The festival's just-announced 2024 season suggests a return to the kind of lineup that's excited audiences in the past. Plus: Fats Waller and the joint are jumpin' at Broadway Rose.

Bag & Baggage's "Our Utopia" riffs on themes from Thornton Wilder's classic. Plus openings, closings, and Bill Rauch's debut with the new Perelman Center in New York.

The heady shuffle of "52 Pick-Up" extends its winning hand. Plus: Good news/bad news in Oregon theater, CoHo Clown Festival, a little Sondheim music, openings and closings.

Why everyone's flocking to an old Victoria's Secret to see a Beckett play. Plus: "Tina" on tour, the joys of a kids' backyard theater camp, and a question: Must the show go on?

In a tiny Southeast Portland space, a lean and lively actors' theater is emerging. Up next, "52 Pick-up." Also: openings and last chances.

“The fundamentals of the economy are getting stronger, but people are still skittish” – and theater companies are suffering for it. Plus: Anonymous Theatre plays Pirate.

With fresh productions opening of The Scottish Play and the lost-slipper musical, we're one leg off a tantalizing theatrical trifecta.

The former Artists Rep artistic leader is the new artistic director of Seattle's much larger flagship theater, and JAW keeps faith with the theatrical tradition of the new.

Henry VIII's wives take the stage in Portland in the musical "Six"; Bag&Baggage's "Red Velvet," Box of Clowns, stinky cheese, Shakespeare in Elgin, time out for kids' shows, more.

CoHo's clowns tie a twister by the tail. Plus: a jukebox musical at Lakewood, a sketch comedy festival, Astoria's "performathon," seasons' greetings, throwing the dice on "Six."

The troubled festival calls on a favored prince to be its new artistic director. Plus: A new Josie Seid play, 76 trombones in Eugene, last call for gothic cabaret, and more.

Clackamas Rep brings the ancients romping into the present. Plus: Broadway Rose's "Dreamcoat," new leader at Artists Rep, farewell to Book-It Rep and Sheldon Harnick, more.

From the Cocteau Twins to the Cure, a splashy cabaret celebrates goth culture with playful spookiness. Plus: Last call for some good shows, a shutdown in L.A.

A little razzle-dazzle from "Shazam!," PlayWrite's 24-hour play fest, circus for Cutie, Cheryl Strayed in Astoria, Bill Rauch's big adventure, last chance for a fistful of good shows.

Profile's "How to Make an American Son" tells a generational family tale. Plus: Duffy Epstein & friends head for "California," openings, closings.

Lee Blessing life-and-death drama, Shakespeare's Puck & the gang, "Full Monty," and last chance for the fine "Mary Jane" and "True Story."

The premiere of a fresh Kabuki adaptation of a 1685 Japanese puppet play is Laurence Kominz' swan song. Plus "Afropolitical Movement," openings, closings.

Endurance, warmth and strength in Amy Herzog's play; clawing the walls at Shaking the Tree; the casting controversy; is "who wrote Shakespeare" the wrong question?

Premieres from E.M. Lewis and Carol Triffle top the theater week. Plus: Trying to break down the breakdown at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

At Profile, a gathering of contemporary voices. Plus: Clowning around at Milagro, Corrib's gritty solo show, last days for "Come From Away," Portland Playhouse's new season and more.

A busy stage week also brings a pair of promising kids' shows, the opening of "The Judy," a Shakespeare parody, and the Broadway opening of the born-in-Portland "Thanksgiving Play."

The venerable Ashland festival’s effort to save the 2023 season follows years of wildfires, pandemic shutdowns, and staff turnover. Plus, openings, closings, and this weekend's shows.

Matthew Lopez' two-part drama reimagines "Howards End" as a gay New York saga. Plus openings, closings, a big theater bash, and a new leader for Oregon Children's Theatre.

With a fine production of John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt" at Lakewood Theatre, director Antonio Sonera says he's calling it a career. Plus: Last chance for a few good shows.

Shaking the Tree adds a bright new expansion, Le Salon Rouge takes a bow, cheerleader werewolves land on Earth, "Hairspray" hits town, and more.

PassinArt dives into the musicality of the great American playwright. Also: Black & blue, Borges & Neruda, Bill Wadhams' musical memoir, Red Door's "Evolve."

The devil gets his due in Conor McPherson's gripping play "The Seafarer." Plus: openings, closings, Center Stage's new season.

A busy theater week also features a Hand2Mouth devised show, Milagro's "Ardiente Paciencia," and a few more performances of "My Fair Lady."

Fuse's "Ronald Reagan Murdered My Mentors" explores the loss of a gay generation; Corrib's "Trade" tells a sensitive personal queer tale; Henry Higgins hits the road.

Lauren Yee's "Young Americans" at Center Stage takes on the issues of immigration and belonging. Plus: Corrib's Irish "Trade," openings and closings.

The Portland new-works festival is at a crossroads, seeking to ensure its future. Plus: a new/old face at Center Stage, hip-hop from Profile, "Mad" teens and more.

