moore in Passing Strange, 2024. Photo by Shawnte Sims.