For any new theater company, it always seems like there’s gotta be another city out there where it’s easier. There are more disciplined actors who don’t flake out, a tech scene where the workers are artists that people want to hang out with, and there are larger audiences. The audiences are also rich, even if it’s modestly so, and have been waiting for the opportunity to find a group of talented people they could support with their extra disposable income.

In some places, it might be true, or maybe that’s just what it seems like to anyone who’s been to Berlin, but for now, the cities that are in the country and have a theatre scene at all, can’t run on full steam. Steam is too expensive, and it’s hard everywhere, but, there are some people in Portland who have an idea that’s been done before, but worked before.

The artistic team at Hand2Mouth Theater has been here since 2000, and they’ve been breaking barriers in the city for bringing inspired and inspiring new work that has all the trappings of something new. Beneath the surface, Jonathan Winters vision proves that there is a great deal of substance, and that this might actually work.

He’s been working with his peeps to start building coalitions between Portland and the itinerant theaters in Seattle. The idea is to create a network that’s mutually fulfilling, where companies can trade back and forth, touring one show in both cities. They also work on bringing their shows together as a package, sharing costs, to get to cities like NY, where the work might have a chance at reaching a larger audience. It’s all looking very positive. In the best of times, excited audiences might become groupies, seeing them in town, staying a night or two at the Portland boutique hotels , and then following them on to the next city. It’s a big dream, but this one deserves to grow.

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