Lisa Portes

Some of Portes's productions include This is Modern Art a play written by Idris Goodwin and Kevin Coval. Other plays directed by Portes include Ghostwritten, After a Hundred Years, Concerning Strange Device from the Distant West, all written by Naomi Iizuka.[11] Portes has also directed plays by Julia Cho such as The Piano Teacher. Some more of her recent works include Offspring of the Cold War written by Carlos Murillo and Wilder: An Erotic Chamber Musical written by Erin Cressida Wilson, Jack Herrick and Mike Craver.[4] Notably, Portes served as the Associate Director of the Tony Award-winning musical The Who's Tommy, and staged its international productions in Canada, Germany and the U.K., as well as its 20th anniversary remount at the Stratford Festival in 2013.[4][12]

The play This is Modern Art was staged at Steppenwolf Theatre. The premise of the play deals with the struggle of graffiti crews, who view their work as art while others see it as vandalism. One night, one crew completes a huge piece which incite backlash from the community as opinions on the validity of graffiti as art are polarized. This play ran from February 25 to March 14, 2015.[13] It sparked controversy in the Chicago area as it presented the graffiti crews in a positive light.[14] One critic at the Chicago Tribune mentioned how the play "is a romantic ode to the art of graffiti and the act of tagging, a piece that demystifies authorial signatures and charts the storied history of graffiti art in Chicago, shouting out its great artists and their canvases, from Kennedy underpasses to CTA train yards... [but] Graffiti comes at a price. It can be invasive, self-important and disrespectful of the property of others — and plenty of struggling folks have had to clean graffiti off something they own or love".[15] Kevin Coval spoke out against the play's criticism stating that "Graffiti operates at the level of metaphor for voices that exist at the margins of culture who have been deliberately excluded or erased from dominate discourse".[14]

Portes directed Naomi Iizuka's Ghostwritten at the Goodman Theatre in April 2009.[16] The play references the war in Vietnam, creating a complex narrative on complicated dual identities of Vietnamese children, the imperialistic nature of the United States and the effects of the war, and invisible yet real geopolitical boundaries between countries and their impacts.[17] The author adds a twist by including themes from the tale Rumpelstiltskin.[18] The play is part of a project that ran at the Goodman Theatre called "Strong Women, Strong Voices" which focused on presenting and supporting work created by women.[19] It had mixed reviews. One critic at the Chicago Maroon thought the play's premise was "so ridiculous that it would border on the comical even if the rest of the play were well-executed".[20]

The Who's Tommy is based on The Who's 1969 rock album Tommy. [21] The story follows the life of a young boy named Tommy who is not only blind, but deaf as well. He has a very hard childhood, and constantly suffers abuse from his relatives and neighbors. His one salvation is pinball, and it is ultimately his escape when be becomes an international pinball superstar. It has been described as an "exhilarating story of hope, healing and the human spirit".[22] In 2013, the play was remounted at the Stratford Theatre Festival where this "rock opera", one critic mentions, "cranked up the volume for vocal excitement and general rocking-out purposes".[23] Another critic mentions how the musical is also an interesting commentary on "the advances – or not – in disability rights in the post[World War II] era".[24]

Wilder: An Erotic Chamber Musical ran in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater in New York City from October 14, 2003 to November 14, 2003. [25] The plot follows a growing boy who goes through puberty in a "depression-era bordello".[26] The plot plays with Oedipal themes while the main character reminiscences on his past.[27] The role of the older Wilder Jessup is played by John Cullum. One critic mentioned that having such a popular and skilled lead took away from the other two members of the cast, who were "a little too earnest in their diction and gestures".[28] Another critic mentioned that the play was seemingly an interesting premise but ultimately a "lost cause" with "disappointing music".[29]