One Week Only

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Not the play, but a 20 song score based on the play, performed to raise money for MJCC's Whole Megillah Theater. Mittleman Jewish Community Center, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy, 244-0111, Sat 8 pm, $15

It's A Wonderbroad Life
A sing-along holiday spoof of the Jimmy Stewart classic. The Scottish Rite Center, 705 SW 15th, 288-5181, Fri-Sat 8 pm, $15-18

Journeys
Readers Theatre Repertory presents the second in a series of dynamic staged readings. This time the theme is theater itself, with Willamette Week theater critic Steffen Silvis' play about theater critics, Nothing if Not Critical, leading the charge. Blackfish Gallery, 420 NW 9th Ave, 224-2634, Fri-Sat 8 pm, $8

Last Call: Improv With Beer Goggles
An hour of high-octane laughs, followed by a half hour of high-octane live ROCK! Theatre Vertigo at the Russell Street Theater, 116 N Russell, 306-0870, Sat 8 pm, $10

New Rave
Stark Raving kicks off its annual series of interactive staged readings with Milo Mowery's Field Notes for the Apocalypse. Stark Raving, at the CoHo Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh, 232-7072, Sun 2-6 pm, Donation

Urban Bush Women present HairStories
A combination of dance, text, and music that explores African American womens' hair and its relationship to images of beauty, social position, heritage, and self-esteem. White Bird, at PSU/Lincoln Hall, SW Park & Market, 725-3307, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, $12-24

Closing This Week

Crumbs From the Table of Joy
Memory play about a 1950s African American family who has moved to the North, and is trying to find a place for themselves in postwar America. Artists Repertory Theater, 1516 SW Alder St, 241-1278, Tues-Thurs 7 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 2 pm, through Dec 15, $24-28

* Fen
Caryl Churchill's Fen has the unique achievement of being the only epic one act about onion farming in England ever written for the stage. Sowelu's production of it is beautiful, powerful, and occasionally incomprehensible. The set, which consists of a fan of of cloth lines intended to represent rows of onion plants, is surprisingly effective, and combines with the music and costume design to create a truly haunting tone. Sowelu Theater at the Back Door, 4319 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 230-2090, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 4 pm, through Dec 15, $7-15

Frogz
This innovative family classic just keeps comin' back for more. Imago Theater, 17 SE 8th Ave, 231-9581, Wed-Sat 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun 1:30 pm, Sun 5:30 pm, through Dec 30, $9-23

Nunsense 'A Men'
The age-old story of men dressed up as nuns. Flying Rhinoceros Theater, 1440 NW Overton Street, 239-5919, Wed-Thurs 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 1 pm, through Dec 15, $20-25

* Queen of the Universe Productions presents Forgetting the Last Kiss
How sad that this quirky little show must fade from the scene already! Michael McClafferty's one-man self-exploration is messy and confused. He interrupts himself, asks the audience how he is doing, stops the show to give the cameraman instructions, talks about jokes that didn't work on previous nights, and then tells them anyway, and has a habit of either looking down at the floor and mumbling or staring vacantly high above the back wall of the theater. Through it all, he remains utterly endearing. Brody Theater, 1904 NW 27th Ave, 224-0688, Fri-Sat 10:30 pm, through Dec 15, $8

Current Runs

House of Cunt presents 21st Century Funhouse
Cunts rule in this dynamic fusion of sketch comedy, performance art, dance, and song. Stark Raving Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh, 232-7072, Fri-Sat 10:30 pm, through Jan 5, $12

A Christmas Carol
If you don't know the story by now, you must not be Christian. Portland Center Stage, 1111 SW Broadway, 274-6588, Tues-Wed, Sun 7 pm, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sat, Sun 2 pm, Thurs 12 pm, through Dec 24, $16-44

Christmas With the Crawfords
Nothing says "holiday cheer" like Joan Crawford, the bitchiest woman on planet Earth. Triangle Productions, at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 239-5919, Thurs 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 5 pm, through Dec 22, $12-16

Holiday Story
Cheer, cynicism, depression, consumerism... All the Holiday traditions rolled into one happy bundle of improvisation. Brody Theater, 1904 NW 27th Ave, 224-0688, Fri-Sat 8 pm, through Dec 15, $10

Money Shot
Two American filmmakers set out to document the story of a mysterious Pulitzer-Prize-winning war photograph. Stark Raving Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh, 232-7072, Thurs-Sat 8 pm, Sun 7 pm, closes Jan 5, $10-20

The Long Christmas Dinner
Thornton Wilder's classic play uses the device of a perpetual dinner to span 90 years in the life of the Bayard family. Hope Theater, 1807 NE 39th, 2nd floor, 282-2810, Thurs-Sat 7:30 pm, through Dec 22, $5-7

Tru
Jazz pianist, Robert Hicks, plays Truman Capote in this one-man show about one of the most flamboyant voices ever! Triangle Productions, at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 SE Belmont, 239-5919, Thurs 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 8 pm, Sun 5 pm, through Dec 22, $15-19