The Last White Man

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A Note From the Director

A Note from Director Scott Palmer

I am truly delighted to be back in my hometown of Hillsboro, directing this remarkable show with this amazing cast for the theatre company I spent so many years of my life leading.

Thank you for joining us, I am very grateful you are here.

During my more than 25 years as a theatre director, I have always said, “I do not want to direct Hamlet.“

I tell people, when asked, that I don’t really have anything new to SAY about Hamlet that hasn’t already been said, or that I don’t have anything to add to the millions and millions of productions that have been done before, that it just isn’t of interest to me to wade into those deep waters where so many others have gone swimming before.

But that isn’t completely true…

The truth is that I’m terrified of Hamlet. Hamlet scares the bejabbers out of me because every audience member who steps into a theatre to see Hamlet is carrying with them four hundred years of expectations that Hamlet is a masterpiece, the greatest of all Shakespeare work, or even the greatest play ever written, and a director has to be up to that challenge or be considered a failure.

As many of you know, I am not an actor, but I have known lots and lots and lots of actors, and dozens of them…dozens and dozens and dozens of them…have told me that they want me to direct them as Hamlet and I just…well, I just think to myself “Are you an idiot? Why? Why would you want to play that role? Are you insane?”

Hamlet is considered by scholars, broadly speaking, to be Shakespeare’s best play and, from the perspective of hundreds of years of theatre study and criticism, is considered by many to be the best play ever written. The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC, sums up this nearly universal acclaim in their overview of Hamlet:

“Hamlet provides us with a glimpse of Shakespeare operating at the peak of his powers. And many of them, we sense, remain beyond our own limited cognitive understanding. In its seemingly infinite resources of linguistic and dramatic variety, its sprawling action, its endlessly changing flood of mixed registers, moods and dictions, the play remains the thing. It is an undiscovered country from which no director returns, its iconic soliloquies a series of Everests that every actor dreams of scaling…”

Gulp…

No way. Nope. Nah. No thanks. I’ll pass, please. Don’t wanna, not gonna, too scared.

And yet…

It’s HAMLET! Of course there is a part of me that wants to direct it! To see if I’m up to it, to see if my directorial experience and training is up to the challenge, to see what gems or jewels I could mine from the script that others haven’t found, and…at the end of it all…to work with an actor on those FIVE PERFECT SPEECHES…

So, you will understand my joy when I found Bill Cain’s Hamlet-light The Last White Man that takes, as it’s subject, all the challenges I’ve just listed. The Last White Man is about Hamlet the play, it is about Hamlet the character, and it is about the challenges actors and directors face when DOING Hamlet. But it is NOT Hamlet.

This play asks us “Hey, how should we do Hamlet? Hey, why should we do Hamlet? Hey, why do actors want to do Hamlet, why do directors want to do Hamlet, is there a RIGHT way to do Hamlet, why do we care about how and why to do Hamlet, etc…” Most importantly of ALL, The Last White Man reminds us that DOING Hamlet is a thing PEOPLE do…People with their own flaws and beauty, their own histories and desires, their own power and passions, and their own fears and triumphs – all of which come to the foreground…

It is against the BACKDROP of Hamlet that The Last White Man allows us to learn about ourselves – ourselves as theatre artists and ourselves as theatre goers– and, in a ridiculous and wonderous circular truth - that is also what Hamlet is about…go figure…

As we all continue to grapple with questions about our place in the world, with our values and our dreams, I want to take a moment to remind you that live theatre is a place where we can explore those questions together. To share an experience with other people that brings us together as a community, to help us understand different perspectives, to celebrate our shared humanity, and – to sit in the dark and hear a great story. Bag&Baggage is that place for Hillsboro, and I am so deeply honored to have been invited back to tell you this story. Please remember how valuable this place is and please continue to support these fine artists with your patronage. It’s been a rough couple of years, friends…B&B could use your love and help.

