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"I haven't had a day off since Dec. 29," says Rusty Tennant, one of Post5 Theatre's new artistic directors.
Since taking charge last October, Tennant and co-artistic directors Paul Angelo and Patrick Walsh haven't just replaced Portland power couple Ty and Cassandra Boice. The trio remodeled Post5's space, changed its business model, gave it a new slogan, and switched up the coming year's lineup.
The new Post5 debuts this weekend with King Lear, directed by Tennant.
WW: After running Post5 for years, Ty and Cassandra Boice moved to Seattle last year and you took over. The company has been radio silent for months. What's going on in Sellwood?
Rusty Tennant: We've taken a few months off to get through the transition and do a ton of renovation. Not with money capital—we don't have that—but with sweat. We want to get it out there: There's new leadership, it's a new experience.
So is this a brand-new Post5?
You'll recognize the faces from old shows, but it pretty much ends there. Same company, same building, but the bar turned into a black-box space to rent. There is a small satellite bar that fits 40 people. Upstairs, it's a completely different world.
The old slogan was "Come play with us," and we want to elevate that to "Come grow with us." Post 5 was fledgling, and it's time to make it or break it. If we want to be legit and bring edgy theater to Sellwood, we have to up the game.
How are you positioning Post5?
Southern Portland needs an outlet for creative talent, an outlet for real gritty, edgy theater. Certainly there's Clackamas, but that's far away. Diversity is a huge part of what we want to showcase, and in King Lear, Tobias [Andersen] leads the way as an 80-year-old performer. To steal from Kevin Costner: "If we build it, they will come."
What about the old Post5?
Ty and Cass built something really great. Maybe it wasn't managed in the way we would have managed it. It was a bit financially mismanaged, but they were in their mid- to late 20s. They were young and exuberant, and the choices they made were exciting…but there were too many big productions without any resources for funding.
We were handed a season we didn't know and, quite frankly, weren't interested in. So we had to modify the season and cut four large-cast shows. That money we would have put into wood we can now use to pay people. The season that was proposed would have left us most assuredly bankrupt or in need of an enormous donation. Then, every theater here is one big mistake from going under.
Is that a bigger problem in Portland's theater scene?
It's no secret that Portland theater is funded by one person. It's like an experiment: What happens in a small market if you give artists money and allow them to create? I've never been involved in this much theater—not in Michigan, L.A., Las Vegas, Dallas, New Orleans—because I wouldn't be making the money that I make here.
But to be involved at PCS, Artists Rep, Third Rail is tough. They hire strictly equity actors, except in special situations. They have a group of people they work with—I can read names or you can just look at their wall.
How is your model for Post5 different?
I love what PCS creates, but it all goes into the dumpster…it's incredible waste. We're not just going to throw thousands away. People are coming too see Todd Van Voris, Ithica [Tell] or Jessica Tidd onstage, not a set. My teacher once said that directing is, "If you give me chicken heat lamps and blank stage, what can I make?" We have slightly better down in Sellwood now, but we need to be smart.
We are more conservative moving forward with the finances. What we've been dealing with thus far have been the forest fires. Now, we're more dealing with the campfire.
see it: King Lear is at Post5 Theatre, 1666 SE Lambert St., 971-333-1758. 7:30 pm Friday-Sunday, through March 19. $20
Willamette Week