Risk/Reward 2023 Festival Performances: left, shannon stewart/screaming traps; center, Claire Rigsby; right, Hannah Victoria Thomas. Photos by Jingzi Zhao.

16 Years: New Venue, New Risks, Same Reward

The Risk/Reward Festival will showcase new works by indie performing artists from across the region – with a brand new batch of surprises in store as we move to this summer’s home at Portland Institute of Contemporary Arts’ warehouse on NE Hancock St!

And thanks to the generosity of the folks at PICA, we’re able to offer artists selected for the Festival a week of rehearsal time in the Annex Theatre in April or May. So cool!

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

What is the Risk/Reward Festival? 

Each day the festival includes the same slate of new works, performed back-to-back over a 2+ hour extravaganza with short breaks and one intermission. 

We solicit proposals from regional artists for new works that can be performed in 20 minutes or less. A panel of local artists and tastemakers select a lineup and we challenge the artists to run wild – encouraging creative risks, experimentation, and bold investigation. No one really knows what to expect until opening night. Audiences come to sample a variety of artistic voices and art forms in what the Willamette Week calls, “speed dating for contemporary performance.”

The Risk/Reward Festival is dedicated to the presentation of new performance and preference is given to works that are currently in development or that have not been produced fully in the past. Risk/Reward addresses some of the most pressing needs of local artists and audiences by providing a platform for artists to present new work while introducing Portland audiences to artists from across the west coast.

The festival’s major goals are:

• To provide a supportive environment for artists to present new work with full technical, administrative, and marketing assistance
• To introduce audiences to new artists and forms
• To provide a place for artists and audiences to mingle and connect over a shared artistic experience
• To promote creative experimentation in the performing arts

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Due to the popularity of our Pay-What-You-Will model —
we are making ALL TICKETS PAY-WHAT-YOU-WILL for the entire festival again this year!

Thanks to our festival sponsors!