With love,

Scott

Cast Bios

Kyle Duggan (he/him)

Khail holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Screen Acting from Chapman University. This is Khail’s second production with Bag&Baggage. Other companies Khail has worked for include The Deep End Theater, Hillsdale Theatre, Wilton Theatre Company, Make a Wish Foundation, and Theater of Others. Some favorite roles include: The Wibbly Wobbly Wiggly Dance that Cleopatterer Did (as Tim); A Night of Noh Theatre (as The Saint of Yokawa); The Anthrax Factory (as John); Slam! (as Linc); and If All the Sky Were Paper (as various roles). When Khail is not acting, you can catch him meditating or walking around various parks in Portland with the trees.

Tim Gouran (he/him)

Tim is overwhelmed with joy to be making his Bag&Baggage debut with this amazing group of people! He is a Seattle based actor and has performed with many Seattle theatres including ACT, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, The Seattle Rep, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, New City Theater, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Theatre22 and Azeotrope Theatre. He got his start with The Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. He has appeared in several movies and T.V. episodes, as well as many voice overs for radio and video games.

James Luster (he/him)

James is an actor/writer/comedian based out of Portland, OR. He studied at Cornish College of the Arts and UCB New York. You may have seen him in Bag&Baggage’s production of A Clockwork Orange and A Measure of Innocence. He’s also worked with Portland Shakespeare Project. Theatre Vertigo, Oregon Children’s Theater, Action/Adventure, Curious Comedy and The Siren Theater to name just a few.

Rae Davis (they/them)

Rae Davis received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Western Oregon University. Rae Davis is stoked to be welcomed back to Bag&Baggage! Other noteworthy performances by Rae Davis include roles in The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors (as a myriad of characters such as Role of Tape In Plastic Dispenser); Jane Doe in Wonderland (as Alice); Hamlet (as Hamlet); and most recently, Premeditated(as Alex). When Rae Davis is not on the stage, they are house cleaning for a living, playing music or making an assortment of crafts with as many strange trinkets they can get their hands on.

Crew & Production Team Bios

Bill Cain (he/him), Playwright

Bill Cain is an American playwright, Jesuit priest and founder of the Boston Shakespeare Company. Other work includes Stand-Up Tragedy, The Laying on of Hands, Equivocation, 9 Circles, How To Write A New Book For The Bible. His awards include Nothing Sacred: the George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Achievement as co-creator, writer and producer of the ABC-TV series; Nightjohn was named best American film of 1996 by The New Yorker. His work for television has won Writers Guild, Humanitas, Christopher and Alma awards, among others. Stand-Up Tragedy: six Los Angeles Critics Awards (including outstanding production and distinguished writing), four Helen Hayes Awards, (including Production of the Year), a Writers Guild nomination for the screenplay and the Joe A. Callaway Playwriting Award for the Broadway production.

Scott Palmer (he/him), Director

Scott received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon, his Master’s degree from Oregon State University and studied for his PhD in Contemporary Theatre Practice at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Scott is a Hillsboro native and was the Founding Artistic Director of Bag&Baggage Productions, leading the company from its founding in 2005 until 2018. In addition to directing more than 60 productions for B&B, including more than 16 original adaptations of Shakespear, Scott has worked as a director and artistic director across the globe, including as the Founding Artistic Director of Bard in the Botanics (Scotland’s premiere Shakespeare-producing theatre company); for Toi Whakaari in New Zealand; and in the United States, where he also founded Oregon State University’s outdoor summer Shakespeare event Bard in the Quad. Scott also served as the Producing Artistic Director of Company of Fools, an Equity theatre in Idaho, and as the Executive Director of the Crested Butte Center for the Arts in Colorado. Perhaps best known for his work on adaptations of classical Western dramatic literature, Palmer was described as “One of Oregon’s, if not the nation’s, most ambitious directors” by Oregon Arts Watch. Scott lives in Hillsboro with his husband, Brian Palmer, and is a proud member of the Board of Directors of the Five Oaks Museum.

Hanna Woods (she/her), Assistant Director

Ephriam Harnsberger (he/him), Stage Manager

Ephriam completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Omaha, Nebraska at Creighton University and has held a variety of roles with Bag&Baggage Productions since 2015. He has managed dozens of productions and events from the Venetian to the Vault, and in the surrounding Hillsboro community. Although Bag&Baggage is his artistic home, he also works with other theatre companies in the Portland Metro area. When he is not wandering about the stage Ephriam also enjoys cooking, camping, kazoo-ing, and singing silly songs with his sisters. He would like to thank Bag&Baggage, Nik, Rosemary, and his parents.

