Performance In 1969, gender was a fixed concept. The world didn’t know Boy George, David Bowie or Annie Lennox. There were no how-to websites for pursuing ambiguous gender expression. Jeffrey Eugenides hadn More
Degender Bender
44 years after publication, Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness still feels radical—and now it has become a play.
Performance In 1969, gender was a fixed concept. The world didn’t know Boy George, David Bowie or Annie Lennox. There were no how-to websites for pursuing ambiguous gender expression. Jeffrey Eugenides hadn More
Clybourne Park (Portland Center Stage)
Or does it fester like a sore?
Performance Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park—the first work to win the triple crown of the Pulitzer, Tony and Britain’s Olivier—is one of the most produced plays among regional companies. I haven’t se More
The Aliens (Third Rail Repertory)
They’re only human.
Performance Since her first play stunned New York audiences four years ago, Annie Baker, 31, has gone from obscurity to acclaim. In that time, critics have scraped away at her plays, trying to unearth what ma More
The Possessions of La Boîte (The Reformers)
My baby, she wrote me a letter.
Performance In the program notes for The Possessions of La Boîte, director Charmian Creagle says the show “is an homage to an art form—the letter—and the power it possesses.” It’s an assertion that More
Arabian Nights (Post Five Theatre)
A whole new world, replete with fart jokes.
Performance Before Arabian Nights begins, Post Five’s performers move about the theater. Clad in harem pants and embroidered vests, they squeeze into black vinyl pews, wrapping an arm around an audience m More
St. Nicholas (Corrib Theatre)
That’s some bloody good craic.
Performance Deep into Conor McPherson’s St. Nicholas, our devilish, graying narrator is engulfed by the irresistible spell of otherworldly figures, swept into their London mansion of dark wood paneling an More
The City of Tomorrow
A wind quintet, scattered to the four winds.
Performance French-horn player Leander Star and his partner, flutist Elise Blatchford, had already rented a truck to move from Chicago back to his hometown of Portland when they got the news. Their year-old More
The Race is Off
Two theater productions throw race relations into stark relief.
Performance From Othello to A Raisin in the Sun, the immediacy of theater has cast a light on race relations. It’s arresting to witness such dynamics live. Last weekend, two plays opened that, on the surf More
Three Days of Rain (Defunkt Theatre)
Their father’s hell did slowly go by.
Performance The architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was famous for the aphorism “Less is more.” Though his design was guided by an abstract philosophy, his steel-and-glass buildings were outwardly simple a More
Joke in a Box: Gabe Dinger
Performance Please describe my mama: “Your mama is so stupid she told you that you could be whatever you wanted to be when you grew up. So, you never put any real effort into high school. Not putting any t More
Top Articles from Performance
Body Awareness (Coho Productions)
Our bodies, our very complicated selves. The Scene (Portland Playhouse)
How to succeed in show business without really trying. One Night With Janis Joplin (PCS)
Miles and miles and miles of heart. 99 Ways To Fuck A Swan (Theatre Vertigo)
Ever wondered what Leda saw in that bird? Bust (Portland Center Stage)
Lauren Weedman gets the jailhouse blues. Futura (Portland Center Stage)
Beware Jeff Bezos! Trek in the Park (Atomic Arts)
Summer Spock theater. Hairspray (Broadway Rose)
A big, campy dance party—in Tigard. The Wonderful World Of Dissocia (Third Rail)
Maureen Porter in the realms of the unreal. The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Artists Rep)
Come for the laughs, stay for the body-chopping.
Our bodies, our very complicated selves. The Scene (Portland Playhouse)
How to succeed in show business without really trying. One Night With Janis Joplin (PCS)
Miles and miles and miles of heart. 99 Ways To Fuck A Swan (Theatre Vertigo)
Ever wondered what Leda saw in that bird? Bust (Portland Center Stage)
Lauren Weedman gets the jailhouse blues. Futura (Portland Center Stage)
Beware Jeff Bezos! Trek in the Park (Atomic Arts)
Summer Spock theater. Hairspray (Broadway Rose)
A big, campy dance party—in Tigard. The Wonderful World Of Dissocia (Third Rail)
Maureen Porter in the realms of the unreal. The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Artists Rep)
Come for the laughs, stay for the body-chopping.
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