Portunes, the God of keys, is behind both an opportunity and importunate or badly timed solicitations. He had influence over the timing of waves and thus could dictate the moments and events in the lives of those on or near the sea. Portunes appears as a (possibly two-headed) man with a key in his hand.
In Tonya Narvaez’s take on Portunes, a man takes a position as a lighthouse keeper in a remote area. Soon after arriving, another man appears and claims to be the lighthouse keeper. They both adamantly want the job and agree to stick it out together until they can get in touch with the management company to straighten it out. One of the men begins to question the other when strange things continue to happen. The beacon keeps getting “accidentally” turned off and the management company is completely unresponsive on the radio.
PORTUNES by Tonya Narvaez
Directed by Allison Page
Staged Reading on October 19, 2017 at the EXIT Theatre
Ron Chapman (James)
Matt Gunnison (Oscar)
Nicole Odell (Stage Directions)
Gabriel Sanchez (The Man)
Tonya Narvaez is a writer, director, producer, and performer in San Francisco. Most recently she was Co-Artistic Director of San Francisco Theater Pub. She grew up an army brat, roaming from South Texas to the suburbs of Kansas to a tiny town in Arkansas to a tiny town in Nebraska, before landing in Southern California for a stretch of time, where she studied performing arts at California State University; Long Beach, South Coast Repertory, and in professional workshops in Los Angeles. In 2007, she trekked North to San Francisco, where she took classes with American Conservatory Theater and became involved in the local theater community.
After finding her footing as an actor in the Bay Area, she became interested in finding her own artistic voice and began writing. Her work draws from her experiences growing up in a complicated and culturally rich home, and especially from watching the women around her tap into their inner power to take control of their lives. She is deeply interested in exploring these themes through crafting mystery-thriller hybrid plays, which surprise and challenge the audience. She has written for the San Francisco Olympians Festival several times and is thrilled to write again this year. She has also had the opportunity to present two of her one-acts at PianoFight as part of San Francisco Theater Pub. In 2016, she was chosen by Loud and Unladylike to write a full-length script inspired by the life of Christine Jorgensen, which was read at PianoFight in July. In her free time, you can find Tonya singing her heart out at The Mint and Martuni’s or at home in a pile of blankets with a coloring book, watching Netflix and drinking mint tea. Or scotch.
The image of Portunes was created by Cody A. Rishell.