What happens when a neighborhood is gentrified?
Who leaves the neighborhood and what do they take with them? ROSE Community Development and PassinArt: A Theatre Company are presenting Repulsing the Monkey, a play about gentrification, from May 21-23 and May 28-30 (Mondays-Wednesdays). There will be six shows, starting at 7:00 PM, at TEAM Event Center, 9201 SE Foster Road in Portland. Tickets are available online.
Please join us for an evening of theater, light refreshments, and complimentary beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages. Two post-show discussions with artists and community members will examine the impact of gentrification on diverse communities in the Portland area. The discussions will be Monday, May 21 and Wednesday, May 30.
Repulsing the Monkey was written by Michael Eichler and will be directed by Jamie M. Rea featuring local artists.
Tickets can be purchased online at PassinArt: A Theatre Company at www.passinart.net or by calling 503-235-8079. Tickets are $5.00 -$15.00 on a sliding scale. Tickets will also be available at the door based on availability. Seating is limited; advance purchase is recommended.
Repulsing the Monkey is a story about a brother and a sister who have inherited their parents’ bar in a blue collar neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The area is becoming gentrified and they struggle with the question: Should they sell or should they keep their family and neighborhood’s heritage alive? Repulsing the Monkey tackles the conflicts and heartbreak that one family faces when profit is placed above all.
In 2015, Governing named Portland the most gentrified city in America. Urban renewal and other misguided policies have displaced tens of thousands of residents and hundreds of businesses from their homes.
The production will be staged in one of the few historic buildings remaining in the heart of Lents. The neighborhood experienced decades of decline beginning with the construction of the I-205 freeway in the 1960s. Light rail came to the neighborhood in 2009. Five new buildings are under construction within one block of SE 92nd and Foster.
According to the just released State of Housing in Portland report, Lents is currently the most rapidly gentrifying district in Portland. Home prices increased by more than $100,000 in four years.
For press inquiries or more information, contact: Mark Ellsworth 503-788-8052
mark@rosecdc.org
ROSE Community Development SE Duke Street
Portland, OR 97206
971-200- 5629
To download a press release as a PDF, click here.
To purchase tickets, visit PassinArt's website.