The House of Blue Leaves

Profile Theatre
May 17 - June 15, 2008

Summary:

This farce brings to life a collection of eccentric characters: a middle-aged zookeeper who aspires to be a Hollywood songwriter, his manic depressive wife, and a lover who shares his dreams of stardom. Guare posits that the family home and the mental institution are more alike than we may think.

Entusiasmo!

Do Jump!
May 17 - 31, 2008

Summary:

Entusiasmo! uses a provocative blend of sensuous aerial dance, breathtaking acrobatics, humor, and live music, along with a traditional dramatic narrative, to tell the incredible and inspiring true story of Gaviotas. The performance gradually turns a barren stage into a paradise filled with wonder and delight. In English and Spanish.

Now Hear This: F.U.B.A.R.

Portland Center Stage
May 17, 2008

Summary:

Mary lives amid the boxes her abused mother left behind. David is desperate to stay young and hip. Richard is on the road not taken and Sylvia’s along for the ride. Then Mary is the victim of an act of violence, leading them each down different paths of addiction, realization.

ScratchPDX

ScratchPDX
May 17, 2008

Summary:

A monthly open stage night which provides a venue for performance artists of all genres to explore new material and get crucial feedback. Audiences have the opportunity to see local artists working at various stages of the creative process. Dance, music, storytelling, clown, puppetry, stand-up, short plays, improvisation. Seasoned performers.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Lakewood Theatre
May 2 - June 8, 2008

Review by Followspot:

An enjoyable evening, but something is missing. Perhaps its the sense of improvisational fun that is hinted at but never quite comes to fruition - this could be so much more fun than it is. Margie Boule and Ryan Duncan are excellent and underused. Tim Smith and Jennifer Miser sing beautifully.

The Little Dog Laughed

Portland Center Stage
May 2 - June 15, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Surprisingly substantial; you laugh while being punched in the gut...if you laugh at all. Beneath masks of uber-stylishness, self-absorption four people battle, and are sacrificed by, not only the Hollywood slaughterhouse, but societal expectations and hypocrisy. At times too neat, emotionally trite, and/or rushed, but a solid, affecting play nonetheless.

Robin Hood

Blue Monkey Theater
May 9 - June 8, 2008

Summary:

Sword fights! More sword fights! Get whisked away to Sherwood Forest for this swashbuckling adventure comedy filled with youthful energy, daring-do and a hip, whimsical sensibility, as Robin (Kendall Wells) and his Merry Men join a surprisingly liberated Maid Marian (Kristen Martz) to outwit the Sheriff of Nottingham (Corey Brunish).

Last Days of Judas Iscariot

PCC Theatre
May 8 - 18, 2008

Summary:

A feisty and fetching lady lawyer turns up the heat in purgatory by forcing a retrial of Judas, the apostle whose name has become synonymous with betrayal. Can divine love and perfect justice be reconciled? Can Judas ultimately find forgiveness? Freud, Mother Theresa, and Satan will all take the stand.

Labyrinth of Desire

Miracle Theatre Group
May 9 - 31, 2008

Summary:

When Florela’s fiancé decides to leave her to compete with other suitors for the hand of the rich and beautiful Laura, Florela goes undercover to keep her man. Filled with clever deceptions and hilarious disguises, this who’s who comedy of romantic intrigue explores the delightful and essential mystery of love.

Twelfe Night (Intern Showcase)

Blue Monkey Theater
May 10 & 18, 2008

Summary:

This performance will be done using the Unrehearsed First Folio technique. This means that the actors have not rehearsed the show, other than songs and fights. They have not been allowed to read the whole script. They only have small scrolls with their cues and their own lines on them.

An Evening with Eastland Academy

Eastland Academy
May 9 - 17, 2008

Summary:

This new sketch comedy duo is proud to bring you their second show, An Evening with Eastland Academy. A show that promises music, muscles, videos and, as always, a surprise visit from a unicorn. A show that will leave you with a song from Heart and two new best friends.

9 Parts of Desire

CoHo Productions
May 9 - June 14, 2008

Summary:

I am—a painter, a widow, a spoiled child, a radical communist, a sorrowing mother, a professional mourner, a spurned wife, a pregnant doctor. I am Iraqi—and nothing like you imagine. Raffo weaves a tapestry of love, passion, and wit illustrating the complex, harrowing reality of living in Iraq.

