The latest reviews and critic recommendations from Oregon.
You will, at the end of the evening, be holding a ten-dollar bill that will become your ballot as you vote for one of the five approaches to ending poverty in Multnomah County.
Dead Man's Cell Phone is a funny, unpredictable exploration of our relationship with technology.
It's a thoughtful script about Arab-American relations, a wacky comedy about a couple who invite another man into their sex life, and a dry look at how men and women view each other.
John Kander and Fred Ebb may be the last practitioners of the old-fashioned show tune, the kind that gets you tapping your toes, cocking your ear, and smiling throughout.
This being a Durang play, the characters have offbeat opinions about everything under the sun, but there's anger and regret underneath the quips, and eventually the deeper emotions come to the surface.
Director/choreographer Jessica Wallenfels does a brilliant job of telling us what the story is, showing us where to look, and taking us into the minds of the characters with just a simple change of lighting.
When you walk into the theatre, you're greeted by ticket takers, ushers, and assorted others all in Dickensian costume, all sporting English accents; a young urchin who looked to be about eight tried to sell me a raffle ticket in a voice that came right out of Oliver Twist.
The Mystery of Irma Vep has a plot, but I'm not going to bother you with it.
It's a hot-blooded, passionate account, with sex, partying, and lots of blood, and it takes a strong company to pull it off.
Buried under all the quips, banter, and snark is an interesting play, with a plot that could really be moving and funny if played right.
Twist Your Dickens is two hours of sketch comedy using Dickens's tale as a very rough basic structure but going off in dozens of different directions, from parodies of classic holiday TV specials (A Charlie Brown Christmas gets banged around) to rewrites of familiar carols.
When Crumpet (the character's 'elf name') gets annoyed with the other elves, the children, and their parents, Pierce doesn't get bitchy; he goes into full Shakespearean revenge mode, plotting his vengeance like Iago, and it's all the funnier for that.
Actors adore Shakespeare and can't wait to share that love with the rest of us, and it brings out the zest in their acting.
Thelma and Jessie have a messy relationship, and there are a lot of questions both women have for each other.
At first we think they do not know each other - they have the strained politeness of strangers who are forced into a situation together - but gradually we see connections between them, and past arguments begin to spill out.
The specificity of the Cuban immigrant experience is discarded in favor of a Survivor-style fight among the passengers to see who will control the boat's destiny.
The performances are all excellent, and they are all of a piece.
There are some dark laughs along the way, and some gross-out moments, but the action feels realistic, as if these four people were being besieged on all sides, and the stress was taking a toll on each of them in a different way.
Middletown is a frustrating play to describe because I want to tell you everything that made me love it, and yet I don't want to tell you anything about it.
There's so much plot crammed into the show, and so many songs (many of them performance pieces that have little to do with story or character), that it hurtles by too quickly for us to get to know the people we're watching.
As the mystery elements kicked in and the bodies began to pile up, I relaxed and enjoyed myself thoroughly.
the playwright has written the characters in a very even-handed way; at no time is either Mike or Margie completely right or completely wrong; we see them both as people trying to do the right thing, yet also trying to hold on to what they already have.
Lynn Nottage's play Intimate Apparel finds a way to make loneliness not only dramatic, but incredibly moving.
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Join us for the 2026–2027 Season Portland Center Stage at The Armory (9/27-6/27) |
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The Dark Stuff Twilight Theater Company (8/20-9/06) |
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You Can’t Take It With You Lakewood Theatre Company (9/11-10/18) |
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THE BURLESQUE WITCH PROJECT Project Burlesque (10/18-10/18) |
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream Oregon Shakespeare Festival (3/13-10/25) |
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Weird Al Yankovic LB Day Amphitheatre (9/07-9/07) |
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FOOLISH MORTALS: A Haunted Mansion Burlesque Cabaret The Triple Door Theatre (10/17-10/17) |
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Doja Cat at Moda Center Moda Center (10/17-10/17) |
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Jack Johnson at Hayden Homes Amphitheater Hayden Homes Amphitheater (9/27-9/27) |
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Oregon State Beavers vs. Montana Grizzlies Reser Stadium (9/19-9/19) |
