Portland Mercury: Theater

Portland Playhouse Goes Balls Out

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Portland Playhouse takes a risk with Bingo with the Indians. by Alison Hallett BACK IN JUNE, Portland Playhouse hosted a staged, one-night-only reading of Adam Rapp's Bingo with the Indians. The occasion? Adam's brother, Anthony, was in town, playing the lead in the Broadway touring production of Rent—a role he originated—and he agreed to participate in the reading of his brother's script. Anthony, improbably, achieved pinup status for his role in Rent; Adam is a Pulitzer-nominated playwright whose plays have been produced all over the country; the reading sold out. Fast forward a…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Family Feud

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Hand2Mouth gets personal with Everyone Who Looks Like You. by Alison Hallett WE DON'T ALWAYS feel about our family the way we think we should feel about our family—that idea comes through loud and clear in the opening scenes of Hand2Mouth Theatre's new Everyone Who Looks Like You. The young company has steeled themselves to tell the unvarnished truth, and in the show's best moments, they do. "I don't think I can take care of you when I'm old," one actor confesses. "Sometimes I describe you as 'simple,'" says another. Everyone is…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Hot Little Hands' Thoughtful Dance

news@portlandmercury.com (Ali Reingold) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Ill-starred is a beautiful, evocative, and disturbing work from Hot Little Hands. by Ali Reingold STRIKING, HAUNTING, BEAUTIFUL—this is local dance company Hot Little Hands' latest show, ill-starred. The hour-long show currently running at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (under the direction of Suniti Dernovsek and David Stein) explores themes of authority, trust, and violence—and explores them well enough that the show will prove entertaining even to one unfamiliar with the world of contemporary dance. Six women, all more than capable dancers, move through the sparse set, creating and destroying relationships with one another. The…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Trek in the Dark

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Atomic Arts plays it straight with a by-the-book Nosferatu. by Alison Hallett ATOMIC ARTS launched themselves onto the radar of Portland's nerd cognoscenti (we are legion) with last summer's Trek in the Park, an unexpectedly fresh, funny live adaptation of the Star Trek episode "Amok Time." For their sophomore production, an adaptation of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu, the ensemble offers a straightforward treatment of their material, avoiding horror-movie kitsch and opting instead for a restrained take on the film's bloodsucking subject. The result is considerably more somber than the lighthearted Trek:…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Fucking Weird

news@portlandmercury.com (Andrew R Tonry) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Brent Weinbach's palpably strange standup comedy. by Andrew R Tonry His set begins with choppy non sequiturs. He is slight. His demeanor is deadpan and detached à la Steven Wright; he seems content not to relate with the audience or even to appear the least bit comfortable. Sometimes, more like Zach Galifianakis, he forces awkwardness upon the audience deliberately. He is almost wholly without affectation. And fucking weird. But Brent Weinbach's slot at last year's Bridgetown Comedy Fest was gaining momentum. The San Francisco-based comedian must've sensed it: The crowd…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Singing Songs of the Dead

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 -0800

Don't miss the minor annual triumph that is the Miracle Theatre's Day of the Dead production. by Alison Hallett THE MIRACLE THEATRE'S Day of the Dead show is a Halloween-weekend tradition, an annual, bilingual celebration of life, death, and Portland's Hispanic culture. This year's original play examines the immigrant experience during the Great Depression, at a time when men traversed the country in search of work, federal dollars were building Timberline Lodge, and Hollywood offered the illusive promise of a better life. The show focuses on a Mexican couple who moved to Oregon from their California home after that…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Love in the Time of Cowboys

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Sam Shepard takes a grim look at love in the American West in Fool for Love. by Alison Hallett THE COWBOY ICONOCLASM that characterizes Sam Shepard's plays is a little dusty these days, to be sure—but the raw, knock-down passions he chronicles have managed to stay relevant even in an era of online dating, enlightened males, and enforceable restraining orders. Fool for Love unfolds in a dingy motel room on the edge of a desert in the American West, a landscape of limitless possibilities whose characters are nonetheless trapped... by their own feelings. May (Val Landrum) and Eddie (Chris…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Zombies, Zombies, and More Zombies

