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PCC play explores darker side of comedy
Photos and story by James Hill
SYLVANIA CAMPUS – A hilarious black comedy will put an exclamation mark on Portland Community College Theater Arts Department’s 10th Anniversary Performing Arts Center Season. 
"Raised in Captivity" is playwright Nicky Silver’s comedy about a brother and sister’s tortured relationship after having lost their mother to a freak accident involving a shower head. The play is set for 7:30 p.m. on May 12-14, and May 20-21. There will be a matinee at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 22. All shows are in the Performing Arts Center at the Sylvania Campus, 12000 S.W. 49th Ave. The student cast includes Christopher Green (Beaverton) as Kip McKenna Twedt (Tigard) as Hillary and Miranda, Kelly Godell (Lake Oswego) as Bernadette, Sean Elkins (Lake Oswego) as Dylan and Roger and Johnny Whitfield (southeast Portland) as Sebastian. The play is directed by part-time PCC theater instructor Julie Akers (southeast Portland) and is designed by Portland designers Dan Hays (northeast Portland) and Margaret Chapman (Lake Oswego). "I am most interested in how the playwright uses humor to distort and exaggerate those relationships most common to us and our families," said Akers. "In a bittersweet comedic style, Silver looks at the repercussions of childhood loss and the consequences of both running from and to the people we love the most." Tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for PCC staff, students and seniors. For tickets, call the box office at 503-977-4949. Tickets will also be available at the Sylvania Campus Bookstore beginning May 2.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »