Latest Edition
Portland Playhouse: Chicken & Biscuits
Portland Playhouse has opened its 15th season with “Chicken & Biscuits"
New Shows take Audience on Sensational Journey
Imago Theatre presents Voiceover and Lumen Odyssey
Image by Imago Theatre
Rhythms of Cultures
Something for everyone at Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is back with its first full season since the coronavirus pandemic.
Powerful Musical ‘Rent’ Takes Stage
Portland ensemble shows love for iconic play
For some audience members, a revival of “Rent” sells itself—the iconic musical is a cultural phenomenon, and its many ardent fans will jump at the opportunity to see it where it belongs, live on stage
Playhouse Celebrates Black Experience
“Bella’ a playful pushback to erased histories
Portland Playhouse celebrates the Black Experience with “Bella: An American Tall Tale’ a playful pushback on erased histories.
Dealing with the Truth
Portland play holds mirror to racist impacts
Whatever is true is true; it doesn’t stop being true if we ignore it, deny it, dress it up, rewrite it, appropriate it, or defend against it.
With Humor and Tenderness
Cast connects in "Freestyle Love Supreme"
Artists riff, rhyme, improvise and connect with an audience in “Freestyle Love Supreme,” now playing at Portland Center Stage.
A Window into Our History
August Wilson play beautifully told
“Gem of the Ocean” helped me to feel the further importance of experiencing August Wilson as a chronicler of American history and present.
Basketball Binds Cultures in The Great Leap
“The Great Leap,” now playing at Portland Center Stage, also opens up space for us to wonder across space and time,
‘Thurgood’ opens on Portland Stage
Civil rights icon elevated in one man play
Thurgood Marshall’s work as a ground-breaking civil rights attorney for the NAACP, and most prominently as the lawyer who argued Brown v. Board of Education is profiled by Portland Playhouse.
Urgent, Funny and Intense
“Gloria” deserves to be seen live
In a time when folks may feel hesitant to reenter the world of theater, Profile Theater's excellent production of "Gloria" offers as good a reason as I can imagine. It's urgent, unnerving, funny, intense, and deserves to be experienced live.
Holiday Show a Return to Stage
Shakespeare via the Marx Brothers brings the laughs
Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s return to indoor theater is itself a break with tradition: its first holiday show, a comical send-up of holiday shows and Shakespeare via the Marx Brothers.
Our Ancestors and Our Legacies
Films explore fatherhood
What does it mean to be a father? A man? A black man? A person? What does it mean to offer a legacy to one’s children that honors the truth in all its complexity? Two documentaries at the recent Portland Film Festival offered courageous ways into these questions.
Two Inspiring Documentary Films
Beauty and variety in places we don’t think to look
Two documentaries are especially worth a look in the current line-up for the Portland Film Festival
Films Lift Silenced and Diverse Voices
Portland Film Festival's run of independent films begins
The Portland Film Festival is here, a chance to explore independent films that fight to find an audience even though they often deserve it most.
Challenging Conventional Thinking
Play documents life at the margins
Profile Theater has chosen a challenging but somehow fitting offering with “The Oldest Profession.”
A Worthy Production for Live Shows Return
“Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer”
This production, birthed during a time of struggle, is best received and internalized as a call to action.
‘Summer of Soul’ – Much to Savor
Film beautifully portrays 1969 celebration of Black culture
'Summer of Soul' teaches us about our collective selves--what it takes for Black artists to gain recognition in this country, and the losses that accompany every hard-fought gain.
Films Bring Laughter, Tears, Impact
Two new screenings outside lines of dominant culture
Two new films find truth, humor and beauty outside the lines of dominant culture and convention.
My Top 10 Films for 2020
Best films help you see world in another light
These are the films that stayed with me, that changed me and helped me see beyond my circumstances, as the best films do.
Illuminating the Black Power Movement
New films explore FBI’s historic obsession with Black leaders
New documentary films shed light on the intensity of the FBI’s historic obsession with bringing down Black leaders.
Recognizing Pearls Others Would Miss
Black women bring strength, vulnerability to film ‘Ash Land’
The new short film, "Ash Land," to premier on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's digital platform this Friday is a gift from Black women in a moment of crisis. .
