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Lauren Weedman has made a small industry out of gently mocking cities she barely knows, sponsored by residents of the cities themselves. Since the debut of The People's Republic of Portland—a one-woman play commissioned by Portland Center Stage in 2013 to spoof the city and its patriots—the former Daily Show correspondent has been asked to perform similar shows in Boise, Albuquerque and Philadelphia. Rather than a comprehensive overview, Weedman showcases the city through the increasingly more clichéd lens of a visitor looking in.
Portlanders are of course notorious for their undying civic allegiance. Like tweens squabbling over a best friend, everyone wants to prove they've been here the longest and know the most. And so The People's Republic of Portland, directed by PCS's Rose Riordan, is back for a second run.
To the outside world, Portland is a kombucha-obsessed, gluten-fearing, bearded-cyclist, strip-club Shangri-la. Weedman acknowledges these kitschy stereotypes right off the bat and vows to delve deeper. She doesn't really deliver on that promise, but her observations—along with song, dance and video interludes—do keep the audience laughing. Incorporating stories of her recent divorce and likening her experience in Los Angeles to an affair with an abusive boyfriend, Weedman presents an affable and relatable character.
As a native, it would be easy to call Weedman's analysis shallow and trite. But it is nonetheless a skillful travelogue. Stories range from a night at the Kennedy School to encounters with ecstatic dancers, a blind strip-club patron, and an airplane companion who insists on driving Weedman to her LEED-certified hotel. One morning she takes her son to a Southern Baptist church on North Vancouver Avenue for a morning of worship and realizes she has "found the people who don't like Portland," a rare moment of serious critique.
While her surface-level anecdotes are just that, the show is entertaining. Locals will critique Weedman's portrayal, but since natives are now outnumbered by transplants, most viewers will hardly know what's missing.
SEE IT: The People's Republic of Portland is at the Ellyn Bye Studio at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave. 7:30 pm Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Saturdays-Sundays through April 19. $40-$55.
WWeek 2015