Directed by Samantha Van Der Merwe
October 9th - November 20th 2021
Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sundays at 5:00pm
Running time: 75 mins (no intermission)
Doors open half an hour before showtime. Shows begin promptly at 7:30pm & 5:00pm. No late seating
Content Advisory: Some patrons may find the content disturbing or upsetting.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the content of the show.
If you have further questions, please contact info@shaking-the-tree.com.
Sundays at 5:00pm
Running time: 75 mins (no intermission)
Doors open half an hour before showtime. Shows begin promptly at 7:30pm & 5:00pm. No late seating
Content Advisory: Some patrons may find the content disturbing or upsetting.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the content of the show.
If you have further questions, please contact info@shaking-the-tree.com.
Shaking the Tree is committed to keeping you, our artists and our staff safe when you visit the theatre. Please visit our COVID POLICY page for more information and don't hesitate to contact the Box-office with any questions.
About Family
Family is a play about being born into a violent planet. After their father's funeral, half-siblings Alice, Linus, and David sit quietly in the house they grew up in. Soon, they begin to hear, smell, taste, and see very awful things.
"Imagine a surrealist world created by Salvador Dali, add a taste of the absurd world of Alice in Wonderland, thread through this the myth of Bluebeard, and top it off with a picture of a totally dysfunctional family filled with violence, incest, and isolation, and you get a beginning picture of Celine Song’s Family." -Pancho Savery (Dramaturg)
"Imagine a surrealist world created by Salvador Dali, add a taste of the absurd world of Alice in Wonderland, thread through this the myth of Bluebeard, and top it off with a picture of a totally dysfunctional family filled with violence, incest, and isolation, and you get a beginning picture of Celine Song’s Family." -Pancho Savery (Dramaturg)
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What people are saying"Dark, creepy, and unnerving, but also terribly funny."
"I saw FAMILY on Saturday night. Weird as fuck. Twisted as shit. Moments of extreme discomfort.. NOW THAT'S A SATURDAY NIGHT!!!! I loved it." "Behind all the funhouse mirrors and surreal madness, however, is a very moving story about the emotional damage caused by distant parents and family secrets." "Celine Song's FAMILY is an amazing play that I can only describe as Theatre of the Absurd with elements of clown, fairy tale and horror story. It is at times very dark but also very funny." "A dark, intense, creepy, and somehow also funny play. It’s got a Lars Von Trier meets Waiting for Godot kind of vibe. Horrific things with a lot to say underneath it all. The tech elements… set, music, and especially the lighting, absolutely wowed me." |
What the critics are saying
"As the family's secrets come to light and the characters start to act and interact in increasingly unsettling ways, what's happening on the stage becomes more surreal -- eventually, words lose their meaning entirely and all you're left with is an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach."
-Krista Garver, Broadway World
Read the full review HERE
"Whether it’s producing works about civil disobedience or the apocalypse, Shaking the Tree has been religiously devoted to taking risks. In Family, that devotion remains triumphantly alive." - Bennett Campbell Ferguson, Willamette Week
Read the Full review HERE
-Krista Garver, Broadway World
Read the full review HERE
"Whether it’s producing works about civil disobedience or the apocalypse, Shaking the Tree has been religiously devoted to taking risks. In Family, that devotion remains triumphantly alive." - Bennett Campbell Ferguson, Willamette Week
Read the Full review HERE
About the Playwright
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CELINE SONG's play ENDLINGS received its world premiere in 2019 at American Repertory Theater, and its New York premiere in Spring 2020 at New York Theatre Workshop. It was selected for the 2018 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and it was placed on the 2017 Kilroys list. Celine is a member of the Public Theater’s 2016-2017 Emerging Writers Group, Ars Nova’s 2014-2015 Play Group, and The Orchard Project's inaugural NYC Greenhouse 2018. She was a Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow from 2017-2018, a 2014 & 2016 Great Plains Theatre Conference Playwright, and she was a 2017 semifinalist for the P73 Playwriting Fellowship. Her play TOM & ELIZA was a semifinalist for the American Playwriting Foundation's 2016 Relentless Award. Celine has been awarded residencies, fellowships, and commissions from MTC/Sloan, Sundance, the Millay Colony for the arts, the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Edward F. Albee Foundation. She holds an M.F.A. from Columbia. Celine was a staff writer on Amazon's The WHEEL OF TIME Season 1 and is directing her feature film PAST LIVES for A24.
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Cast
Alice: Rebby Yuer Foster
Linus: Blake Stone
David: Kai Hynes
Linus: Blake Stone
David: Kai Hynes
Rebby Yuer Foster
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Blake Stone
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Kai Hynes
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Creative
Director & Set Designer: Samantha Van Der Merwe
Lighting Designer & Video Engineer: Anthony Arnista
Sound Designer: Matt Wiens
Costume Designer: Anand Boucher- Colbert
Technical Director & Set Design Collaborator: Victoria Hilton
Set Design Assistant: Katarina Yo
Carpenter/Lighting Assistant: Spencer Fork
Carpenter: Bmo
Stage Manager: Laurel Wilde
Assistant Stage Manager: Emily Hogan
Dramaturg: Pancho Savery
Fight/Intimacy Director: Heath Hyun Houghton
Front of House Manager: Bridge Donnelly
Graphic Design: Ella Higgins
Lighting Designer & Video Engineer: Anthony Arnista
Sound Designer: Matt Wiens
Costume Designer: Anand Boucher- Colbert
Technical Director & Set Design Collaborator: Victoria Hilton
Set Design Assistant: Katarina Yo
Carpenter/Lighting Assistant: Spencer Fork
Carpenter: Bmo
Stage Manager: Laurel Wilde
Assistant Stage Manager: Emily Hogan
Dramaturg: Pancho Savery
Fight/Intimacy Director: Heath Hyun Houghton
Front of House Manager: Bridge Donnelly
Graphic Design: Ella Higgins
FAMILY is generously supported by our major donors; Ronni Lacroute, Jessie Jonas & Ellyn Bye.
We'd also like to thank the foundations listed below, members of Shaking the Tree's Board, as well as many other individual supporters. To support this show, or any others in our season, please visit our DONATE page.
We'd also like to thank the foundations listed below, members of Shaking the Tree's Board, as well as many other individual supporters. To support this show, or any others in our season, please visit our DONATE page.
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Connect with Us
Shaking the Tree Theatre is located at 823 SE Grant St.
Portland, OR 97214
Oue main office is located at 2136 SE 8th Ave
Portland, OR 97214
For our theatre: Look for the Big Blue Warehouse on the corner od SE 9th and Grant and enter through the gate.
For our main office: look for the beautiful mural on the corner of SE 8th and Grant. Entrance is on SE 8th.
Major Funding provided by
Ronni Lacroute, Jessie Jonas, Anonymous, Ellyn Bye, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, including support from the City of Portland, Multnomah County, the Arts Education & Access Fund, Prosper Portland, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, the Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Collins Foundation, the Oregon Cultural Trust, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Rose and David Dortort Foundation, supporting organization of the California Community Foundation, Portland Events and Film, and the Multnomah County Cultural Coalition.
