Opening This Week

Goblin Market
STARK RAVING THEATER, AT THEATER! THEATRE!, 3430 SE Belmont St, 232-7072. Opens Dec 8th, Thurs-Sat 7:30pm, Sun 4pm, Call for Prices

One Week Only

The Difficult Season
Staged reading of Susan Mach's play about a divorcee's rough Christmas. ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATER, 1516 SW Alder St, 241-1278, Mon 7 pm, $5

Current Runs

A Gay Christmas Carol
The Triangle Theatre's take on Dickens' X-mas ghost story. TRIANGLE PRODUCTIONS! AT THEATER! THEATRE!, 3430 SE Belmont St, 239-5919, Thur-Sat, 7:30 pm, through Dec 23, Call for prices

Ain't Misbehavin'
The musical about the life and songs of jazz musician Fats Waller. ARTISTS REPERTORY THEATER, 1516 SW Alder St, 241-1278, Sun 7 pm, Tues-Thurs 7 pm, through Dec 17, $13.50

Annie
Yet another production of the popular musical. LAKEWOOD THEATRE COMPANY AT LAKEWOOD THEATER FOR THE ARTS, 368 S State St., 635-3901, Thur-Sat 8 pm Sun 7 pm, through Dec 17, $18-20

Blue Night in the Heart of the West
A mess of a play, vaguely about moral corruption in America as it chronicles a Scottish lad getting mixed up with an incestuous Iowa farm family, extremely well acted by its cast. SOWELU THEATER AT THE BACK DOOR THEATER, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 230-2090, Thur-Sat, 8 pm, Sun 4 pm, ends Dec 16, $7-15

* Diabolical Experiments
The Brody Theater improv group carries on with a pair of theatrical pieces generated by audience suggestions. See review. BRODY THEATER, 1904 NW 27th Ave, 224-0688, Fri-Sat, 8 pm, through Dec 2, $8

Guys and Dolls
The musical about Damon Runyon's band of New York criminal eccentrics. AMERICAN HERITAGE THEATER PROJECT, AT THE MULTNOMAH ARTS CENTER, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy, 245-3642, Fri-Sat, 8 pm, Sun, 2 pm, Call for prices

I love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
A musical paean to the joys of romance, now moved to the World Trade Center Auditorium, 121 SW Salmon. TRIANGLE PRODUCTIONS! AT THEATER! THEATRE!, 3430 SE Belmont St, 239-5919, Fri-Sat, through Dec 10, Call for ticket prices

Late Nite Catechism
A Chicago nun conducts an adult education class in the catechism, where she calls on "students" (the audience) to answer questions and sometimes "reprimands" them in a semi-scary nunly fashion. It's a cute, mildly entertaining play that is also extremely Cathocentric: it assumes the universality of Catholic concerns. Nonbelievers of all kinds will probably find this show irksome because at the play's center is a mushy acceptance of the religion's bizarre brain teaser form of theology. It's also rather pricey for what you get--a one person show set in a standard classroom. CLOUD 9 PRODUCTIONS AT THE MAIN STREET THEATER, 904 SW Main St, 790-2787, Thur-Fri 8 pm, Sat 2 and 8 pm, Sun 7 pm, through Jan 28 , $24.50-$29.50

Old Times
Harold Pinter's play about two men and a woman discussing their pasts. PAULA PRODUCTIONS, AT THE JACK OAKES THEATER, 232 NE Lincoln St, 640-9393, Thurs-Sat, 8 pm, through Dec 10, $8

Steel Magnolias
Maggie Theater Company mounts this tale of five Southern ladies and the daughter with the deadly disease. FIREHOUSE THEATER, 1436 SW Montgomery St, 708-8554, Fri-Sat, 8 pm, Sun, 2 pm, through Dec 9, $12

Tales of Antiquity
An evening of unusual short dramatic sketches and speeches, by Sam Wallin. 23 PRODUCTIONS AT THE BACK DOOR THEATER, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Fri-Sat, 10:30 pm, ends Dec 9, $7

* The Imaginary Invalid
Imago's take on Moliere's play about doctors and hypochondria is fresh, modern, and funny. IMAGO THEATER, 17 SE 8th Ave, 231-9581, Thurs, 7:30, Fri-Sat, 8 pm, through Dec 16, $16-18

The Tinker's Wedding and In the Shadow of the Glen
Paula Productions commences its 14th season with two short plays by John Millington Synge, the first about a wedding day squabble among traveling gypsies, the second a Ryan's Daughter-style tale of a May-September marriage. PAULA PRODUCTIONS, AT THE JACK OAKES THEATER, 232 NE Lincoln St, 640-9393, Fri-Sun, 8 pm, through Dec 3, $10

Tony 'n Tina's Wedding
The interactive comedy about a chaotic wedding ceremony. HEY CITY, AT THE FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH, 1011 SW 12th Ave, 790-2787, Wed-Fri, 7 pm, Sat, 5 and 8:30 pm, Sun 5 pm, through Feb 14, $43.50-65.50

Whatnot
An interactive play featuring mask, puppetry, and dance. OTHER HAND PRODUCTIONS AT THE HOPE THEATER, 1807 NE 39th, 282-7048, Sat, 11 pm, ends March 3, $10

Zanni Sololaa
One-woman show featuring Swedish performer Micaela Gustafsson. OTHER HAND PRODUCTIONS AT THE HOPE THEATER, 1807 NE 39th, 282-7048, Fri, 11 pm, $10-12