Host Dmae Roberts focuses on Wordstock Festival 2010, a yearly celebration of book books, writers, and storytelling in Portland. Wordstock will take place October 9-10 with several pre-events. Also featured is Actor Anthony Heald as Shylock at Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Merchant of Venice.  

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of “Merchant of Venice”,  directed by Bill Rauch and starring Anthony Heald as Shylock is a magnificent indictment on the cost of prejudice. Set both in contemporary and Elizabethan times, it rings true to today’s issues while still balancing the comedy and the tragic elements of this fine Shakespeare play.

 Why would two non-dancers spend the last 12 years bringing the best of national and international dance to Portland? Dmae Roberts finds out as she talks with Paul King and Walter Jaffe, the founders of White Bird Dance, about their 13th season.

Host/Producer Dmae Roberts features Olga Sanchez, artistic director of Milagro Theatre, the Northwest's premiere Latino theatre. Learn about their new season, which includes Viva Don Juan, the Day of the Dead celebration, Duende de Lorca, Anna In The Tropics, Boomcracklefly and Lazarillo. We also find out about Sanchez' vision for the theatre and about her career as an actor and director.

How do you interview someone you've admired for decades? Producer Dmae Roberts recently found out when she got to interview legendary author Ursula K. Le Guin for the second time. The author of more than 40 books, Le Guin is a much gifted and prolific writer much loved by fans around the world. And in this half hour Oregon Treasures special, Le Guin shares thoughts about her work and the Oregon landscapes that have inspired her.

(photo left: Ursula K. Le Guin -Photo: Richard Jensen)

Host Dmae Roberts highlights the  Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride: African American Murals about to open at the Oregon Historical Society. Find out about the long and often overlooked history of African American murals.

And in the latter part of the show, Producer Tali Singer has an audio arts piece of a young woman converting to Islam.

Dmae Roberts talks with Portland Icon Wendy Westerwelle and Producer/Playwright Don Horn.  Triangle Productions is remounting “Soph: An Evening with the Last of the Red-Hot Mamas” – Westerwelle’s hit show in Portland and Los Angeles.

Dmae Roberts presents a half-hour version of Coming Home: Return of the Alutiiq Masks, a one-hour radio documentary that interweaves oral history interviews, Alutiiq music and soundscapes.This full-length documentary originally aired in 208 on about 188 public radio stations around the country.

Producer Dmae Roberts presents an encore broadcast of her documentary profile of legendary author Ursula K. Le Guin. The author of 40 plus books, Le Guin is a much gifted and prolific writer much loved by fans around the world. And in this half hour Oregon Treasures special on December 7th at 11am on KBOO 90.7 FM, Le Guin shares thoughts about her work and the Oregon landscapes that have inspired her. This show originally aired on November 2, 2010.

Host and producer Dmae Roberts presents an encore broadcast of her Oregon Treasures profile of Portland novelist Molly Gloss. Gloss’ books have shed light on untold stories of women in the American West.

Dmae Roberts presents her Oregon Treasures documentary on Sitka Center for Art and Ecology which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. This special also features Kim Stafford, veteran writer and teacher who has taught many workshops at Sitka.

The picturesque center nestled in beautiful old growth forest of Sitka Spruce has nourished the talents of writers, visual artists and scientists for four decades. Through workshops and residencies, the Sitka Center remains a cherished place of learning for people throughout the Northwest and Northern California.

Host and producer Dmae Roberts talks with three women playwrights whose work will be featured in the upcoming Fertile Ground Festival: Susan Mach, Erin Leddy and Camille Cettina. From January 20-30, the Fertile Ground Festival will feature new works from local artists, including everything from dance to music to visual arts to fully staged productions.

Dmae Roberts presents "Stories From The Streets"-readings by Lunacy Stageworks & Streetroots newspaper as part of continued coverage on the Fertile Ground Festival. Producer Tali Singer also offers an artistic feature story on the the life, music and photographs of Oregon Composer Ernest Bloch  the Oregon Jewish Museum.

Host/Producer Dmae Roberts continues coverage of the Fertile Ground festival of new work with Tonya Jone Miller and her solo show "Threads: The True Story of an Indiana Farm Girl in Viet Nam." We also debut the new "Writers Read" segment with Katharine Emlen of Eugene, OR. And in the latter part of the show Dmae tells us what makes a traditional Chinese New Year.

Host Dmae Roberts presents a membership edition of Stage & Studio featuring Native American Storyteller Ed Edmo from Tears of Joy Theatre's "Bridge of the Gods." This play tells the tale of the legendary Klickatat version of the fight between two chieftain brothers that caused the great land bridge in the Columbia Gorge to fall. In this program, Edmo tells the story of the Bridge of the Gods and shares some of his poetry, including his poem, "Indian Education Blues".

Travel the world in 16 days through the Portland International Film Festival. Now in it's 34th year, PIFF draws more than 35,000 people each year to several venues in Portland to watch more than 100 films from all over the globe. Host Dmae Roberts talks with Bill Foster, executive director of the Northwest Film Center who puts the festival together each year.

