CoHo Productions

CoHo Productions is a nonprofit theater company in Portland, Oregon co-founded by Gary Cole and Robert Holden. They collaborated on the company’s maiden production, Bodyhold, based loosely on Gary’s experience as an attorney for the CIA. The production was mounted in 1995 on the lower level of the city’s venerable Benson Hotel. After 5 years of producing plays in makeshift venues, CoHo converted a former bookbindery in what was then a gritty industrial section of Portland to a 99-seat black box theater in 2001. Building its own home enabled CoHo to sustain a unique model for producing theater it calls co-production. Each year the company invites artists from the community to propose plays for its upcoming season. CoHo chooses 3 shows from the many submissions it receives and provides the space, an agreed budget, and marketing support. The company’s community partners take charge of the artistic and technical aspects of each production. This singular approach has yielded over 30 Drammy awards (Portland’s Tonys) and helped launch some of the city’s most acclaimed performing arts companies.

Gary has agreed to donate all rights to Black Box to CoHo in honor of the company’s 25th anniversary season and to support its work in the CoHo Theater, the black box on which the theater at the heart of the novel is based.