Artists Repertory Theatre

1982-1990

Chenoa Egawa portrays one of the ghost narrators in The Ghosts of Celilo

Rebecca Adams (as producing director), Peter Waldron (as designer), Joe Cronin, Amy Fowkes, David Gomes and Vana O'Brien formed Artists Repertory Theatre in 1982; their goal was to present contemporary playwrights' work in an intimate space. Through the early years of the theatre, they used the local YWCA's 110–seat Wilson Center for the Performing Arts as their performance area. In 1988, Artists Rep appointed Allen Nause to the position of Artistic Director; he would go on to hold the position for over 20 years.

1990-1999

Artists Rep creates an improvisation and role-playing program to teach life-skills named ART Reach (later renamed Actors to Go) in 1990. In 1991, Artists Rep began a development program, focused on creating new plays; and in its first year Artists Rep earned an Oregon Book Nomination for their world premiere production of Nancy Klementowski's After the Light Goes.

In 1995 they began a campaign to raise money for a new facility. After 2 years, Artists Rep was able to raise $1.2 million; with this money they moved into the Alder St. space, which included a 172–seat black box theater, administrative offices, a green room and dressing rooms, set–building shop, wardrobe room and rehearsal hall. In 1997, they were able to expand their presence in the world with an Artists Rep production at an international human rights play festival held on a tour of Pakistan.

2000-2009: To begin the new millennia, in 2000 Artists Rep chose to participate in the first-ever-reciprocal artistic collaboration between the United States and Vietnam, the Vietnam America Theatre Exchange. To accommodate demand, Artists Rep started a second Ssage season in 2002; these productions would take place at an off-site location as the Alder St. space was too small. In 2004 they were one of only six companies nationally to be selected to the largest-ever tour of Shakespeare in U.S. history. This would be a continuation of their previous US/Vietnam collaboration, but extended to a tour of the seven Western states through the National Endowment for the Arts'"Shakespeare in American Communities" initiative.

Later that year, Artists Rep began the expansion of their theatre space with the purchase of a 29,000 sq.ft. area of an entire city block for $4.8 million. The next year, 2005, Artists Rep opened an on-site location, the Morrison Stage, for their second stage productions; it would feature a more intimate setting with 164 seats. In 2008, Michael Mendelson, Vana O'Brien, Amaya Villazan and Todd Van Voris would become Artists Rep's first Resident Acting Company, and they all still remain members to this day. After opening the Morrison Stage in 2005, Artists Rep planned in 2009 to connect the two theatres with the construction of a staircase and the expansion of the Alder St. Stage's lobby.

2010-now

Artists Rep kicked off its 2010/11 season with a co-production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night with the Sydney Theatre Company. The cast included Academy-Award winning actor William Hurt, Australian star of stage and screen Robyn Nevin, Artists Rep Company Member Todd Van Voris, and Sydney Theatre Company Members Luke Mullins and Emily Russell.

In 2012, Artists Rep celebrated its 30th Anniversary season. Allen Nause, the theatre's Artistic Director for 25 years announced his retirement and Dámaso Rodriguez replaced him. In 2013, New Artistic Director Dámaso Rodriguez expanded Artists Rep's resident artists to include not only actors but also directors, designers and writers. Artists Rep became an arts campus and began housing eight arts organizations within its red walls. The arts organizations that occupy the space are Portland Shakespeare Project, Profile Theatre, Traveling Lantern Theatre Company, Polaris Dance, Portland Area Theatre Alliance, Portland Revels and The Red Door Project.