My Name is Rachel Corrie

My Name is Rachel Corrie
(503) 265-8672
May 4 - 7, 2008

Summary:

In 2003, 24-year-old peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed in Gaza while working for the International Solidarity. My Name is Rachel Corrie uses her own words from journals and emails to explore her growing up in Olympia, Washington, to her volunteering as a witness to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

For:Give

Insight Out
May 1 - 17, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Arresting, complex, messy. Tempest as modern day metaphor for corporate greed, population dis/re-placement, manipulation, powerlust by both Prospero (Priscilla/abused) and Antonio (Tanya/abuser), mostly works; some choices questionable. Allison Tigard, mythical; soundscape haunting; Ensemble as Ariel, predatory. Use of Tempest text detracts, cross-casting intentions confusing. Ending rushed, forgiveness theme lost, unearned.

The History Boys

Artists Repertory Theatre
May 2 - June 8, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Why this play now? Clichéd prep school drama - impressionable, overly clever boys, staff rivalry, sexual repression/expression, boy-fondling, teacher as subversive leader. Script, and played up by direction, often heavy-handed, overly ironic; scenes rarely more than platform sound bites. It is the ensemble’s skill and commitment that makes it endurable.

The Wild Party

Live on Stage
May 2 - 31, 2008

Review by Followspot:

Its rare to find a musical where the leads can sing AND act, but Wild Party pulls it off. The unfortunate exception, Clarence Mickens, with his extraordinary voice, can't quite make us forget he can't act. Erin Charles (Queenie) and the best dancing chorus this year are the real stars.

Einstein is a Dummy

Oregon Children's Theatre
May 4 - 18, 2008

Summary:

A fictional day in the life of Albert Einstein as an awkward twelve year old. Einstein struggles with all the usual issues of a pre-teen: keeping up with violin lessons, impressing the girl next-door and, oh yeah, comprehending the fundamental relationship of space and time to the speed of light.

Pinnochio Exposed! The Blue Fairy Tells All!

Theatre Uber Alles
May 2 - 16, 2008

Summary:

From Carlo Collodi's 1881 dark telling on down to Disney! Theatre Uber Alles cuts and pastes, slices and splices, adds karaoke and queer gender bending to create up a new tale of a magical piece of wood learning the difference between good and bad in a world full of contradictions!

Side by Side by Sondheim

Coaster Theatre
May 2 - 25, 2008

Summary:

The sophistication, wit, insight, heart, and genius of Broadway’s most innovative and influential artist is at the center of this tribute to composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim. This dazzling array of some of Sondheim's best-known songs features numbers from landmark shows that revolutionized the musical theatre with their masterful craft and creativity.

Kiss Me Kate

Theatre in the Grove
April 18 - May 11, 2008

Summary:

1999 revision of the original 1948 hit, chock-full of action, comic twists, mistaken identity, and popular tunes. A cast of old friends and ex-lovers perform The Taming of the Shrew, while their off-stage lives get continually more complicated. Includes songs like “Another Op’nin’ Another Show,” “Brush Up Your Shakespeare.”

She Stoops to Conquer

New Group Theatre Co.
April 24 - May 17, 2008

Summary:

Oliver Goldsmith's classic performed by five actors playing 17 parts (19 if you count the horses). A wealthy young man is being pushed into marriage with a woman he's never met. Directed by J.J. Hawkins. The cast: David Gallic, Beth Thompson, Max Blonde, Brittney Hancock, and Peter Ashenberner. Shoebox Theatre.

Nobody Here But Us Chickens

Third Rail
April 25 - May 24, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Kupper’s legendary combative cockerel could rule any roost. Don’t attack palsied Cuomo and Steinkamp, a.k.a. judo-masters-in-training and sexy finger champs. And the third piece happily left me in the dark. The plays are irreverent but not cruel; with laughter comes acceptance - and vice versa - of our personal disabilities/challenges/foibles/eff-ups/humanity.

The Garden Party

defunkt theatre
April 25 - May 31, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Characters fluent in ridiculous cliché, doublespeak language of oppressors. Remove framework, add human self-reflection, yearning, and enjoy befuddlement. While cast euphemizes trippingly, few ably activate, explore text’s dynamics and story (there is one), which is why Moore’s Falk, an engaging, fully-realized man destroyed by the bureaucratic hell-machine, is doubly refreshing.

The Long Christmas Ride Home

Theatre Vertigo
April 18 - May 17, 2008

DUELING REVIEW!

