Zak Westfall

I am playing Calvin in Hot n Throbbing at Profile Theatre! This has been a rehearsal process unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I had the joy of working with so many artists that I have looked up to since moving to Portland and entering the theatre community. I am overjoyed to share our final product! Live @ https://profiletheatre.org/hot-n-throbbing/ until June 2021! Available through a Profile membership or for 24 hour rental.

It is difficult for me to be online a lot. This pandemic has been particularly difficult, as I am sure it has for many. Luckily, I scored some auditions via Zoom, which all had their own learning curves, and one of them paid off! I will be working with Profile Theatre for the first time! This was a goal of mine before even moving to Portland so it feels extra rewarding to cross this one off during some down times. I will be playing Calvin in Hot n Throbbing by Paula Vogel, to be aired as an audio play starting in November.

Little did I know that would be my last time on a stage for quite some time, but Never in My Lifetime closed March 1st, 2020 with a 2pm matinee. A wonderful show with a wonderful group of emerging and learning artists, I can't wait to revitalize those connections and make more wonderful art when we're allowed back in the same space again. Until then, it seems we'll be going digital!

Rehearsals are under way for Never In My Lifetime and the show is fun to do even if it is exhausting at times. Its fun to work in accent again and to work with a new group of people I've only been around in passing before. Two more weeks until we open on the 19th! Come check it out: http://pac.edu/never-in-my-lifetime.html

I had a few auditions pop up from people having seen me in Bakkhai which is an amazing feeling. Luckily, one of those auditions has yielded my next gig! I am happy to report that I will be playing Charlie in Never In My Lifetime as a Guest Artist at Portland Actor's Conservatory. Rehearals begin in the New Year and the show is the last two weekends of February! I am so excited to work on this piece! Oh, and I get to do a British accent again ;)

Bakkhai closed to some wonderfully full houses for its last two weekends! Among those wonderful surprises and blessings were a particularly electric Halloween performance and this GORGEOUS piece of art that one of our audience members made after being inspired by the show, how cool is THAT!!! I will miss this show and this group for quite some time to come, it was a truly life changing experience. 

I have seen three reviews so far for our show and I figured I'd share them here in case you still weren't sure whether or not to come see this powerful piece of theatre. 

Oregon Artswatch: https://www.orartswatch.org/bakkhai-to-the-future/

WW: https://www.wweek.com/arts/2019/10/08/dionysos-takes-human-form-in-a-bloody-quest-for-recognition-in-shaking-the-trees-bakkhai/

The Mercury: https://www.portlandmercury.com/theater/2019/10/10/27280933/aries-osiris-perfectly-embodies-the-mysteries-of-dionysos-in-shaking-the-trees-bakkhai

Enjoy!!

I made it through opening my first show in Portland! It's also the first show in which I've had to wear a dress and wig and wow, what an experience that has been. It has opened my eyes to the spectrum that is gender expression and has helped me get to know myself in a way that only art can. I've always been told that art is a mirror of life but this show has given that statement a whole new meaning for me. I truly hope you come and see this show before we close on November 2nd, I think it is beyond powerful.

The members of my family in Bakkhai got together with Gary Norman for this wonderfully fun photo shoot. This portrait will be framed on the set above the throne. I love it so much and had so much fun doing the shoot, it was effortless. One of my friends said it looked like a cover photo for a Netflix show, figured I'd share it here! Click here or on the picture to get to the show page to get your tickets now!

Rehearsals are fast approaching! August 19th will be my first day back in rehearsals since February! I am ready and raring to go on this new journey working with theatre practitioners well established in the Portland theatre community. I have been doing loads of research on Pentheus, Dionysos and Euripides as I'm learning my lines and I cannot wait to get the whole group together!

PATA offered a wonderful headshot event with local photographer, Jennifer Alyse. She was so kind and personable and even though it was a short session she made me feel comfortable and engaged. She helped me feel at ease in front of the camera and guided me to express multiple "looks" by drawing upon characters I've played. I am thrilled with how they turned out and can't wait to send them around to update people with a fresh look and an upcoming show.

Audition season has been long and tough but I've been cast in my first show in Portland! I am happy to announce that I will be playing Pentheus in Anne Carson's adaptation Bakkhai at Shaking the Tree Theatre.  I am overjoyed to have my next project on the horizon and I cannot wait to invite people to my first show on the West Coast! Spoiler alert: I'm actually excited to be torn limb from limb!

Audition season is in full swing and I have attended my first of many West Coast Auditions! Just the other day, shortly after coming back from Theatre Lab in South Florida, I made the drive up to Seattle for an audition with Seattle Shakespeare Company. West Coast auditions aren't all that different from auditions any place else but, at least in the Pacific North West there are unified auditions by city. These auditions are such a great way to be seen by a slew of theatre companies in Portland or Seattle and I am eager to participate in my first one! My first PNW unified audition will be the Portland Area Theatre Alliance's auditions at the end of March, wish me luck!!