The Ocean All Around Us

Rehearsal shot taken from the JAW Facebook page.

I went to JAW last night at Portland Center Stage , this was my first time attending. Each year four playwrights are selected to have staged readings of their new works. PCS puts in a lot of resources to these shows and it shows, it doesn't hurt that they are cast with incredible actors. The best part is that they are free to the public. It is be far one of the most economical and interesting events that happen at PCS.

I saw The Ocean All Around Us by David Lavine.  I picked it because I was already downtown and thought I might as well see a free play.

The description:

After a young artist’s paintings are destroyed in a studio fire, he struggles to piece together a chain of life-changing events. His older brother, a psychiatrist, tends to him while facing his own transgressions from years past. A powerful, haunting play, searing with regret and disconcertingly erotic.

The phrase ' disconcertingly erotic' was all i remembered about it before I showed up. And in that regard the play did not disappoint. I'm not going to say much else because it's also a mystery and that's part of the pleasure of watching it.

Also, it only showed last night, so you missed it. Who knows when this play will go up again and where, but if you get a chance to see it then I recommend it.  It was one of the most engaging things I've seen on stage.