Review by peanutduck

Heart, eyes, and ears enraptured, captivated for 85 minutes. Heart: vulnerability of children to parents’ weaknesses and lust, so forever wounded. Eyes: as puppets, children helpless to the hands of the (skilled) puppeteers. Ears: Vogel’s poetry, sweeping rhythms, soft irony, humor, and gentleness. Thank you Vertigo for breaking my heart.

Review by Followspot:

Magnificent puppet work. Fantastic star turn by Gary Norman in the 2nd half. Enthralling story that is, at times, derailed by Vogel's need to make everything about AIDS. Stick with the identity changes (family drama, AIDS play, afterlife fantasy) for a moving, gorgeous piece, and Vertigo's best in recent memory.

Pure as the Driven Snow, or The Working Girl's Secret

Sandy Actors Theatre
April 25 - May 24, 2008

Summary:

Pure as the Driven Snow is a parody of 1930’s style melodrama. There is the typical villain, Mortimer Frothingham, a pure sweet heroine named Purity Dean, and of course, an upright hero, Leander Longfellow. Desire leads to deceit and jealousy leads to distrust. What terrible secret does precious Purity hold?

The Spitfire Grill

Longview Stageworks
April 11 - May 4, 2008

Summary:

To a town with no future comes a girl with a past: a feisty parolee who finds a place for herself working at Hannah's Spitfire Grill. It is for sale but there are no takers for the only eatery in town, so newcomer Percy suggests that Hannah raffle it off.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Artists Repertory Theatre
April 8 - May 18, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Ignore director’s conceit: play filtered through asylum resident Blanche’s mind (i.e., past made present). Idea interests but execution, primarily with padded walls, lighting changes, ever-present doctor, misses point – memories, action, aren’t colored by this madness. Enjoy Frankle’s (Blanche) spun-glass fragility. Matarrese (Stanley) only frightens– no hints of Stella’s colored lights.

Sometimes a Great Notion

PCS
April 1 - May 11, 2008 (extended)

Review by peanutduck

Brothers’ relationship, tangled with love, resentment, admiration, affects through well-structured dialogue interwoven with asides, choral accompaniment. Scenes with disgruntled logging community - The Six (among Portland’s best) – suffer from overly expository writing, static direction. Language, movement, lighting at times beautiful. Worth the hype? Still too uneven; another draft should tell.

Flawed Genius

Barnaby King
April 17 - 25, 2008

Summary:

A heart-achingly funny story of lost love and frustrated ambition, created with Canadian clown guru Sue Morrison. Combining decayed vaudeville glamour, the pathos of a beleaguered Chaplin, unpredictable audience interaction, and dark British humor in an exploration of this life's glories and failures, every show is a unique theatrical experience.

The Ghosts of Treasure Island

Oregon Children's Theatre
April 20 - 27, 2008

Summary:

Swaggerin’ scallywags, it’s Long John Silver and the gang in a wild, eye-patched musical starring Captain Bogg & Salty! In this classic, young Jim Hawkins tracks down pirate treasure with a stolen treasure map. But along the way, he encounters menacing Long John Silver and his motley crew of pirates!

Live From Douglas

Portland Theatre Works
April 21, 2008

Summary:

Douglas is a happy, hidden town. Everyone is named Doug, likes tea, gardening, and the quiet life. The world doesn't bother them, they don't bother the world. Until a renegade Doug invites radio reporter Harriet Mirion to do a piece on Douglas. Will the feature she's planning ruin their utopia?

A Midsummer Night's Scream

New Century Players
April 18 - May 9, 2008

Summary:

In this interactive murder mystery dinner theater, the audience joins the cast party after the final performance of a "concept" version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. It isn't long before the bickering begins as the audience gets an inside look at what's REALLY going on in this haphazard theater company.

Running into Walls

Nomadic Theatre

April 11 - 27, 2008

Review by peanutduck

First half giggle-snort-guffaw inventive, replete with funniest-death-scene-ever award contender. Storytelling through physically driven vignettes is duo’s strength, particularly Foster as continually awiggle, wonder-full Gerund whose overactive imagination discovers all sorts of adventures. Second half weaker as show shifts to sustained narrative with uncertain ending. Mourn the ‘tiny teapots of sorrow.’

The Terrorists Have Miss Connecticut and Other Stories

Reader's Theatre Rep

April 11 - 12, 2008

Summary:

April is traditionally "first works" month at Readers Theatre Rep. This year the company is staging its first student-written production of one-act plays. The Terrorists Have Miss Connecticut by Kathleen Grotzinger, All in Good Luck by Erica Deffebach, and Fake by Katie George will be mounted, directed by David Berkson.

