We're All Mad Here
Devised by Samantha Van Der Merwe & Matthew Kerrigan
​Directed by Samantha Van Der Merwe
|January 27th - February 25th 2017|

Winner for Best Set Design- Drammy Awards 2017
Nominated for Best Devised Work- Drammy Awards 2017
Nominated for Best Solo Performance (Matthew Kerrigan)- Drammy Awards 2017

“Be silent and listen: have you recognized your madness and do you admit it?"

Tumble down the rabbit hole with us and embrace the madness within ourselves and our world, through a series of dream-like vignettes, inspired by Alice in Wonderland
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Snippets and characters from the beloved story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol appear and disappear as one man struggles to find meaning in a mundane existence, ruled by the clock, another man tries to understand his life, and identity as a gay man, through memory, and a third dares to face his deepest fears and uncover the truth hidden there. 
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"People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. ~Carl Jung​

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Here's what press and audience members are saying:

"Development for any play can be a messy business. And, much like Alice’s famous answer to the caterpillar, where this show ended up is not where it began." Jason Buehrer from Portland Monthly interviews Matthew Kerrigan
READ THE INTERVIEW HERE

"In essence, Shaking the Tree, artistic director Samantha Van Der Merwe and Kerrigan have arranged for us a magic mushroom trip—a journey through confusion to new lightness and childlike clarity. " ~A.L. Adams, Oregon Artswatch
​READ MORE HERE

Cast

Matthew Kerrigan, Daeja Paschoal-Thiem (Alice), Celia wood (Alice)

Creative

Scenic Design- Samantha Van Der Merwe
Costume Design- Alanna Hylton
Lighting Design- Jeff Woods
Sound Design- Annalise Albright Woods
Stage Manager- Natasha Stockem
Technical Director- Ted Gold
Props Assistance- Anne Witt
Child Minder- Rebecca Spining

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We would like to send out a huge thank you to our season sponsor Ronni Lacroute, who has been such a wonderful supporter of our work from the beginning, as well as our anonymous and mystery donors who prefer not to be named, but are so incredibly valuable to us, as well as all the other wonderful donors who joyfully support our work. We can't do it without you! For a full list of our 2016 donors click HERE