Opening This Week

4 N 1
The new theater company, Butterfly Productions, presents four one-act plays by four local women playwrights. PSU, Lincoln Hall, 1620 SW Park Avenue, 493-4203, Wed-Sat 9 pm, Sun 2 pm, through Aug 25, Donation

Closing This Week

Beauty and the Beast
Beautiful, courageous, and intelligent Belle gets it on with an ugly-ass monster. Keller Auditorium, SW Third and Clay, 790-ARTS, Wed-Sat 7:30 pm, Thurs, Sat 2 pm, Sun 1, 6:30 pm, through Aug 26, $22-60

* Come, Pee Your Pants
It's not pee-your-pants funny, as promised in the title, but it's definitely not boring either. It's really nothing but lighthearted sketch comedy. Most of the sketches are a bit too long to be called sketches--and as a result, invariably fall flat. Fortunately, the writing/acting team composed of Sean Nelson and Josh Thorpe has excellent comic timing and radiates a lot of good energy. The duo brings life to some material that deserves to be dead and buried. Six on Shakespeare, at the Miracle Theater, 525 SE Stark Street, 736-1027, Fri-Sat 10:15 pm, through Aug 25, $7-9

I Ought To Be In Pictures
Neil Simon's poignant look at a has-been Hollywood screenwriter whose long-lost teenage daughter reenters his life. Sylvia's Class Act Dinner Theater, 5115 NE Sandy Blvd, 288-6828, Thur-Sat 6:15 pm, Sun 5:15 pm, through Aug 25, $31.95

Current Runs

Harold and Game Piece
An evening of improv divided into two parts: Harold and Game Piece. Game Piece sounds the most intriguing, with the rules for the improv evolving from board game suggestions by the audience. Brody Theater, 1904 NW 27th Ave, 224-0688, Sat 9 pm, through Sept 1, $8

Much Ado About Nothing
The Shakespeare-In-The-Parks whirlwind tour blows on. Lewis & Clark College, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, 321-0710, Sat-Sun 3 pm, through Sept 3, free

OBT Exposed!
A behind-the-scenes peek at a dancer's day as they take class, rehearse, re-stage, and create works for the 2001/02 season. South Park Blocks, SW Park & Salmon, 222-5538, 10 am-4 pm daily, through Sept 2, free

The Foursome
Four men shoot the shit while playing golf. Jack Oakes Theater, 2820 NE Sandy Blvd, 238-9692, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, through Sept 1, $10

* The Posture Queen
The relatively new Portland company, Hand 2 Mouth, presents the story of Tommy "Issan" Dorsey, a sailor-turned-drag-queen-turned-junkie-turned-commune-leader-turned-Zen-Buddhist-master. It's a great topic, and the way that director Jonathan Walters approaches it--by using daily rituals practiced by Dorsey at the Buddhist compound to trigger flashbacks that reveal what brought him there--is even greater. Oh, and the performances are great, too, particularly Marc Weaver's, who fills Dorsey with simultaneous high-cheekboned elegant grace and sadness. Unfortunately, what I will always remember about this production was the god-awful, heat-infested venue on the night I saw it. It's hard to enjoy a play, no matter how good it is, when your clothes have been grafted to your skin. Supposedly, that element of the show has been rectified by the addition of air conditioning, which means you should see it, though I recommend calling just to make sure, first. It sucks when a perfectly good play is disrupted by your boiling brains begging you for death. Rose City Ballroom, 700 NE Dekum, 283-3311, Thurs-Sun 8:30 pm, Sun 4 pm, through Sept 2, $8-10


* means we recommend it. press releases need to be in by wednesday, two weeks before publication. fax to: 294-0844; mail to: THEATER calendar, portland mercury, 1524 NW 23rd, Portland, OR 97210 or e-mail to: events@portlandmercury.com.