7 Deadly Sins: CHURCH

Part Two: LUST

WHEN: Friday, July 24th

WHERE: PAM-CUT’s Tomorrow Theater, 3530 SE Division PDX

ABOUT CHURCH

7 Deadly Sins: CHURCH is a seven-part interactive live storytelling series that explores each of the Seven Deadly Sins, what they mean in this particular moment in history, and how we might choose to think of them in these turbulent times.

Despite being an entirely secular show created by a group of outlandishly sinful heathens, 7 Deadly Sins: CHURCH will have all the trappings and spirit of an old-school gospel tent revival — albeit with less religion and more access to cocktails. (Also, if anyone is somehow miraculously healed of anything it will surprise us way more than you.)

In our second CHURCH show, Part Two, the stories will focus on the things we wanted to say about the Sin Of Lust. And because of the particular things we wanted to say about the topic, the entire lineup of the guess artists commissioned for this chapter of CHURCH will be female/femme.

Lust is the most desired and sought after of all the sins, but it can also be the most complicated. Sometimes you can ride Lust can drive us to all the way to True Love — but it can just as quickly inspire us to hurt the people we love most. At its best, Lust delivers unto us our most intense moments of euphoria, at least half of all popular music, and each succeeding generation. At its worst, it also drags alongs betrayals, body shaming, The Manosphere, and the entire #metoo movement in its wake. Lust, in other words, is like all the other deadly sins: for better or worse, it’s what makes us human.

Plus there will be laughs! And music! And poetry! And readings! And singalongs! And still more laughs! Because more than anything, 7 Deadly Sins: CHURCH is a kick-ass, howl-at-the-moon evening of fun as we all celebrate what it means to be human, and keep the darkness at bay just one night longer.

THE PERFORMERS

Brianna Wheeler: Host

Brianna is an award-winning essayist, journalist, and illustrator.

Her book Altogether Different, a unique blend of memoir, creative non-fiction and illustration was nominated for the 2023 Eric Hoffer Award. Her work has been featured in "The Nasiona," "Midnight & Indigo," and "Human Parts." She is a frequent contributor to Willamette Week, and the host of their weekly news and culture podcast.

Ash Allen: Storyteller

Ash is a comedian, writer, director, producer, and radio host, known for her tall-yet-true stories shared on stages across the country.

Originally from Mississippi, Ash is a multiple Moth StorySLAM winner, one of 2026 Willamette Week’s Funniest Five, and a 2025 Best of Portland Comedy finalist. She hosts Porch Hang, a weekly storytelling radio show with a killer soundtrack, and cohosts the monthly show ROY G BIV, highlighting the best queer comedy Portland—and beyond—has to offer.

Tanya Awabdy: Storyteller

Tanya is a poet, storyteller, choir nerd, and molecular biologist.

Tanya describes herself as “a late-blooming lesbian and loving it.” Her stories have been featured on multiple BACKFENCE Storytelling stages, as well as The Moth StorySLAM. In April she was a featured performer in Dance Naked Creative’s live show Igniting Desire: Erotic Stories From The Second Half Of Life, a part of 2026’s Fertile Ground Festival.

Mx. Dahlia Belle: Storyteller

Portland-based comedian MX. DAHLIA BELLE, best known for her appearance on the popular Netflix special Hannah Gadsby’s ‘Gender Agenda’, has been compared to a Swiss Army knife - different tools to extract sharpness, softness, vulnerability, hope, and wicked wit.

Her writing has been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Guardian, The Stranger, and Portland Mercury. As a public speaker, she has been a repeat guest on NPR, CBC, XRAY FM, and Portland Radio Project (PRP).

Katie Nguyen: Storyteller

Katie Nguyen is a writer, comedian, and storyteller living in Portland, Oregon.

Her writing has been featured in publications such as The New Yorker, and she is a regular at Helium Comedy Club. Katie teaches comedy classes at Helium and Portland Center Stage. She has twice been chosen as one of the Portland Mercury’s Geniuses of Comedy, and was recently named the winner of Willamette Week’s Funniest Five. Katie is also a writer and the host of the PBS Kids series, Mega Wow.

Nikole Potulski: Musican

Nikole Potulsky is a heralded essayist, activist, public speaker and proud member of the LGBTQ community.  During ‘day-job’ hours, Nikole is a mortgage loan officer, and was a finalist for Willamette Week’s Best Of Portland for the same.

Nikole’s debut album, the independently produced You Want To Know About Me, was raved by critics on NPR, PRI, and the modern-country-roots magazine No Depression, which describer Nicole’s work as “a triumphant that is authentic to the bone.”

Brianna Renae: Poet

Brianna is a spoken word poet & public speaker born and raised in Portland Oregon.

She is the author of her debut poetry collection Her Way with Words and the founder of The People’s Poets — a BIPOC open mic created to amplify marginalized voices. She had the pleasure of opening for bestselling author Rupi Kaur in 2022. In 2023, Brianna Renae was crowned Portland Poetry Slam’s Grand Slam Champion. She writes in hopes to inspire people to recognize the power in their stories.

ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL

John Shipe: 7DS House Band Leader

Once a frontman for the iconic northwest rock band Renegade Saints, John’s career as a genre-defying singer-songwriter has spawned no less than eleven critically-acclaimed studio albums

John’s latest album, Water So Dark, made a slew of 2024 Top Ten Indie Album lists in the US and Europe. The UK’s Fatea Magazine declared the album a masterpiece that “paid in full” any debts of sin he might have acquired in the past, while Italy’s Planet Country called the album proof of “an artist and a man with a poetic and sensitive approach whose songs deal with sobriety and excellent melodic skills all the emotions of life, dreams, aspirations, suffering and disappointments.” And no less than Bee Delores observed that John “weaves his emotional threads into a warm tapestry, faded with time yet still somehow carries with it the richness of life itself, with darkness caked into his performance.”

The CHURCH Series Production Team

The CHURCH series is a collaborative production conceived, created, and directed by writer, journalist, and 7 Deadly Sins Executive & Artistic Director R. Tod Kelly; actor, writer, and filmmaker Travis Abels; producer, comedian, and storyteller Alina Aliyar, storyteller and stand-up comedian Star Dell’Era; PICA performance artist and creator of Life Coach Andrew Dickson; comedian, host, and story coach Meg Ferrill; longtime teacher and raconteur Pat McCreery; and essayist, journalist, and illustrator Briana Wheeler, with the help of CHURCH’s Musical Director John Shipe and Art & Media Director Mark Noland.