Opening This Week

Another Fine Mess
This year, PCS gets really brave and opens their season with their annual new JAW/West-workshopped play: Steven Drukman's Another Fine Mess, a riff on the play-within-a-play motif and inspired by Waiting For Godot. Portland Center Stage, 1111 SW Broadway, 274-6588, Opens Tues, runs Sun, Tues-Wed 7 pm, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Thurs noon, Sat-Sun 2 pm, $16-$25

One Week Only

* House of Cunt
TBA NEWSFLASH: Take a breather from all the hoity-toity artsy fart shows the Time Based Arts Fest is touting this week, and bask in the utterly wild, weird, and pulse-poundingly manic musical comedy shenanigans of the House of Cunt. We'll let anyone who doesn't enjoy the show punch us in the face, that's how sure we are it'll be awesome. MachineWorks, 1115 NW 14th & Northrup, 249-1419, Fri 10 pm, $10

* Turquoise and Obsidian
Steve Patterson writes plays that are weird-yet-accessible enough to hint at genius. His Delusions of Darkness combined extraterrestrials with a beat generation-inspired pulp mystery. This new one spans five cultures, three languages, and 500 years of history. Patterson has been working on it for ten years, and though this is just a staged reading of the epic project, donations at the event will go towards a production of Patterson's other new play, Altered States of America. Anything you can do to help this guy get seen, do it. Pavement Productions, at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 777-2771, Tues 7:30 pm, donations accepted

Current Runs

* Cloud 9
Following the personal entanglements of a Victorian-era British family, Cloud 9 pairs colonialism with sexual repression, resulting in a messy, violent explosion of impulse and character assassination. The play's clearest message is that gender roles are ridiculously arbitrary. Women play men's roles and vice versa with no attempt at masking. BB defunkt theatre, at the Back Door, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 993-9062, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 4 pm, through Oct 11, $8-$15

Medea
A woman kills her kids to get back at her husband in this delightful epic tragedy! Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon, at Reed College, Cerf Amphitheater, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd, 1-800-922-TIXX, Sat-Sun 4 pm, Thurs-Fri noon, through Sept 28, $10-$15

The Women
The 1939 film adaptation of this lovely little play featured over 130 different roles, all played by women. Chances are Triangle won't be able to squeeze quite that many ladies onto its stage, but The Women, a campy send-up to catty socialites, should still be fun for all. Triangle Productions, at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 239-5919, Thurs 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 5 pm, through Oct 5, $19-$23

Topdog/Underdog
The story of an African American brother/hustler duo living in a seedy boardinghouse. Written by the intensely imaginative Suzan-Lori Parks. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1516 SW Alder St, 241-1278, Times vary, call theater for full schedule and info, $15-30

Waiting For Godot
Becket's text is notoriously challenging stuff, which Radiant Theatre's production, as directed by Amy Gray, further complicates via an audience participation twist that is almost assuredly causing the ultra-possessive Beckett to spin in his grave. The needlessly cutesy gimmick is indicative of the entire production, which loses much pathos in the wake of hammy performances. Radiant Theatre, at Artichoke Music, 5340 N. Interstate, 502-8261, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, through Sept 27, $10-$12

* Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a revamped version of Walters' 2002 production, and tells the story of Nat Turner's slave uprising. It sounds like much fire dancing, stilt walking, and other general ballyhoo have been added to the mix this time around, though we hope not TOO much, for the original had a sort of spare, poetic beauty about it that may be hard to top. Hand 2 Mouth Theatre, 3029 NE Portland Blvd., 235-5284, Fri-Sat 8 pm, through Oct 4, $6-$8 donation