Elizabeth Swetland (she/her), Assistant Stage Manager

Elizabeth Swetland
*Assistant Stage Manager*

Elizabeth is a recent theatre graduate from Pacific University of Oregon. Her recent work has included stage management and assistant stage management for the Pacific Theatre Department, and Splendid Caper. She has also recently done some sound design, and assistant director work in her community theatre. This is Elizabeth’s second production with Bag & Baggage, and she would like to say THANK YOU to the entire cast and crew for their kindness. She would also like to thank her family, for supporting her starving artist career path and being all around amazing, and thank her former teachers of the arts, for encouraging her the whole way through.

Mandy Khoshnevisan (she/her), Projection Design, Costume Design

Mandana Khoshnevisan
*Projection Design, Costume Design*

Mandy studied literature, theater, and history (and improvisation) at Stanford University, where she earned a B.A. and M.A. in English. Past B&B appearances include Romeo & Juliet/Layla & Majnun (Lady Capulet), Death and the Maiden (Paulina), Deathtrap (Helga), La Isla en Invierno (Doris), and Much Ado About Nothing (Margaret/Dogberry). Pre-Portland, favorite scripted roles include Into the Woods (Baker’s Wife); My Fair Lady (Mrs. Eynesford-Hill); favorite un-scripted roles include 10 years with the Un-Scripted Theater Company in San Francisco. In Portland, she’s recently been in such shows as Trail to Oregon (Son), The Rocky Horror Show (Eddie/Dr. Scott); Reefer Madness (Mae Coleman); Die Hard: The Musical Parody (Mother Gruber/Inga); and Back to the Future: The Musical Parody (Biff). Mandy also wears numerous backstage hats. Recently, she costumed Body Awareness (Twilight Theatre); and The Mystery of Irma Vep and Heathers, the Musical (Funhouse Lounge). She also directed the bilingual touring production of Judge Torres for Milagro Theatre, and Triassic Parq: the Musical at the Funhouse Lounge. Since moving to Portland in 2013, she has taught at Northwest Children’s Theater, and improvised on mainstages all around town. Recently, she published her first book, Managed Mischief, about improvisation and creativity. At home, she maintains an excess of books, art supplies, and impractical musical instruments.

Signe Larsen (she/her), Fight Choreography

Signe Larsen is a Portland based Jack of All Trades, who has worked with Bag&Baggage in many capacities over the years. You may have seen her Stage Combat Choreography in Romeo and Juliet (Layla&Majnun), Deathtrap, As You Like It (Love in a Forest), and many others. She graduated with a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts, where she received the title Actor Combatant from the Society of American Fight Directors. Outside of the Theatre Arts, she is a Musician, Makeup-Artist, and Seamstress for Michael Curry Designs.

Elliot Lorenc (they/he), Graphic Design, Marketing, Education

Elliot Lorenc
*Graphic Design, Marketing, Education*

Elliot is a performer, director, musician, applied theatre practitioner, and they are both the Marketing & Communications Manager, and Education & Outreach Coordinator for Bag&Baggage! They've been with Bag&Baggage for nearly three years now, and has occupied such diverse roles as Emerging Artist, assistant stage manager, lighting designer, sound designer, costume designer, bartender, box office manager, writer and actor. They were most recently seen as Aurelie in The Ballad of Aurelie the Bold, for which he also served as playwright.

TS McCormick (he/him), Managing Director

TS holds a Master of Fine Arts from Minnesota State University, Mankato and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Rhode Island. Over the past 20 years, his theatrical career has included acting, directing, construction, production, management, and education. TS has appeared on stage with Bag&Baggage as Duke Frederick/Duke Senior in As You Like It or Love In a Forest, and as Deltoid/Others in A Clockwork Orange. In addition, he has worked behind the scenes on many productions since his original engagement with the company in 2017. Aside from Bag&Baggage, TS has worked locally and nationally over the course of his career. Some of the organizations he has produced theater with include; Clackamas Repertory Theater; the Gamm Theater; Colonial Theater; Pendragon Theater; 2nd Story Theater; The Rhode Island Shakespeare Company; South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, and more. He has spent more than a decade in both corporate and nonprofit management, working for companies ranging from entertainment to behavioral healthcare. TS is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union for professional actors and stage managers.

