Sasha Roiz and Silas Weir Mitchell on 'Three Days of Rain'

A couple of guys came to Portland for seasonal work. They met on the job and became fast friends, Yin and Yang, Oscar and Felix. Both have theatre backgrounds, both have a big chunk of time on their hands between projects. After several years of living in Portland and wondering what to do in their off time, they decided "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!"

And so Sasha Roiz and Silas Weir Mitchell chose "Three Days of Rain" as the project for their summer vacation. It's a taxing schedule, very little time off, but they're both ardent about their fascination with the material and their desire to work together in live theatre in Portland. With Portland Center Stage Artistic Director Chris Coleman directing, and Lisa Datz completing the cast, they are neck deep in rehearsals.

Mitchell and Roiz, best known for their roles on the Portland-based TV show "Grimm," bring hefty theatre cred to the project. Mitchell built upon his Theatre Arts degree and MFA with work in New York and Los Angeles, both as an actor and director. He has worked on smaller productions, relieved to finally be acting in a play where he "had to worry about nothing but acting."

From building sets to selling Skittles, he earned his bones with grit and perseverance. Mitchell has a variety of TV and movie roles rounding out his resume, but it's clear his heart beats for live theatre, despite its terrifying moments. "There is," he admits, "a soup�on of frisson... the moment just before stepping onstage when I ask 'Why did I do this to myself?'"

Roiz, who hails from Montreal, has populated his life with theatre training at Dawson College and the Guildford School of Acting, followed by work at the Centaur Theatre Company, Knowlton Theatre, Quebec, and his own list of TV and blockbuster and independent movie roles. He concedes to being a "soup�on" of a jerk, although there is evidence to the contrary in his charity work around Portland. And how can anyone who loves Portland so visibly be a jerk? That's a hard sell.

The actors play off each other with the ease of close friends, sharing wordplay and finishing each other's sentences. They are respectful and aware of one another, both demonstrating the intense listening critical to acting well.

Their cast mate, known lovingly as Datz, brings her own impressive CV to bear on this fortuitous partnering. While she is not on "Grimm" -- a pity, given her tremendous resume -- years of work onstage in New York ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch," a Jeff-Award-nominated performance in "Violet") and Los Angeles on TV and in movies has kept her very busy. With her background in music and theatre, she brings a different energy to the cast that will be interesting to see onstage.

All three actors made reference to the good timing/fortune/planets aligning in rare formation that afforded them the right thing at the right time. In a play that Roiz characterized as "meaty, challenging and meticulously well crafted," the characters struggle with the mystery of identity. It's a clockwork universe, Mitchell said, "The play is word perfect."

Listening to the actors and director talk about the play and interact with each other is amply enticing, but when you scan the pr�cis of the play, you reach a whole other level of curiosity. The three actors play six characters; Datz plays Nan Janeway in 1995 and her own mother Lina in 1960; Mitchell plays Walker Janeway and his father Ned; Roiz is Pip Wexler and his father Theo. The trio converges on a studio once occupied by their fathers, who had been architectural business partners, to hear the reading of Ned's will.

The discovery of a journal leads the modern-day trio into the dissection of their fathers' secrets. It sounds every bit as intriguing as Roiz, the one at "fault" for this project, has suggested. After hearing their reverence for the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, and their devotion to doing it justice, I am eager to see the finished product.

For 29 days in Portland's sunny summer you have the chance to see "Three Days of Rain." If the chemistry of the cast and the outline of the plot are any indication, it is a show not to be missed.

"Three Days of Rain" runs May 17 - June 21 at U.S. Bank Main Stage, Portland Center Stage, Gerding Theatre at the Armory, 128 NW Eleventh Avenue Portland, Oregon 97209.

For tickets and information, call 503-445-3700 or go to http://www.pcs.org/threedays/