2017/2018 season

• An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
• Caught by Christopher Chen
• The Humans by Stephen Karam
• Magellanica by E.M. Lewis
• Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis
• The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse
• I and You by Lauren Gunderson

2016/2017 season

• Trevor by Nick Jones
• American Hero by Bess Wohl
• A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration by Paula Vogel
• Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison
• Feathers and Teeth by Charise Castro Smith
• The Talented Ones by Yussef El Guindi
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

2015/2016 season

• The Understudy by Theresa Rebeck
• Cuba Libre by Carlos Lacámara (book) and Jorge Gómez (Music & Lyrics)
• Broomstick by John Biguenet
• The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
• Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally
• We Are Proud to Present by Jackie Sibblies Drury
• Grand Concourse by Heidi Schreck
• The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder

2014/2015 season

• Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage
• Exiles by Carlos Lacámara
• Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward
• Tribes by Nina Raine
• The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar
• The Price by Arthur Miller
• 4000 Miles by Amy Herzog
• The Liar by David Ives, adapted from the comedy by Pierre Corneille

2013/2014 season

• The Big Meal by Dan LeFranc
• Mistakes Were Made by Craig Wright
• Foxfinder by Dawn King
• X-Mas Unplugged: The Reason for the Season by Matt Pelfrey and The Night Before Christmas by Anthony Neilson
• The Monster-Builder by Amy Freed
• The Motherfucker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis
• The Quality of Life by Jane Anderson
• The Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge

2012/2013 season

• And So It Goes... by Aaron Posner
• Seven Guitars by August Wilson
• Sherlock Holmes and Case of the Christmas Carol by John Longenbaugh
• The Lost Boy by Susan Mach
• Red Herring by Michael Hollinger
• The Gin Game by D.L. Coburn
• Ten Chimneys by Jeffrey Hatcher
• Ithaka by Andrea Stolowitz

2011/2012 season

• God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza
• No Man's Land by Harold Pinter
• Sherlock Holmes and Case of the Christmas Carol by John Longenbaugh
• (I Am Still) The Duchess of Malfi by Joseph Fisher, an adaptation of John Webster's play
• Circle Mirror Transformation by Annie Bake
• Race by David Mamet
• Standing On Ceremony by Jordan Harrison, Moisés Kaufman, Mo Gaffney, Neil LaBute, Wendy McLeod, José Rivera, Paul Rudnick, Doug Wright
• Next To Normal by Brian Yorkey (books/lyrics) and Tom Kitt (music)

2010/2011 season

• Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill
• Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O'Neill
• The Hillsboro Story by Susan Banyas
• Mars on Life - LIVE! by Susannah Mars
• Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts
• The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh
• Jack Goes Boating by Bob Glaudini
• The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Richard Kramer

2009/2010 season

• All My Sons by Arthur Miller
• Becky's New Car by Steven Dietz
• Holidazed by Marc Acito and C.S. Whitcomb
• Design for Living by Noël Coward
• Othello by William Shakespeare
• Gracie and the Atom by McKinley

2008/2009 season

• Blackbird by David Harrower
• Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
• Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam
• Holidazed by Marc Acito and C.S. Whitcomb
• The Seafarer by Conor McPherson
• String of Pearls by Michele Lowe
• Distracted by Lisa Loomer
• Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Tracy Letts

2007/2008 season

• House and Garden by Alan Ayckbourn
• The Ghosts of Celilo by Marv Ross
• Mars on Life: the Holiday Edition by Susannah Mars and Grant Byington
• The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl
• Rabbit Hole by David Lindsey-Abaire
• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
• The History Boys by Alan Bennett

2006/2007 season

• Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman
• Mr. Marmalade by Noah Haidle
• Inspecting Carol by Daniel Sullivan
• Mars on Life: the Holiday Edition by Susannah Mars and Grant Byington
• Vanya By Anton Chekhov, adapted by Tom Wood
• The Retreat from Moscow by William Nicholson
• They Came from Way Out There by Beecham, Hillgartner and Hume
• Orson's Shadow by Austin Pendleton

2005/2006 season

• Enchanted April by Matthew Barber, adapted from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim
• Bug By Tracy Letts
• Owen Meany's Christmas Pageant by Jane Jones and Myra Platt, adapted from the novel by John Irving
• The Seagull By Anton Chekhov, World Premiere adaption by Joseph Fisher
• Frozen by Bryony Lavery
• Assassins by Stephen Sondheim, Book by John Weidman
• Theater District by Richard Kramer

2004/2005 season

• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
• The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute
• Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge by Christopher Durang
• Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
• Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones
• Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall
• Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg

For seasons past the 2004/2005 season, find them at http://www.artistsrep.org/learn-about-us/production-history.aspx?season=2114