Powerful Screening to Move Body & Heart
Filmed version of Oregon Shakespeare Festival play unmissable
Filmed version of world premiere of "The Copper Children" is absolutely unmissable.
Getting Creative with Films to See Online
Two new independent films worth checking out
Film distributers and theaters get creative about online access to films whose planned theatrical release were thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Final Days of PIFF Canceled
Impacts four days of screenings
Online viewing an option after festival canceled
Scores of International Films to See
The 43rd Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) opens Friday, March 6, and runs through March 15. The festival runs a full week shorter than in prior years, but with more mid-day screenings.
Exploring Life at the Margins
Theater in Portland this past weekend saw the opening of two terrific co-productions by important American women playwrights exploring questions of identity and life at the margins.
Far Better Films than the Oscar Nominated
Alternatives to the more white, more male and less original Academy picks
The nihilistic "Joker" and Quentin Tarentino's bit of Hollywood narcissism top the list of this year's Oscar nominees.
Brisk, Funny ‘Mean Girls’ Tackles Skin Color
Opinionated Judge by Darleen Ortega
What makes teenagers so exasperating to live with, and such fascinating story subjects, is that they reflect back to us what we least like to see in ourselves.
Humanity Shines in ‘Sweat’
A timely insight into today’s economic woes
As the world of the union workers begins to crumble, we see how easily they can be pitted against each other
Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Armory
Local actors front award-winning rock musical
For the uninitiated, "Hedwig" is a gritty, glittery drag-punk musical centered on two characters.
‘The Two Popes,’ a Compelling Drama
Film approaches questions of faith with nuance and respect.
Those who are not religious may not immediately be drawn to this material, but the filmmakers help you understand why you should care.
Good Cheer for Miss Bennet’s Christmas
Christmas play at the Armory
Play builds on the old and familiar notes of a Regency romantic comedy, picking up where Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" leaves off.
Steeped in African Consciousness
Pulitzer prize winning play at the Imago Theater
Play tells the story of Mama Nadi, whose brothel serves soldiers and includes women brutalized by the Congolese war.
Confronting the Erasure of Women in Juarez
New play bears witness to heartache
Since 1993, the women of Juárez, Mexico have been disappearing and no one has solved the mystery
Race and Truths Unfold in ‘Redwood’
Play looks at deep questions about race
Dramatic action punctuated with hip-hop dance moves
Play Inspired by AIDS Chaos
Profile Theatre makes the writers of original plays its focus
This production will keep you laughing and leave you with lots to chew on
Something for Every Taste
Oregon Shakespeare Festival season near complete
As the long season of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival nears it close, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to offer five more reasons to head to Ashland
Road Trips of Cultural Connections
Ashland plays brings richness of Latinx experience
One diverse and largely Latin American cast performs two plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this season, offering opportunities for them, and us, to explore the complexity and richness of Latinx experience.
Black Voices Ring with Clarity, Integrity
It's a play about black people apart from the white gaze; they suffer but the play is not about black suffering. It's about love.
Diverse Play Explores Jewish Identity
In an age when synagogues face a resurgence of deadly violence, Paula Vogel’s beautiful play about Jewish identity, “Indecent,” grapples with themes of outsiders facing threats to their freedoms and basic human rights.
Inspiring Homage to a Destroyed Culture, History
I had no idea about the exciting pop rock scene that flourished in Cambodia just before its magic was utterly destroyed during the Khmer Rouge genocide in 1975 to 1979, a topic explored in the marvelous new play, "Cambodian Rock Band," now playing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
Native Comedy Packs Hard Hitting Truths
“Between Two Knees” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland is a feat of theater magic so satisfying that, after seeing it three times, I am determined to savor it at least twice more before it closes in October.
Diverse Films Stand Out
Seeing so many films together functioned as a sort of world tour of cinematic language, style, and culture that set my brain humming.
Feasting on New Documentaries
I managed to catch 25 films at the Seattle International Film Festival in May and June--my idea of heaven!
Two Films Not to Miss
“Seahorse” rocked my world. It follows the journey to parenthood taken by Freddie McConnell, who, as a trans man, is one of a limited number of human males who can, like male seahorses, undergo pregnancy.
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