Portland Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 14

BWW Review: Portland Center Stage's EVERY BRILLIANT THING is a Brilliant Thing
by Krista Garver - October 15, 2017

EVERY BRILLIANT THING is a funny, poignant play about depression and suicide. But it's also a reminder that the world around us is filled with a lot of really great things, and we'll all be better off if we take the time to notice them....

BWW Review: FUN HOME: A Rich Blend of Laughter and Tears, at Portland Center Stage
by Krista Garver - October 14, 2017

FUN HOME will make you laugh and it will make you cry, and you'll love every minute of it. Go see it. Also, dads, call your daughters....

BWW Review: Sowelu Theatre's THE CRACKWALKER Will Haunt You Long After the Lights Go Up
by Krista Garver - September 19, 2017

THE CRACKWALKER is bleak and it's hard to watch (at times, excruciating). But it's the kind of show that does exactly what theatre is supposed to do....

BWW Review: An Adventure Through Time and Technology in THE (CURIOUS CASE OF THE) WATSON INTELLIGENCE, at CoHo Theatre
by Krista Garver - September 16, 2017

Madeleine George's Pulitzer Prize-nominated THE (CURIOUS CASE OF THE) WATSON INTELLIGENCE takes the audience on a journey through time (and several Watsons, from Alexander Graham Bell's assistant to Sherlock Holmes's sidekick to IBM's Jeopardy!-winning supercomputer) that explores the nature of our ...

BWW Review: Brutally Funny, AN OCTOROON Reflects and Shatters Our Ideas About Race, at Artists Rep
by Krista Garver - September 14, 2017

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' AN OCTOROON is a play about the racist history of the United States and the continuing racial struggle we find ourselves in today. And it's funny....

BWW Review: Becca Blackwell's THEY, THEMSELF and SCHMERM is a Perfect Blend of Humor and Compassion, at Artists Rep
by Krista Garver - September 11, 2017

If there's a play that can help us see past our differences, it's THEY, THEMSELF AND SCHMERM, now playing as the first show of Artists Repertory Theatre's 2017/2018 Frontier Series and also part of PICA's Time-Based Art Festival. Blackwell's one-person show is bust-a-gut funny, make-you-cry moving, ...

BWW Review: Demon Sock Puppet Terrorizes Teenager in Funny, Moving HAND TO GOD at triangle productions!
by Krista Garver - September 09, 2017

HAND TO GOD wasn't as funny I expected it to be. It was more disturbing, highlighting the immense dangers of not dealing with negative emotions....

BWW Review: Boost Your Broadway Street Cred with THE FANTASTICKS at Metropolitan Community Theatre Project
by Krista Garver - August 17, 2017

The Metropolitan Community Theatre Project's THE FANTASTICKS features a strong cast and a whole lotta love....

BWW Review: GYPSY Will Entertain You and Make You Smile, at Broadway Rose
by Krista Garver - August 11, 2017

GYPSY is often referred to as the 'greatest American musical.' The current production at Broadway Rose has almost all of the right ingredients....

BWW Review: Bag&Baggage's ROMEO & JULIET (LAYLA & MAJNUN) Puts a Classic in New Perspective
by Krista Garver - August 01, 2017

Bag&Baggage's world premiere production of ROMEO & JULIET (LAYLA & MAJNUN) is a mashup of Shakespeare's classic and a Persian tale of doomed young lovers, written centuries earlier by Nizami Ganjavi (and which may very well have served as Shakespeare's inspiration)....

BWW Review: RED BASTARD: LIE WITH ME Exposes the Lovers and Liars in Us All
by Krista Garver - July 10, 2017

RED BASTARD: LIE WITH ME seeks to understand the complicated rules (and double standards) we have about love and fidelity....

BWW Review: Creepy, Kooky, Spooky, Ooky, and So Much Fun! THE ADDAMS FAMILY at Broadway Rose
by Krista Garver - July 04, 2017

THE ADDAMS FAMILY brings together all of your favorite kooky characters for a fun, heartfelt show with plenty of theatre magic....

