BROKEN BONE BATHTUB is based on Siobhan O'Loughlin's experience of breaking her hand in a bike accident. Whatever you may be feeling about the state of the world, or even your day, this award-winning solo piece will give you hope and you'll walk out a happier and more compassionate person than you w... (more...)
Packed with great music and featuring an incredible performance by Deidrie Henry as Billie Holiday, LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL is an absolute must-see.... (more...)
Fuse Theatre Ensemble's CABARET, directed by Rusty Tennant, adds a few layers of pain and desperation. The result is a CABARET that makes a lot of sense, especially given the disturbing parallels between the play's setting and America today. It was fantastic.... (more...)
JOHN HUGHES HIGH: THE 1980's TEEN MUSICAL, now getting its world premiere, is a most excellent tribute to the best decade ever, featuring a cast of incredibly talented young performers from Staged!... (more...)
SALT is a collection of installations (including performance pieces) about civil disobedience inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March speech. It's one of those unique events that makes the Portland theatre scene so dynamic.... (more...)
MAJOR BARBARA tackles the age-old question of how best to help someone: Do you give them a fish or a job fishing? It's an interesting play to be putting on right now, but I think the material -- and the audience -- would have benefitted from a slightly less dusty, even if that meant less opulent, pr... (more...)
One summer day in 1974 in a pub in Belfast, Ian and Jimmy's lives changed forever. Now, at age 52, the men arrange to meet in the same pub where a horrific event occurred. After 36 years, can they see each other as anything but enemies? Is any amount of forgiveness possible? These are the questions ... (more...)
ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE is more than a vehicle for Cline's classic music. It's a funny, touching account of the night a superfan's dream came true and a reminder of the magic that can happen when we get up the courage to reach out to another human being.... (more...)
LA BELLE: LOST IN THE WORLD OF THE AUTOMATON can hardly be called a play. It is a play, but also so much more - it's also a musical, a puppet show, a clown act, a dance performance, a visual art installation, and an automated wonder.... (more...)
THE THANKSGIVING PLAY, which is having its world premiere at Artists Rep, soundly skewers a group of white well-meaning liberals for being so focused on not giving offense that they can't do anything meaningful at all. It's funny, biting, and often much closer to the truth than it's comfortable to a... (more...)
THE MERMAID HOUR is part of a National New Play Network rolling world premiere. The first production opened a few weeks ago in Tucson, AZ, and Milagro's production will be followed by one in Charlotte, NC, and a musical version in Minneapolis, MN.... (more...)
Andrew Hinderaker's THE MAGIC PLAY, now running at Portland Center Stage, combines some truly impressive sleight of hand with achingly raw emotion into a show that is the antidote to cynicism and could touch even the most jaded of hearts.... (more...)
BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY is a fascinating look at the complexity of being human and the even greater complexity of forming relationships with other complex humans.... (more...)
There were zero dry eyes and two standing ovations (one during the show) at opening night of SCARLET, Michelle Horgen's excellent new musical adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel The Scarlet Letter.... (more...)
Shaking the Tree's MACBETH is full of terrifying demons and shadows. Director Samantha Van Der Merwe uses cross-gender casting to explore the theme of what it means to be a man.... (more...)
ASTUCIAS POR HEREDAR UN SOBRINA A UN TIO was written in 1789 by Fermin de Reygadas, who was born in Spain and emigrated to Mexico. The play was banned in Mexico for its social commentary, namely it's satirization of the upper class. Milagro's production is the first in almost 230 years.... (more...)
What would you do if you discovered you were ninth in line to be the Earl of Highhurst? Do the other eight in as quickly as possible, of course! That's Monty Navarro's plan in Robert Freedman and Steven Lutvak's A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER, the madcap Tony Award-winning musical now runnin... (more...)
KODACHROME is a guided tour of Colchester through the eyes, or rather, the lens, of the Photographer, who uses her camera and her stories to capture moments in the lives of the town's denizens.... (more...)
ASTORIA, adapted from Peter Stark's book of the same name, is a broad, very dense history of the expeditions, funded by John Jacob Astor, that led to the founding of Astoria and the expansion of the United States to the west coast.... (more...)
BWW Review: BROKEN BONE BATHTUB: A Quirky, Intimate Play That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity
BWW Review: Portland Center Stage Season Ends on a Very High Note with LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL
BWW Review: Artists Rep's I AND YOU is a Lesson in Poetry and Love
BWW Review: LEFT HOOK Looks at the Human Impact of Portland's Decades of Urban Renewal, at The Vanport Mosaic
BWW Review: Fuse Theatre Ensemble Takes CABARET to a Whole New Level of Dark, Right Where It Belongs
BWW Review: Portland Playhouse Combines Award-Winning Director, Stellar Cast for Outstanding FENCES
BWW Review: JOHN HUGHES HIGH: THE 1980's TEEN MUSICAL Makes Its Totally Rad Debut, Packed with Awesome Young Talent
BWW Review: Art Examines Power and Privilege in Shaking the Tree's SALT, a Multimedia Act of Resistance
BWW Review: Portland Center Stage's MAJOR BARBARA is Pretty, but Dusty
BWW Review: In Revisiting the Troubles of Ireland's Past, Corrib Theatre's QUIETLY Provides a Warning for Our Future
BWW Review: You'll Fall to Pieces for ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE, at Broadway Rose
BWW Review: Personal, Political, Powerful: DeLanna Studi's AND SO WE WALKED, at Portland Center Stage
BWW Review: Imago Theatre's LA BELLE: LOST IN THE WORLD OF THE AUTOMATON Overflows with Creativity
BWW Review: Good Intentions Lead You Know Where in Scathing Comedy THE THANKSGIVING PLAY, at Artists Rep
BWW Review: Courtney Freed Channels Freddie Mercury in Dazzling DON'T STOP ME NOW
BWW Review: THE MERMAID HOUR Explores the Complexities of Parenting a Transgender Child, at Milagro Theatre
BWW Review: Give in to Wonder at THE MAGIC PLAY, at Portland Center Stage
BWW Review: BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY Exposes the Complexities of Being Human, at Artists Rep
BWW Review: SCARLET Puts a Modern Bent on a Tragically Timeless Story, at Portland Playhouse
BWW Review: Shaking the Tree's MACBETH, Full of Sound and Fury, Signifies Plenty
BWW Review: Milagro Theatre Unearths a Piece of Theatrical History in ASTUCIAS POR HEREDAR UN SOBRINA A UN TIO
BWW Review: A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER is Bloody Good Fun
BWW Review: KODACHROME: A Photographic Journey of Being Human, at Portland Center Stage
BWW Review: triangle productions! Delves into LGBTQ History in THE MADNESS OF LADY BRIGHT and TRANS-FORMATION
BWW Review: The Conclusion of Chris Coleman's Epic ASTORIA