Free
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Event from https://www.stagefrightfestival.com
Stage Fright Festival
location_on
CoHo Theater (2257 NW Raleigh St, Portland, OR 97210)
date_range
10/8/2026
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About this event
Portland's Only Queer Horror Theatre Festival
2026 Festival Applications are open!
SUBSCRIBE below to stay in the loop
OUR Bloody Mission
To produce original theatre by professional and emerging independent artists,
of the highest artistic integrity, centering trans and queer creators and
audiences. The horror genre has a special and symbiotic connection to queer
culture. We believe in the power that theatre and horror have to build and
bond communities.
_Come scream with us!_
JOIN THE CULT!
THE BLOG-HOUSE OF HORRORS
CATCH all the chills, thrills, and backstage spills
This year's festival will feature full length productions, "double features"
of shorter scares, script readings, interactive installations, a mask-making
workshop, and variety performances by both local and international talent
including Candy Roberts(Critics Pick: Orlando Fringe Festival), Nancy
Boys (Official Fest Selection: LA Westside Comedy Festival), A Little Bit Off
(Best of Fest: Saskatoon Fringe), and more.
Welcome to our blog.
Here at _Stage Fright_ , we champion dying media long abandoned by the ruling
class. First, theatre. And now, the website. Some call us behind the times.
Increasingly, others are calling us prophetic - as the glittering castles of
hypercapitalism begin to crumble and burn, we're over here on the sidelines,
producing our little plays and writing our little blogs.
Horror is queer (period).
Not just in the campy cult classics and high-glam vamps. Not just in the
metaphor. Not just in the monsters. Horror has _always_ been queer. It's woven
into the blood-soaked fabric of the genre, lurking in the shadows of
repression, transformation, desire, and defiance.
Stage Fright is an annual queer horror theatre festival, the first of its
kind!
Stage Fright focuses on the many facets of the horror genre, producing work
that has wide appeal, is technically impressive, and remains authentic to the
voices and perspective of the creators.
We prioritize the audience's experience, leaning into spectacle while
preserving the soul, promising to never be boring.
Our work is created using techniques and styles passed down from ancient
times, through the vaudeville era, marrying tradition with the topical.
Through theater we build community.
To produce original theatre by professional and emerging independent artists,
of the highest artistic integrity, centering trans and queer creators and
audiences. The horror genre has a special and symbiotic connection to queer
culture. We believe in the power that theatre and horror have to build and
bond communities.
Horror has long had a special connection to queer culture. In the late 18th
and early 19th centuries, many writers of the Gothic novels popular at the
time used their stories to express forbidden and even unnamable desires such
as homosexuality.
The monster or antagonist of a horror story can represent being "other" in the
status quo world. Many horror storytellers-out or otherwise-have used the
genre to express their own queerness, and to illustrate the fear of going
against what society thought was permissible.
For several decades in the 20th century, the Motion Picture Production Code
made portraying gay relationships and themes illegal. Horror filmmakers would
often code their stories so that queers could recognize themselves within, but
the rest of the audience could choose to ignore the flags.
Today, we may more openly tell LGBTQ+ stories, but the horror genre still
appeals to people who feel like outsiders, iconoclasts, trailblazers, and
boundary pushers.
Stage Fright is an annual queer horror theatre festival, the first of its
kind!
Stage Fright focuses on the many facets of the horror genre, producing work
that has wide appeal, is technically impressive, and remains authentic to the
voices and perspective of the creators.
We prioritize the audience's experience, leaning into spectacle while
preserving the soul, promising to never be boring.
Our work is created using techniques and styles passed down from ancient
times, through the vaudeville era, marrying tradition with the topical.
Through theater we build community.
Our mission is to produce original theatre by professional and emerging
independent artists, of the highest artistic integrity, centering trans and
queer creators and audiences.
_The horror genre has a special and symbiotic connection to queer culture.
We believe in the power that theatre and horror have to build and bond
communities._
If that is something you can get behind, we would love to hear from you!
More specifically, we're looking for pieces that fall into two categories:
1) Between an hour and 45 minutes long
2) Under 45 minutes long
Longer pieces will be ticketed singularly, and shorter pieces will be
grouped together in whatever way makes the most sense for their theme and
length.
We will offer accepted applicants 2-3 total performance slots.
Whether you've done your show 1,000 times before or have only just scrawled
the general idea on the back of a napkin before reading this, please submit
pieces that you feel equipped to deliverfully produced by the time the
festival comes.
We will open up a separate application for works-in-progress at a later
date.
* * *
The first floor of CoHo Theater and stage is ADA accessible. However, The
Voms, Tech Booth and additional dressing rooms are not ADA-accessible.
Stage Fright recognizes the written application process is not accessible for
everyone who might want to submit. If this is a barrier for you for any
reason, you are welcome to film yourself reading and answering each of the
required questions.