BWW Review: Three Influential Women Invite the VP to Dinner in COME TO THE TABLE, MIKE PENCE, at CoHo's Summerfest
by Krista Garver - July 01, 2017

In COME TO THE TABLE, MIKE PENCE, Eve, Salome, and Queen Elizabeth I try to convince our VP to sit down for a meal....

BWW Review: Kelly Kinsella Serves Up Life Lessons (and Cake!) in HOW TO DO A ONE PERSON SHOW, at CoHo Summerfest
by Krista Garver - June 23, 2017

Kelly Kinsella's HOW TO DO A ONE PERSON SHOW is part lesson/part act of creation, where you learn the fundamentals of creating a one person show....

BWW Review: Two Lonely People Briefly Find Connection in GOOD WITH PEOPLE, Presented by Our Shoes Are Red / The Performance Lab
by Krista Garver - June 10, 2017

In David Harrower's two-person drama GOOD WITH PEOPLE, two lonely people, stuck for different reasons in an otherwise empty hotel, manage to bridge many divides and find comfort in one another, at least for a short while....

BWW Review: SORDID LIVES Mixes Camp with a Good Dose of Heart, at the OUTwright Theatre Festival
by Krista Garver - June 06, 2017

SORDID LIVES is a campy, over-the-top play about sex and acceptance in a Southern town. This production provides plenty of laughs and also highlights the very real struggle many people face just being themselves....

BWW Review: In THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE, a Linguist Can't Find the Right Words for Love, at Portland Playhouse
by Krista Garver - May 26, 2017

THE LANGUAGE ARCHIVE, the last show in Portland Playhouse's season, explores all of the ways language (spoken, written, nonverbal, even the language of food) both serves and fails us when it comes to human relationships....

BWW Review: THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Provides a Good Dose of Welcome Frivolity, at Artists Rep
by Krista Garver - May 24, 2017

With its all-female cast and spectacular hats, Artists Reps production of THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is just a heck of a lot of fun....

BWW Review: CONSTELLATIONS: Love in Every Universe, at Portland Center Stage
by Krista Garver - May 23, 2017

Nick Payne's CONSTELLATIONS is a smart, occasionally funny, and ultimately devastating play about love in the multiverse....

BWW Review: Provocative and Polarized, MISS JULIE is Our Society in Microcosm, at Shaking the Tree
by Krista Garver - May 10, 2017

Shaking the Tree's production of MISS JULIE delves into the human psyche to explore why our society is so polarized right now....

BWW Review: Disappointed Expectations Drive Marital Disaster in THE TALENTED ONES at Artists Rep
by Krista Garver - May 08, 2017

THE TALENTED ONES explores the struggles immigrants face in their quest for some version of the American Dream....

BWW Review: MARY'S WEDDING Fails to Strike an Emotional Chord, at Portland Center Stage
by Krista Garver - April 28, 2017

Stephen Massicotte's MARY'S WEDDING, now playing at Portland Center Stage, never quite becomes the engrossing tragic historical romance it aspires to....

BWW Review: Artists Rep's Frontier Series Ends with Gripping Contemplation of RODNEY KING
by Krista Garver - April 25, 2017

RODNEY KING is a powerful, highly relevant, piece of theatre/poetry written and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith....

BWW Review: A Poignant Search for Family in Andrea Stolowitz's Uber-Meta BERLIN DIARY at Hand2Mouth
by Krista Garver - April 19, 2017

BERLIN DIARY, currently being presented by Hand2Mouth in association with CoHo Productions, is a thoughtful and engrossing meditation on family....

BWW Review: LAUREN WEEDMAN DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE Brings Laughter, Tears, and an Identity Crisis to Portland Center Stage
by Krista Garver - March 31, 2017

In her new one-woman show, LAUREN WEEDMAN DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, Lauren wrestles with her own demons of infidelity leading to divorce through the perspective of her alter ego Tami Lisa....