Lily Wakefield (she/they), Patron Services Manager Manager & Production Electrician

Lily Wakefield
*Patron Services Manager, Production Electrician*

Lily is a Portland area stage hand, lighting designer, and experienced electrical technician. Her work has been seen all around the Portland metro area in places such as Dante’s, the Star Theatre, Clackamas Repertory Theatre, Experience Theatre Project, and even the Majestic Theatre of Corvallis. Now proudly working as box office manager and master electrician under Bag&Baggage Productions, she looks forward to what the future brings and what wonderful productions her skills will support!

Jim Ricks-White (he/him), Technical Director, Lighting Design

Jim Ricks-White
*Technical Director, Lighting Design*

With over 30 years in theatre, Jim is pleased to be part of the staff here at Bag&Baggage, adding Production Manager to his duties as Technical Director and Lighting Designer. Jim has worked professionally as a Production Stage Manager and Stage Manager (Civic Light Opera Seattle, Spokane Interplayers, Stumptown Stages); Technical Director, Lighting and Set Designer (Innovation Theatreworks, Tower Theatre, Portland Actors Ensemble); Properties Artisan; and all-around Theatre Tech (the list goes on and on…) — in venues as small as 99-seat black box theaters, and as large as the Olympic Stadium for the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics as well as lighting the World’s Largest Building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, for New Year’s Eve 2018. Basically, he has yet to meet a theatre tech job he didn’t like — or at least enjoy! Jim has also taught technical theatre at PCC Sylvania and has held numerous administrative positions in theatre during his career. In his free time, Jim loves to travel, explore great food, and enjoys working off steam swinging a Fly Rod on the river or Kayaking the local rivers and lakes. Jim looks forward to being able to help nail down some good storytelling and bring the Bag&Baggage Season to light!

Karen Wingard (she/her), Properties Design

Karen Wingard is a recent graduate of Lewis and Clark where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Design. This is her first time working as a designer for Bag&Baggage. Favorite productions she’s worked on include Scenic Designer for Medea and Barbie Puppet Master for The Secretaries. In her spare time, Karen enjoys reading, knitting, and plant propagation. She would like to thank her Uncle Steve and Grandmother Francis for their help in this project.

† = B&B Company Artist, sponsored by Linda Morrisson and Andrew Hoffmann

About Bag&Baggage

Mission Statement

The mission of Bag&Baggage Productions is to unpack the stories we carry with us — from anecdotal to epic; from original to classic — using these as the groundwork to create transformative theatrical experiences that explore our shared humanity. Our home base is The Vault Theater in Downtown Hillsboro, and we are proud to be part of the vibrant community in our corner of Washington County.

The Ground We're On...

Bag&Baggage is a predominantly white institution, located in a state that was founded on anti-Indigenous and anti-Black practices; it is crucial to acknowledge we are here today as a result of the sacrifices forced upon the lives and narratives of these people. We particularly reflect on the original inhabitants and caretakers of the land on which The Vault Theater now sits: the Atfalati Kalapuyans, also called the Tualatin people, who today are members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. In addition to occupying their land, we have been complicit in erasing their stories. We recognize the land itself, with gratitude for the way it supports and sustains us - past, present, and future. We also recognize the stories of those who have been enslaved, marginalized, and colonized in the name of building wealth; their oppression has allowed institutions like our theatre to exist today. In remembering these communities, we honor their legacy, their lives, and their descendants.

If you’d like to learn more about the history of what is now Hillsboro, please visit our friends at Five Oaks Museum and their virtual exhibit, This IS Kalapuyan Land.

If you’d like to help redistribute resources back into indigenous communities, please consider making a donation to Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) or Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA).

Show Details

Bag&Baggage Staff