When Scarlett Johansson took on an anime character role in a live action version of The Ghost In The Shell in 2016, Actor, writer and comedian got the spark to perform as Scarlett Johansson. Asian American groups instantly protested a white actress taking on the beloved character from  a Japanese cyberpunk story based on a manga series saying it was a "whitewashed" role. Johansson defended it saying that an actor had a right to play any role. And that’s the premise of actor Chris Grace’s new show Chris Grace As Scarlett Johansson

Laura Lo Forti and Damaris Webb have run the Vanport Mosaic Festival as co-directors for ten years which in itself is an admirable achievement built on trust, hard work and mutual friendship, each respecting the others desire for art, activism and community engagement.

Playwright Sara Jean Accuardi is about to set sail on her World Premiere production of The Storyteller. Accuardi has had her plays produced in Portland at Shaking the Tree Theatre, Theatre Vertigo, and more recently Artist Repertory Theatre.  She’s had productions in other parts of the country such as the Playmakers Repertory Company, The Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, and Victory Gardens to name a few.

Dmae talks with Jane Vogel Mantiri (Indo writer/actor and founder of Advance Gender Equity) and Samson Syharath (theater artist and co-founder of Theatre Diaspora) about their journeys with cultural diaspora. Both are performing personal solo plays dramatizing their explorations into family secrets and the effects of war and myth on their own identities. They premiere their separate shows at the 2025 Fertile Ground Festival, a city-wide festival starting April 4-19th featuring all local theater works.

In 2015 famed playwright of verbatim” or “documentary” theater, Anna Deavere Smith created a solo show called “Notes From the Field.” Drawn from more than 200 interviews with students, parents, teachers administrators, Smith played multiple characters who talk about the school to prison pipeline. “Notes From the Field” is even more pertinent today

Simon Tam is one of the few, if any, rock musicians to have received a major award from the American Bar Association. Co-founded in 2006 as an all-Asian American dance band paying homage to 80's music, the Portland-originated The Slants were denied the right to trademark their name. Tam had to fight a case all the way to the US Supreme Court in order to get the band name trademarked.

Linda K. Johnson is a visionary dancer who has created more conceptual and site-relevant performances and projects for the last 40 years. She has been both an educator and curator bringing together artists of varied disciplines to create together. O

Sarah Jane Hardy has been the artistic director of Northwest Children’s Theater (NWCT) for a couple of decades. Since she left her native Liverpool, England, Sarah Jane has weathered many storms at the theatre and produced and directed many successful shows. She’s been a visionary theater leader and when many theaters had to scale back during the pandemic, NWCT actually obtained a long lease to open a new space in downtown Portland. Converting a former movie multiplex into a couple of much-needed new spaces for themselves, NWCT has several options for creating their stage productions but also are now providing affordable spaces for other community and artistic groups.

Chisao Hata, veteran artist, activist and community weaver and Roberta Wong longtime visual artist and curator both have personal and family histories connected to Portland’s historic Old Town. They are about to embark on Vanport Mosaic’s Coming Home project events September 25th through October 5th, 2024. Their project was one of 14 selected nationwide by Race Forward and Americans for the Arts.

Jessica Wallenfels, artistic director of Many Hats Collaboration and a longtime director and choreographer, is embarking on a new project. She calls it The Hatchery –a project dedicated to developing nontraditional new works using music and movement as an integral part of the storytelling and audience experience.