The Hatchery:
August 29-30
Watch workshop productions of music and movement-driven new theater works at pay-what-you-will pricing.
What is The Hatchery? Watch our vid and read up on this year’s offerings below.
Reservations available mid-July. Join our mailing list to be the first to know!
Undertow
Music and lyrics by Eric Nordin
Book by Javier Fuentes Leon and Eric Nordin
Based on the motion picture Contracorriente, written and directed by Javier Fuentes Leon
Co-directed by Francisco Garcia and Jessica Wallenfels
In a close-knit seaside village, Miguel is driven to hide his true identity (and his secret affair with Santiago) in favor of playing the “Golden Boy” as he and his wife are expecting their first child. When an accident unexpectedly shifts this precarious balance for Miguel, Santiago must ask Miguel for one final act of love that will cost him everything.
A 10-member, all Latinė cast honors the source material, bringing cultural specificity to the unique challenges facing Latinė LGBTQIA+ people and the complex relationship between individual and community. Contracorriente won the Audience Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
Development focus: movement vocabulary, music composition, audience participation impact
The Cannery Project
Written and directed by Naphtali Fields-Forbes
Created in collaboration with the devising ensemble
Music by Joellen Sweeney
The Larsen Bay Salmon Cannery served as a cornerstone of Kodiak Island, Alaska’s maritime economy for more than a century, until it shut down for good in 2024. Through factory-inspired movement, song, and stories from the generations of Alaskero, Indigenous, and itinerant workers who kept it alive, The Cannery Project explores the complicated legacies the cannery leaves behind.
Fields-Forbes worked with several knowledge keepers to develop her script draft including Hanna Sholl, Alutiiq/Sugpiaq culture bearer and Alutiiq language consultant; Micah Topacio-Tagalog, language consultant; Diane Rodill, history consultant; Anjuli Grantham, history consultant.
Development focus: movement vocabulary, music composition, audience participation impact
“…the most important thing we feel we gained from the Hatchery was the support of the entire Hatchery/Many Hats team, both creatively and logistically. We felt like there was a real investment put into our creative vision that made our growth and success possible.” - Teague Shattuck and Naama Friedman
About The Hatchery
The Hatchery is a new works development program and festival at The Judy, home of Northwest Childrens Theatre and School, in downtown Portland, OR. At the end of an intensive, 10-day rehearsal process, we present two workshop offerings to the public. One is commissioned by Many Hats Collaboration, and the other is a community sourced project, chosen by application. This year marks the third year of the The Hatchery.
The Hatchery seeks to support new theater works that feature an innovative use of music/movement as an integral part of theatrical storytelling. Individuals and groups of devisers, makers, and movement-based theater artists are in particular encouraged to apply, particularly if your process doesn’t adhere to a traditional, script-based model.
Next year’s application will open November, 2026.
“…often, I find myself wearing every hat at once—explaining, defending, directing, rewriting, producing, worrying. At The Hatchery, I felt held. I was able to focus solely on writing the play, knowing that I had a team who not only understood what I was making, but cared about nurturing it with gentleness, curiosity, and encouragement. That is an extraordinary gift..” - Josie Seid