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

The Halloweeniest plays in Portland. by Alison Hallett FOR MOST PEOPLE, Halloween is enough to satiate any urge to dress in ridiculous clothing and pretend to be someone else. For Portland's theater professionals, it's an itch that burns all year long—but it's scratched with particular vigor during Halloween shows, when the powdered wigs are put away and the zombie face paint comes out. Nosferatu Atomic Arts erupted onto the local theater scene in July with the unexpectedly charming Trek in the Park, a faithful reenactment of a vintage…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Tilting at Existentialism

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Imago brings their tilting No Exit back to Portland, now with a local cast. by Alison Hallett IMAGO THEATRE is a curious mix of conventional and experimental, making their money touring with productions like the kid-friendly Frogz and Biglittlethings, returning to Portland to try out short-run shows like the recent APIS, or the Taste of Honey, a wordless, out-there piece about bees. No Exit is one of the cash cows, a well-received show that's run across the country. It's played Portland several times over the years, but the current iteration is unique in that it stars three…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Brotherly Love

news@portlandmercury.com (Ali "the Intern" Reingold) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

The Re-Theatre Instrument's Teeth of the Sons offers a compelling look at brotherly love. by Ali "the Intern" Reingold ALTHOUGH THE PERFORMANCE SPACE is decidedly small (not much bigger than a living room, and that includes the 30 or so seats for audience members), the Re-Theatre Instrument's current production Teeth of the Sons offers a dramatic experience that is anything but. Focusing on two brothers reconnecting after a long absence, the play delves into issues of faith, morality, and family, and thoroughly engages the audience all the while. The show's playwright, Joseph Sousa, also stars as Jacob Giorgio, a…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Step Right Up

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

The big top goes girls only with Circus Artemis. by Alison Hallett Outside the A-WOL warehouse at NE 9th and Flanders, Franz trucks idle and rumble, waiting to load up bread from the nearby factory. The sound of the trucks and the night's chilly temperature only add to the dissolute bohemian scrappiness of the scene inside the warehouse, where 20-odd members of Circus Artemis have gathered to prepare for their upcoming show. A girl on stilts teeters across the concrete floor, clutching an accordion; a woman walks a wooden snail toy back…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Dear Diary

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Portland Playhouse presents Fiction's heavy-handed exploration of "truth." Dear Diary by Alison Hallett It would be nice to see Portland Playhouse take on a script that has no deep philosophical meaning whatsoever. The young company just kicked off their second season with Steven Dietz's Fiction—and while it may be true that I just don't particularly like the man's writing, it's equally true that with Fiction, Portland Playhouse continues the trend established in their first season of earnestly producing Theater That Means Something. There's obviously nothing wrong with a show having serious themes—the problems…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Resembling Ben

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

A monologist channels a founding father in Ben Franklin: Unplugged. by Alison Hallett ONE GATHERS from Josh Kornbluth's new monologue, Ben Franklin: Unplugged, that in life as in monologue, all you need is a hook. Kornbluth's hook arrived during a period of great lassitude for the performer, Kornbluth having, as he puts it, "lost the vector" of his life. One morning, he looked in the mirror to realize he'd come to resemble none other than founding father Benjamin Franklin. Here in his account, Kornbluth pauses, and poses—yes, there's a resemblance, not least in…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

A Waning Metaphor

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Becky's New Car offers a very specific vision of freedom. by Alison Hallett ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATRE'S PRODUCTION of Becky's New Car presents a dilemma, from this reviewer's perspective. Namely, there's simply no way that I, as a 26-year-old woman, could ever fully enjoy it. Nothing against the possibility of art to expand horizons, to bring to life new and strange ways of being, but Becky's New Car isn't offering transcendence—it's offering diversion, and of a very specific sort. The show is about the love affairs of middle age, associating the illicit thrill of…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

A Disappointing Ditty

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Portland Center Stage gives a stunning production to Ragtime�s mediocre book. by Alison Hallett I'm just going to say this: Ragtime is kind of a silly play. The musical, based on the 1975 novel by E.L. Doctorow, aims to illustrate the interconnected plights of women, workers, African Americans, and immigrants in New York City at the turn of the century. There's a Jewish widower struggling to care for his sickly young daughter; a white woman forced to make her own decisions when her husband goes out of town; and a black ragtime musician who…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Bombs Away