Dmae talks with Portland Jazz great Thara Memory and Librettist S. Renee Mitchell about Sherman: A Jazz Opera opening at Ethos-IFCC during Black History Month.

Dmae brings us Jordan Harrison's "Kid Simple: A Radio Play In The Flesh" directed by Tom Moorman, Sarah McGregor and JR Wickman at Coho Productions which runs through March 26th. We also hear the third installment of the Writers Read series which focuses on Northwest writers. This Writers Read features Poet A. Molotkov from Portland. This show aired February 22nd at 11am on KBOO 90.7FM and online at StageandStudio.org!

Tune in Tuesday March 8th at 11am on KBOO 90.7FM for Secret Asian Woman, a half-hour personal exploration of identity and Mixed Race by Independent Producer Dmae Roberts. Through her personal story, Dmae charts four decades of a search by multiracial peoples for a name. The politics of calling out racism has changed through the years as has identification. In this half-hour  documentary, Dmae talks with other Mixed Race Asian women with identities not easily recognized and addresses with humor the complexities involved in even discussing race.

Dmae Roberts features Miracle Theatre's Boomcracklefly, a world premiere play by Charisse Castro Smith and directed by Olga Sanchez. Also this week  we have

Host/Producer Dmae Roberts features the Portland Playhouse production of August Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. We'll be talking to Portland Playhouse's Kevin Jones, director,and actors Julianne Johnson and Wendell Wright. Dmae also checks in Mari Watanabe of Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center about their Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Festival event April 3rd at noon to help  raise funds for disaster relief in Japan.

(Pictured left, Julianne Johnson, photo credit: Aaron Lee )

Dmae Roberts and MediaRites presents Ing 'Doc' Hay-Frontier Herbalist as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.  In in the dry sagebrush hills of Eastern Oregon, a thriving Chinatown emerged, thanks in large part to an unusual doctor named Ing Hay. His medical practice was located in a general store named the Kam Wah Chung in John Day, Oregon. This half-hour documentary is an excerpt  from the Peabody-award-winning Crossing East series. The eight-hour series was broadcast on more than 230 stations across the country.

 Dmae Roberts and MediaRites present Refugee Dreams Revisted as part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. This special is hosted by Margaret Cho and focuses on the experiences of Southeast Asian refugees in Portland, and features Cambodian musician Daran Kravanh.

 Host/Producer Dmae Roberts talks with Portland filmmaker Lawrence Johnson about his new film Stuff. Johnson tells about Stuff and his experiences covering Native American and Oregon history projects through the years. He shares some clips as well. Later in the show, Poet, author and musician Leanne Grabel in Portland is featured in the eighth segment of the Writers Read series.

 Dmae Roberts talks with author Dale E. Basye about his book series for young readers, Heck.The fourth book in the series, Fibble, was released last month. Basye also sings songs that he wrote for the series and read passages from the books.

 In this edition of Stage & Studio, host/producer Dmae Roberts talks with Actor Peter Macon, at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. And producer Macon Reed presents a feature story about Filmmaker Brian Lindstrom, for the "Pushing Boundaries" series.

This is an encore edition, originally aired March 15th, 2011.

(Photo Left: Peter Macon & Mark Murphey - OSF's "To Kill A Mockingbird") 

 Dmae Roberts talks with acclaimed author Lisa See. Her latest novel, Dreams of Joy debuted  at No. 1 on the NY Times best seller list. See tells us about her extensive research on Mao's Great Leap Forward that caused the death of up 45 million people  in China from 1958-1961. We also hear about the movie version of See's book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, to be released in July 2011.

Dmae Roberts talks with veteran media artist Rose Bond about her work on large-scale animations and her teaching of Boundary Crossings' an institute on animated. Also featured is Daniela Repas of DripDrop Productions. They're debuting Pre-Nostalgic, DripDrop’s new animated installation of sound, sculpture, and drawing. DripDrop tells us about the installation, which has been two years in the making.

In this special encore edition of Stage & Studio, host/Producer Dmae Roberts talks with Oregon author Jane Kirkpatrick. She's authored more than 20 books and is an Oregon Book award finalist for "A Flickering Light." Her latest is "The Daughter's Walk" which is based on the true story of a mother and daughter in 1896 who both walked from Spokane, Washington to New York City  to save the family farm.

On this week's Stage & Studio we hear two artists pushing boundaries of traditions and limitations. Dmae Roberts profiles musician/dancer Michelle Fujii and her new solo performance, Choking. And Producer Tali Singer presents a NEW story on Catherine J.H. Miller, who created "A Somewhat Secret Place: Disability and Art." This is a Pushing Boundaries special funded by the Regional Arts and Culture Council.

On this week's Stage & Studio writer/artist S. Renee Mitchell talks about the Natural and Proud People Inspiration project, a celebration of natural African-American hair. Mitchell also runs Twysted Healing Systahs, an organization that empowers women of color. And Dmae remembers Carolyn Holzman, a beloved Portland theatre artist and teacher.