Memory House

Portland State University
April 11- 19, 2008

Summary:

One winter night a mother bakes a pie as her daughter tries to finish her college essay. As the deadline looms, unexamined issues of the daughter's adoption, her parents' divorce, and the fear of leaving home break through the surface as her mother maneuvers around her own feelings of loss.

The Secret Rapture

Portland Actors Conservatory

April 9 - 27, 2008

Summary:

David Hare explores the moment of rapture and pushes the boundary of spiritual inquiry as a young woman grapples with issues surrounding death, family, and values. The playwright says, "I've noticed that goodness...makes those with bad consciences feel judged even when they are not being judged at all."

The Show

Sand and Glass Productions
April 12, 2008

Summary:

1Night6NewPlays10Bucks. dietz, holman, deegan, granberry, madden, goode – ByWayOf nathan carlson gary powell cecily overman brian allard tamara carroll devon granmo aubrey jessen jr wickman ben plont lindsay matteson amaya villazan todd bayles dan vhay t austin sabel mario calcagno kristen martha brown ciji guerin matthew deegan mike murphy joe healy

dark matter

Portland Story Theater
April 11 - 19, 2008

Summary:

What is dark matter? Is it the force that holds the universe together? Or is it the great, mysterious unknown of our collective consciousness? Take a ride on the dark side, as Lynne Duddy uses science as a metaphor for the human heart, and explores the answers within us all.

Stellaluna

Tears of Joy
April 4 - April 20, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Separate elements enjoyable but not as sum of parts: puppets’ characterization adorable but manipulation a touch clumsy; soaring kites lovely but ill-fitting with set; bug obsession funny as one-liner but overly central to script. Exception - gamelan music kooky, delicate, perfect evocation of night. However, play’s target audience - kids - delighted throughout.

Les Miserables

Staged!
March 28 - April 6, 2008

Review by Followspot

Its no exaggeration - this show is magnificent. Not magnificent "for a bunch of kids," just plain magnificent. Spare technical elements allow for focus on tremendous singing and acting talents. If you're not moved, you're not alive. Top five production in Portland so far this year. Oh - not related to cast.

Oya: Call the Storm

Miracle Theatre
April 4 - April 26, 2008

Review by peanutduck

Objects transcend tangibility. Mortality: a thick snaking rope; water that purifies only through death. Loneliness: a simple wooden frame. Intensity: red heels, a small purse. Take heed: Oya’s storm, evoked in rhythm of music, gymnastics, and dance, Orishas’ fantastically phantasmal costumes, deceptively spare set, is without mercy on the passionate.

columbinus

Blue Monkey Theater
April 4 - April 12, 2008

Review by Mint Tumbles

Overlong first act by turns insightful, funny, cliched - examines high school through use of eight stereotypes. All eight teens feel rage, isolation, but only two come back from intermission as Klebold and Harris. Brutal second act flays you with actual transcripts. Strong ensemble work on demanding script. Stay for talkback.

P.I.M.P.

Curious Productions
March 28 - April 25, 2008

Summary:

With a projectionist inside the movie theater and three casts, three crews and three fast runners at nearby locations, the Portland Instant Movie (formerly Neutrino) Project performs, shoots, edits, scores and projects a completely improvised movie in the time it takes for the audience to watch it. Spontaneous, beautiful, hilarious.

Too Much Coffee Man The Opera: The Refill

Dark Horse
April 4 - April 20, 2008

Summary:

Just last year Portland cartoonist Shannon Wheeler brought his character, Too Much Coffee Man, to the stage as the world’s first comic book based opera. The extended show sold out. Not only have Wheeler and his crew brought the show back for an encore but they have written a sequel.

The Marriage of Bette and Boo

Reed College
April 4 - April 12, 2008

Summary:

The Reed College Department of Theatre presents: The Marriage of Bette and Boo by Christopher Durang. Directed by Craig Clinton. April 4, 5, 10, 11 & 12. Mainstage Theatre. Information and Tickets at http://academic.reed.edu/theatre/productions/schedule.html Faculty Shows $5.00 General Admission. $3.00 Seniors and non Reed Student. $1.00 Reed Students, Faculty, Staff.

Timon of Athens / Comedy of Errors

Northwest Classical Theater Co.
April 4 - April 20, 2008

Summary:


The plays have each been edited down to about 75 minutes apiece and will be played in tandem. Each night the audience will determine the order of plays and the company will perform one, break for intermission, then come back and perform the other. The same acting company performs both.