About Crave
Crave Theatre Company
Making a Difference
Crave Theatre Company is a nonprofit Portland Fringe Theatre that unifies communities through theatrical productions that reflect contemporary issues, offers educational programming that promotes personal expression, and provides opportunities to artists to develop new works that address societal concerns.
Statement of
Cultural Equity
Here at Crave, we value diverse stories, voices, and opinions, and our hearts break for the continued discrimination demonstrated against people of color, including the murder of innocent Black citizens. To support a full creative space for all, Crave Theatre commits to championing policies and practices of cultural equity that empower a just, inclusive, equitable theatre experience.
As we work to improve diversity and inclusion in our company, we encourage you to reach out to us directly with concerns and to reach out to “Report Racism in Portland Theatre.“
Report Racism in Portland Theatre
DEFINITION OF CULTURAL EQUITY
Cultural equity embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people—including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion—are represented in the development of theatre practices and experiences, including providing support to diverse artists and theatre works; providing nurturing, safe spaces that are accessible and encourage expression; and the fair distribution of available opportunities at Crave Theatre.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & AFFIRMATIONS
•In the United States, there are systems of power that grant privilege and access unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously addressed and changed.
•Cultural equity is critical to the long-term viability of the arts sector.
•We must all hold ourselves accountable, because acknowledging and challenging our inequities and working in partnership is how we will make change happen.
•Everyone deserves equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which is essential to a healthy and democratic society.
•The prominent presence of artists challenges inequities and encourages alternatives.
•Crave Theatre Company gratefully acknowledges that we create theatre on the traditional lands of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River.
MODELING THROUGH ACTION
To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, we strive to…
•Pursue cultural consciousness throughout our organization through substantive learning and formal, transparent policies.
•Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and report organization progress.
•Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, and advisory bodies.
FUELING FIELD PROGRESS
To pursue needed systemic change related to equity, we strive to…
•Encourage substantive learning to build cultural consciousness and to proliferate pro-equity policies and practices by all of our constituencies and audiences.
•Improve the cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the full breadth of American society.
•Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward cultural equity more visible.
•Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes cultural equity.
This is a living, breathing document, and is subject to change and improve as we learn and grow.
For our part, we are currently educating ourselves so that we can be better allies and take intentional steps to be more inclusive.
Founders
In 2015, two Portland-based theatre artists and longtime friends, Sarah Marie Andrews and Kylie Jenifer Rose started Crave Theatre Company with one goal in mind: to create contemporary immersive theatre that encourages a dialogue about the pressing social issues in our clearly tumultuous world.
With a focus on social, global, and political issues, the collaborators who run Crave are compassionate, driven, and deliberate artists with skills ranging from visual arts, to puppetry and composition. Passionate about immersive theatre and making bold artistic choices, Crave’s theatre artists seek to give our audiences a new, unique experience with every show, and to provide a means for audiences to explore and express their opinions by creating and maintaining a strong and supportive community culture.
Board Members
Logan Ridenour-Starnes (they/she/+) is an artist, theater-maker, and knowledge-sharer. They initially moved to Oregon for culinary school but fell back in love with theater pretty much right away. Much of their work focuses on the welfare of community; working from the idea that artistic expressions are inherent to our collective existence, survival, and future.
They love to explore immersive, audience driven pieces, and pieces that work on sparking direct action to empower communities. They recently graduated with an MFA in Directing from the University of Portland and is a member of the 2020/2021 Cohort for the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble’s Institute for Contemporary Performance. They’ve mainly worked in the Portland Metro area on pieces like The Flame for Joy (Comes) in the Mourning, And So We Walked, 1984, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and more!
Much of their previous work has centered around deconstructing dominant narratives in order to “re-story” marginalized histories. For Logan, “re-storying” histories is an act of resistance, healing, and continued cultural memory. Since 2014, they have facilitated workshops surrounding queer, trans/gender expansive, disability, and indigenous justice. In recent years they’ve worked as the 2017-2019 dramaturgical and literary management intern at Artists Repertory Theatre, directed Andromeda Breaks and Wolves Eat Elk at the University of Portland, and conceived and directed a digital iteration of El Público (The Public or The Audience) by Federico Garcìa Lorca. Additionally, as part of their MFA, they produced a process thesis document focusing on the social and cultural importance of art as a grassroots direct-action tool.
Jennifer Lanier grew up in Greensboro NC and received her classical acting training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She began working with Robert Moyer at the United Stage and using Viola Spolin’s games to create a number of plays, brought scripted and improvisational stories to young audiences throughout the South. They had a run at the Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theatre of Lanier’s autobiographical play for young audiences, BRER RABBIT MEETS COYOTE, exploring the challenges of growing up as an ethnically mixed person. Lanier then created an expanded solo comedy called NONE OF THE ABOVE, exploring the intersectionality of race, gender, and sexuality for laughs! She has directed plays and a film in the Pacific Northwest and is currently Co-Artistic Director of Original Practice Shakespeare Festival (OPS Fest). She sits on the boards of Portland Center Stage and Crave Theatre. Lanier lives in Vancouver WA.
Rachael Singer (Brown) has more than 20 years of performing arts experience both onstage and behind the scenes. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Rachael started dancing at the age of three studying ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and modern, and discovered her love of theatre (especially musical theatre!) in high school. She graduated cum laude from American University with a degree in theatre, business and education and a minor in dance.
Rachael is a teaching artist, dancer, choreographer, and director. Her most recent work with the Portland theatre community includes choreography for Berk Production’s From the Ruby Lounge, Crave Theatre’s Crossing and Red, and direction and choreography for Multnomah Arts Center’s Fiddler on the Roof, JR and Singin’ in the Rain, JR. She was on the devising team for the Bad World concept album, and is thrilled to be bringing this incredible show to life on stage!
Administratively, Rachael specializes in marketing, communications, and patron experience, and is currently the Marketing & Communications Director for Northwest Children’s Theater and School.
Carli Jones (she/they) is a hard-of-hearing ASL interpreter, artist, and mentor from who moved to Portland from Nashville,TN in late 2017. Holding a B.S. in ASL and English Interpretation and a B.A. in Deaf Studies, she is pursuing a Master’s in Advanced Interpreting Studies at Western Oregon University. Passionate about performance, she interprets concerts, theater, and live entertainment locally and nationally, alongside community interpreting. Carli first partnered with Crave in 2021 in support of their aim to provide access to the Deaf community as a standard, rather than limiting them to a single night or by request.
Amy Rigby
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