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2 0 0 4 © M A R K A . P E T E R S E N HOMAGE TO HAVEN Theater entertains and enlightens, but it can also enter the life of a community in more tangible ways. Under the spirited leadership of founder and artistic director Gretchen Corbett, the Haven Project has had a major impact on Portland. For over ten years, the Haven Project, modeled on New York City’s 52nd Street Project, has brought professional theater artists and kids together to create exciting, collaborative theater experiences. Haven began with after-school classes in acting and playwriting for disadvantaged youths in the back room of a small Methodist church. Powered by Corbett’s passion, discipline, and integrity, Haven has grown to include three different programs: Spotlight, TEAM, and Afield. Each provides one-to-one mentorships, as well as residencies with young people in residential treatment programs, alternative schools, and/or rural communities. The Haven Project has not only offered scores of young people the opportunity to learn about theater, but it has given these young people the tools to express themselves and the assurance that they are being heard. Triston Dallas, a participating youth for ten years, asserts that “working with this group, working with all the other youths and the staff that was a part of Haven Project, was like a dream come true. It was perfect.”
Mentoring and inspiring has not been a one-way affair. The professional artists engaged in Haven have been profoundly affected by their experiences as is evinced by the following comments: “A lifetime mission of mine is to prove that theater heals, and so many young people I worked with, and a surprising number of artists who worked [with Haven], were renewed. For the adult artists, it was an education every day. That’s one of the reasons you’ll hear over and over again from the artists that it was a real “haven” for them as well. We were put through incredible challenges that taught us so much about ourselves and Haven camp 2004 Camp Caldera near Sisters, Oregon. Thespians closed a series of one-act plays with a group song (pictured above). They returned to Portland for another week of rehearsal before performing the plays for the public. about our sense of what true theatre is.” Victoria Parker, actor and director “I was amazed at these kids and how they were able to accomplish what adult artists often find pretty daunting—creating something. These kids didn’t know that it was hard. They were asked to do something, and they just did it. It’s amazing to watch these kids work through issues. These plays are metaphors for their lives.” Tim True, actor “I enjoyed the freshness, the directness, of their voices unencumbered by adult rules about how they were supposed to write. Their voices came through, and these
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Page 8 and 9: PRODUCTIONS CONSIDERED FOR THE 2004
Page 10 and 11: Recent Tragic Events Third Rail/CoH
Page 12 and 13: Actress in a Supporting Role Debera
Page 14: THANK YOU Abou Karim Restaurant Cas

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