You can email it to us at creeps@stagefrightfestival.com with the subject
line "Stage Fright 2026 Application".
If your file is too big to email, you can share it with
creeps@stagefrightfestival.com via Google and send us an email to notify
us.
Our tech days will _tentatively_ be Monday, Oct 5, Tuesday, Oct 6, and
Wednesday, Oct 7.
Stage Fright operates under a fringe model, which means things are quick
and dirty:
* You will get up to three hours of tech time, and we will provide you a Board Op if you need one.
* We are not able to deviate from our festival lighting plot, and your show must work within those constraints.
* For your performances, you should be able to set up/tear down in fifteen minutes. And everything starts on time!!!
* We cannot guarantee storage space at the venue, so have a plan to load in/out for each performance.
* You will only have access to the green room backstage immediately before, during and after your show, if you need additional time and space to prepare, the CoHo Resource Room is available.
By applying to the festival, you are agreeing to operate under the
restrictions inherent in this model of theatre.
A comprehensive technical questionnaire about your show will be provided to
all selected artists.
Artists will get up to three performance slots and earn all ticket sales
from their own performances. They will be responsible for a $300 production
fee that can be paid up front or deducted from ticket sales at the end of the
festival.
On average, ticket sales for a single performance slot have been $450.
For shorter pieces sharing a bill , how your production fee and ticket
sales are split will be relative to the length of your pieces. (For example, a
15 minute act sharing a bill with a 30 minute act would earn 33% of ticket
sales, while the longer act would earn 66% of sales.)
Promoting yourself (alongside Stage Fright's promotion) and garnering an
audience is the best way to maximize compensation!
* The venue for your show
* Front of House and Box Office services (CoHo is running and keeping revenue from concessions.)
* Marketing for the festival - social media, advertising, and press releases
* Artist passes for your core artistic team which provides free admission to all Stage Fright programming
There are additional...SOFT...benefits to performing with Stage Fright:
* You will be connected to and learn from a network of artists, both local and touring, and meet potential future collaborators.
* The opportunity to Introduce your work to new audiences (we can't exactly prove this, but there are audiences already familiar with Stage Fright and CoHo who will be more likely to take a chance on seeing your work.) There is also opportunity for you to schmooze in the lobby and meet potential supporters of your work.
The Stage Fright Scrypt Lab is a development program for artists building
text-driven performances rooted in queer horror.
The lab is directed by Mishelle Apalategui - our Artist Development
Gremlin Extraordinaire - and provides **one-on-one individualized support**
designed to help you take a work-in-progress idea and shape it into a fully
realized piece for the stage.
This lab is for projects that already exist in some form but need refinement,
direction, and support to move forward with intention.
Your work will be developed, tested, and shared as part of the festival,
but will not necessarily be a finished premiere.
We are seeking works-in-progress that are text-forward, performance-
driven, and aligned with the spirit of queer horror and theatrical risk-
taking.
This can include:
* Scripted short plays
* Solo performance works
* Experimental or genre-blending pieces
* Surreal, absurd, or nontraditional narratives
* Work that leans into horror, tension, discomfort, or transformation
Your script does not need to be finished. In fact, it probably shouldn't
be.
We are most interested in pieces that have a strong central idea but need
clearer structure or direction.
Selected artists receive direct, practical, and creative support to move
their work from concept to stage.
This includes:
* **Dedicated one-on-one dramaturgy** to strengthen structure, stakes, and thematic clarity.
* **Individual budgeting guidance**. practical support on how to realistically budget your work, from bare-bones survival mode to sustainable production planning.
* Support navigating **self-producing fundamentals.**
* A **promo strategy session** to craft a strong, compelling promotional image.
* Producing consultation (timeline, scope, technical needs).
* Support with **casting strategy and finding actors** , if needed.
* CoHo Resource Center membership for July-Sept to help with rehearsal space needs.
* Optional **directorial collaboration** - I am available to direct the staged presentation or support your team in shaping it, depending on your needs and vision.
* A staged reading or developmental presentation during the festival.
* You are not expected to arrive with everything figured out.
* The goal of this lab is to give you the tools, structure, and support to
actually bring your work to life.
Our festival is hungry for delicious souls like yours to help ensure that our
shows and other horrifying operations are running smoothly. We need help
**BEFORE** the festival, **DURING** the festival and **AFTER** the festival.
Want to help out behind the scenes? Wrangle monsters? Or haunt a merch table?
Whatever your sordid heart desires, we've got a role for you!
For your grave sacrifice, you will be awarded complimentary tickets to shows
and activities!
Fill out the form below and we'll summon you soon.
_More details will be revealed when we get in touch._
Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Screams
Got Questions? Comments? Curses?
To contact us, light a black candle, whisper our name three times… **_or, you
know, just fill out the form below._**
We'll get back to you ASAP - assuming we haven't been dragged into the
underworld (_again_).
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