Welcome to the enthralling, provocative and mind-expanding marathon of the TBA Festival!

TBA is a constellation of today's most rigorous and creative art-makers. This September we bring to Portland contemporary artistic voices from around the world, including Poland's Stefan Zeromski Theatre, Ireland's Gare St. Lazare Players, Seattle's Dayna Hanson, New York's Maria Hassabi, Minnesota's Emily Johnson, Portland's Noelle Stiles with Las Vegas' Danielle Kelly, and a first-ever visit to Portland by the world-famous Wooster Group.

We also welcome back artists whose creative growth has been nurtured here at TBA, including Nature Theater of Oklahoma, John Jasperse Company, Jerome Bel, and Mike Daisey. On top of all of that, we start the Festival with a not-to-be missed collaboration between Rufus Wainwright and the Oregon Symphony (with an appearance by opera phenomenon Janis Kelly) and the free opening of the ON SIGHT visual arts installations with a concert at THE WORKS at Washington High School.

Festival artists are plumbing the depths of their lived experience to revisit their own stories and the ambitions, icons and illusions that fascinate them. The artistic approaches are fantastically diverse, and the work engages themes of love, desire, war, identity, memory and illusion. Most of all, Festival performances speak to the unlimited potential of artists to investigate their own stories, the existential complexity of life and the diverse ways in which it can be understood.

Also this year, TBA engages with some of the revolutionary creative thinkers who have indelibly altered the fabric of art-making and the definition of contemporary performance. The Festival explores the singular vision of Samuel Beckett, ponders the impact of Merce Cunningham and revels in the primal thematics of William Shakespeare.

Threaded through the performances and exhibits, you will encounter films, artist conversations, lectures, and late-night entertainment at THE WORKS. The Festival program is a shared vision created with the entire PICA staff. This book is your map, your resource, your keepsake and your guide to a phenomenal experience across disciplines and perspectives.

I look forward to seeing you at the Festival.