"Let's Party. Let's Give Back."

The Time: Late Spring, 2019.

The Place: The Bella Union Restaurant & Bar; Jacksonville, Oregon.

(Lights up on Orion Bradshaw, sitting in an outdoor courtyard, sipping a pint of beer and perusing a small, white book. The beer is a pale ale of some kind. The book is 'My Life With the Shakespeare Cult', by Samuel McClure Taylor. Orion's brows furrow and his lower jaw drops slightly, as something in the book resonates with him. Little did he know that, one and a half years later, he would sit down at his laptop and begin to write this here article...)

On that fateful day in late spring, as I read the following quote from the aforementioned book, I felt SEEN -- almost as if for the first time:

"Most of the Shakespeare I see is bad. It's boring. The audience sits quietly in the darkness, safely packaged, patiently waiting for the play to end... It's an awful heartache.

*Now listen: I love his plays. Shakespeare's writing is the white-hot detonation at the heart of the English language.

[But now, we] make his plays sanctimonious nap-factories. It doesn't have to be like this. We can have the party we came for." (Taylor, 2015)

(* = It's fully okay if you don't agree with this statement; I continue to revisit and deconstruct why I believe this to be true on a weekly basis.)

In the spring of 2019, I was finishing up a grad school program, working to earn my MAT degree and Teaching license. At the end of summer, I'd be returning to my beloved Portland, Oregon, after a few years away. A friend and former Theatre colleague of mine (thank you, Gregory!) had sent me this little book, because Shakespeare is in my DNA, due to my schooling, training, career, and socialization - to put it briefly. My friend knew this and, at my request, had referred me to this book: My Time With the Shakespeare Cult, by Samuel McClure Taylor, which recounts the birth of the Back Room Shakespeare Project, out of Chicago, IL. And upon moving back to PDX, I wanted to bring my muse's poetry to my favorite city in a new way. Ya see, I had already lived in Portland for 6 years, and helped run a successful classics Theatre company for 5 of them - and I had no desire to do that again. Also, if ya throw a stone in any direction in this city, chances are you'll hit a Shakespeare company... especially if you throw said stone at a park in the summertime. So yeah: what else could be done? The Bar[d] Party (or the Party, or the BP) was birthed from this question, as well as from the following principles...

"SERIOUS ACTORS.

NO DIRECTOR.

ONE REHEARSAL.

AT A BAR."

The Back Room's credo was an awesome starting place. And there are actually several groups around the country who perform Shakespeare in roughly this manner. RAD, I say. I really felt like my city could benefit from this type of artistic outlet, this jolt of electricity that embraced the spirit of communal welcoming, belonging, and the unifying of a beautifully kaleidoscopic group of people -- while also operating through the lens of timeless human condition themes, penned in a classical poetry that rhythmically echoes the human heartbeat. Make no mistake: Shakespeare's plays were not "written for everyone", as some folx might claim... but what if we, citizen-artists of today, could slowly work to change that, by putting our money where our poetry-spouting mouths are? So I took that dynamic and exciting Back Room credo one step further:

"Let's Party. Let's Give Back." (This is the Party's Mission.)

If the above article is indeed scientifically sound (and I believe it to be so), Then we as Storytellers greatly miss the mark when we perform text that is written to the rhythm of the human heartbeat inside of a packed room housing dozens of beautifully syncopated heartbeats -- and all we're thinking about is the money-making rat-race. Shame on you, Capitalism.

"I think the longing for togetherness and human engagement, and the glee of finding it in a way that fit the vocabulary of their own life experience, was the nerve that the Project struck when we started performing plays in bars - looking our twenty-something audience [members] in the eyes and asking them for help. Making the plays... belong to the audience in attendance..." (Taylor, 2015)

A live storytelling event that is immersive and collaborative. Staged not just as an entertainment event -- but as a social event. Performance that reconnects with the original reason that the human race began telling stories in the first place: to uplift and unify the members of its Community - not merely silence them and take their money. That's the "Party" aspect of our Mission. So, what's the "Give Back" part?...

The Bar[d] Party is not a non-profit, nor an organization, nor an official company - and therefore we have no overhead. We are fortunate enough to have a couple of awesome, real-life-superhero-type individuals who fund our events, so that we can pay all our producers and performers for their time. Boom. That way, our stellar storyteller audience members can focus their moneys on eating, drinking, being merry... and donating to charitable organizations doing invaluable, vital human work all year-long. Yes, you heard right. No audience donations land in the pockets of the Party; they ALL go to those who need it more than we do. Each performance aims to unite members of our Community in acts of education/ awareness-building, philanthropy, and activism -- as well as communal storytelling. I truly believe this should be the way of things moving forward, within all institutions of the [Performing] Arts, in some form or fashion. It'll look different for different organizations, and that's totes okay. FORWARD.

• RAICES
• Maslow Project
• Impact Northwest
• Hispanic Federation
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• Equal Justice Initiative
• National Association for Black Veterans, Inc.

Between 3 public performances, as well as a BP family Zoom happy hour and other social media fundraising, we of the Party have been able to donate more than $2,000 between the 7 organizations listed above -- in just over a year's time. And we absolutely aim to up our Community contribution and engagement game in 2021! A website, educational workshops for secondary students, event hosting services, and of course, more social benefit events are all on our short list in the coming months. I wanna level with you real quick:

There was a time in my life, let's call it between four and six years ago, when I was truly convinced that I was more adept at pretending to be other people than Being My Self. I actually came *this* close to full-on weeping in front of a group of enthusiastic high school Drama students, as I revealed this sentiment to them during a Q&A session one day. True story… but one for another time. The point is: I've been trying real hard these last few years to shift that personal identity paradigm  --  to inverse that human equation within myself. Because the Self is where the Work has to start and sustain from. And there is always more Work to do. There is always more to be learned about how we as Storytellers can serve People over institutions once again…

That is one aspect of my personal story. And this lived experience of mine has lead me to strive toward reclaiming live Storytelling events as acts of service to my Community, both near and far. I hope to meet you on this journey at some point down the road. For starters, I encourage you to consider donating to any/ all of the organizations listed above, via their website links; Like the Party's FB page; show support for the Back Room Shakespeare Project, and/or a Back Room-style Shakespeare group in your area; they're all over the US, y'all! Join the party. Be seen. Give back.

Also, enjoy this short documentary video, 'Waiting in the Wings: A Documentary About Theater & Community', created by a close friend and collaborator of mine and featuring the BP's most recent benefit performance! "Thanks, thanks, and ever thanks." Cheers to You - and to a brighter, more just and equitable tomorrow for Us All.

"Let's Party. Let's Give Back."

~OB of the BP.