ABOUT THE COMPANY: Life In Arts Productions was founded in 2016. Seeing the need for more experimental storytelling and challenging material within the community theatre scene of Portland, as well as working to create a dialogue about the increasingly difficult realities of the world we face in the year 2023, founding members Jayne Furlong and Benjamin Philip decided to create a company that would endeavor to find socially and politically relevant material, and explore them with like-minded students of the theatre. Life In Arts Productions is committed to discovering and exploring stories and opportunities for these communities.
Founding members Jayne Furlong and Benjamin Philip are both life-long students of the arts who have been deeply involved with many community theaters throughout the Portland area. One of the many goals for Life In Arts is to create an environment in which an ensemble of actors and artists could develop different works in a variety of mediums, using the ideals of community, collaboration, and commitment in order to give power to the voice of the artist, supporting their vision from conception to production. Their inaugural production The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh opened in early 2017 to rave reviews and sold-out houses.
The inspiration behind the decision to move forward with a production of Of Mice and Men came out of several conversations, starting with Life In Arts founder Benjamin Philip and local actor Travis Schlegel. The two became aquatinted with each other over the course of two different auditions for two different plays. Benjamin nabbed a role in the first production, Travis nabbed a role in the second production, but a friendship began to blossom. Even though they had never worked together on stage, they began a conversation… a conversation that lasted throughout the pandemic, a conversation which eventually lead to the discovery that both performers had a mutual love for this play.
“Of Mice and Men was the first real scene study I did in high school and it was the first time I realized that this crazy artistic outlet was something more than just trying to remember your lines and where you’re suppose to stand while you’re on stage,” artistic director Benjamin Philip recalls. “It has stayed with me over the years, waiting for the right time, waiting for the right moment… where I would meet the Lennie to my George.”
Soon the conversation expanded to include Megan Murphy Ruckman (founding member and advising producer),Kelli Lacey(founding member and production manager), and Akitora Ishii (founding member and production assistant). Once a Production Team was in place, this dream project soon turned into a reality, and from there the community behind Life In Arts Productions was revived in order to move forward — digging into four months of pre-production, holding multiple conversations about theme and tone, and assembling an amazing team of artists and performers who would then fill all the necessary positions, the creative building blocks needed to bring this show to the stage with a minimal budget and a lot of hard work.
This production puts the resources of Life In Arts into the vision of local artists on a project aligned with Life Art’s mission, offering a deeper collaboration and more diverse community involvement for the company, the artist, and the communities they serve.
FOUNDING MEMBERS
Jayne Furlong
Benjamin Daniel Philip
Mandy Khoshnevisan
Megan Murphy Ruckman
Kelli Lacey
Beth Westbo
MISSION STATEMENT: Life In Arts Productions is committed to producing quality work that brings performing arts and education to our communities.
LIFE IN ARTS PRODUCTIONS 