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Arthur Miller's dour All My Sons opens the season at Artists Rep. by Alison Hallett THERE'S A BACK-TO-SCHOOL quality about the beginning of the theater season, an anticipation you can coast on for a while—the grievances of the previous season have faded over the summer, and it really is good to see everyone again. But by the second week of school, you've got your locker combo memorized, and you've realized you don't seem to have gotten any cooler over the summer. That sinking, settling feeling is a close approximation what it's like to watch Artist…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Back to the Grind

news@portlandmercury.com (Andrew R Tonry) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

After vacationing as Dr. Tobias Fünke, David Cross returns to stand-up. by Andrew R Tonry The last few years have been a vacation of sorts for David Cross. That might sound strange, as the 45-year-old comedian has appeared in myriad movies and television shows (including America's greatest sitcom Arrested Development). But compared to writing and performing live comedy, Cross says, acting is a breeze. "That's part of what I like about film and TV," Cross explains. "I don't have to write, I just memorize the dialogue, do it convincingly, do it the way the director…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Virgin-Based Art

news@portlandmercury.com (Will Gardner) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

A new production of Ursula deals in virgins and saints. by Will Gardner So, it's September in Stumptown and most of the populace have huge boners for TBA. Indeed, it's wonderful for Portlanders to witness a Williamsburg waif playing a theremin with her clitoris—wearing a simply adorable Cynthia Rowley skirt, natch. Many of us can't spare $20 to experience such exotica, however. So, how about a local production of a play set in the 10th century and based on several days in the life of a British saint? Same difference, no? Ursula, the latest…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Bombs Away

news@portlandmercury.com (Marjorie Skinner) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Back Fence PDX spawns the straightforward "Entertainment for People." by Marjorie Skinner Back in April, Melissa Lion and Frayn Masters laid out to the Mercury what they vowed to do. The two founders of Back Fence PDX, Portland's answer to storytelling nights like New York City's The Moth and San Francisco's Porchlight, promised to keep it unique, aim for a broad audience, and to never stop changing. So, after a summer-long hiatus, Back Fence is back with something different, simply and aptly titled Entertainment for People, a new series kicking off this…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

It's So Kafka-esque!

news@portlandmercury.com (Alison Hallett) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

A Country Doctor is enjoyable, weird, and oh-so Kafka-esque. by Alison Hallett Just look at it: defunkt theatre. The misspelled word and obstinate lowercasing. The insistence on the British spelling, with its nitpicky "re" ending. It's all just a little bit aggravating, isn't it? As though defunkt is looking down over black-rimmed glasses to inform you that no, it does not, in fact, care to play by your silly little rules, and that your attachment to constructs like "spelling" and "grammar" places you squarely inside the box from which this company has…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

The Comedian's Comedian

news@portlandmercury.com (Andrew R Tonry) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Comedian Todd Glass talks craft and the Portland comedy scene. by Andrew R Tonry Todd Glass has spent a lifetime in comedy. In 25 years he's never been away from the stage for more than a month. Glass is revered as a "comedian's comic" for his respect and passion for the art. He's worked with just about every comic you've ever heard of, including David Cross, Dennis Miller, Sarah Silverman, and Adam Sandler, and has appeared on everything from Married with Children to his own Comedy Central special. As Jack Black put it, "I…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Fiddler Came First

news@portlandmercury.com (Stephen Marc Beaudoin) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Why we should care about Fiddler on the Roof. by Stephen Marc Beaudoin I come not to denigrate Fiddler on the Roof, but rather, to celebrate it. As Portland's fall performance season zooms into focus, some of our most bracing artists and arts groups are warming up. Hand2Mouth Theatre is touring solo artist Faith Helma's gorgeous Undine to New York City, PICA's TBA Festival opens September 3 with a slate of theatrical hell-raisers, and Portland Center Stage gives the Portland debut of Ragtime. But before we get to all that amazing, radical work…]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]