PETE's "The Americans" is as contradictory as the nation itself. Plus Pearl Cleage, the Temptations, Tammy Wynette, giant beavers, Ronald Reagan and AIDS, Lava Alapai and more.

Generations and cultures clash on court and off at Artists Rep, plus Broadway Rose’s Steven Schwartz hybrid revue/musical and The Theatre Company’s video theater stream

Kate Hamill's updated detective tale opens at Center Stage; plus "The Americans," an all-too-pertinent "Cabaret," and taco-loving dragons.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, beset by pandemic and environmental troubles, slashes leadership and other jobs – and Artistic Director Nataki Garrett adds more duties.

Artists Rep's premiere of Kareem Fahmy's "American Fast" does a fast break on sport, faith, and culture. Plus: Sondheim for a new generation.

From 3 Leg Torso to Anonymous Theatre to Portland Revels and a Dickens of a lineup, it's a holiday sort of season onstage.

Imago's magical menagerie of costumed critters returns to the stage. Plus Dickens and C.S. Lewis and even Neil Simon.

Suddenly it's time for theatrical good cheer, from Tiny Tim to a Wonderful Life to a PDX musical – plus Corrib's foray into an intense virtual future.

Kristina Wong's "Sweatshop Overlord" is a sharp and heartwarming look behind the politics of Covid. Plus: The Shakespeare Festival's big gift.

Profile's "King of the Yees" takes an imaginative trip through split cultural identities. Plus "Jagged Little Pill," openings, closings.

"King of the Yees" and "Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord" headline a week that also includes black comedy, a "Blink," and a "Zooman."

In a season of shows about Black life in America, the captivating "the ripple, the wave" carries the conversation home.

Shades of time and meaning in the Broadway "Mockingbird" tour; Dav Pilkey's musical dogs; Milagro's Day of the Dead dance; Chad Deity's smashing slamdown and more.

Scott Palmer returns to Bag & Baggage with the "Hamlet" riff "The Last White Man"; ripples & waves from Artists Rep and Center Stage; Richard Thomas in "To Kill a Mockingbird."

In a busy theater week, Artists Rep's "Hombres" nears the end of a sparkling run and promising productions pop up all over town.

Portland Playhouse opens a comedy set at a funeral in a Black church. But does the play move beyond sitcom platitudes?

When lead actor Richie Stone in Broadway Rose's musical "The Evolution of Mann" is sidelined by Covid, director Isaac Lamb takes the stage for opening night.

CoHo Clown Festival gets down with some feisty physical comedy; "The Hombres" land at Artists Rep; "tick, tick" heads for its final boom; the enduring wit of Louise Brooks.

PICA's experimental extravaganza hits the boards again. Plus openings, from sci-fi to farce to ghosts, pajamas, book clubs, stony hearts, midsummer dreams and a mushroom hunt.

“When theater becomes just about plays, only fans of plays come. We’re going to bring a variety-show mentality and challenge forms. And we’re going to be trying to incubate new forms.” 

Celebrating the Oregon Children's Theatre leader's life; "tick, tick ... BOOM!" blows the lid off the season at Portland Center Stage; Ashland openings; more.

A revival of a sharp and probing solo drama shows another side from "The Princess Bride." Also: comedy improv, Hammerstein vs. Hart, more.

Small-theater stars CoHo, PETE, and Third Rail join forces to beat the real estate game. Plus: Last chance to see Imago's "Voiceover"; openings & closings.

Jerry Mouawad and Drew Pisarra's new "Voiceover" dips into dance and sound with an existential twist. Plus the JAW new plays festival, a Stan Foote tribute, openings and closings.

The late Claymation master's musical-theater adaptation of "The Frog Prince" debuts at Lakewood, Twilight opens the Portland premiere of an E.M. Lewis play, "Hadestown" hits Puddletown.

Portland Shakespeare Project gives a "Play On" twist to a tale of jealousy and redemption. Plus openings, closings, and a farewell to Peter Brook.

PETE's "Cherry Orchard" is an energizing jolt of the sweetly unexpected. Plus the opening of "Desperate Measures" and last chance for "Bad World" and "The Music Man."

PETE's radically slimmed-down "Cherry Orchard" streamlines a classic. Plus Risk/Reward, last chance for "Mr. Madam," and more.

Isaac Lamb stages his "dream show," a gathering for Tim Stapleton, a pair of Shakespeare festivals, singing cats, openings, closings & more.

The versatile actor moves into the top seat at The Actors Conservatory. Plus: Wade McCollum's return, openings, closings.

Imago's "Julia's Place" starts with Ionesco's "Rhinoceros" and then stampedes off to an Italian restaurant. Plus openings, closings, and a little improv "Weekend at Bernie's."

The dark and twisted Yukio Mishima could be funny, too – and in his kabuki play "Sardine seller," is. Plus a fresh look at the AIDS era's "Rent," the OUTwright Festival and more.

Say hello to Bella, "City Without Altar," Hand2Mouth, a thin place and a floating bordello. Short runs for "Zandezi," Shakespeare jokes, and "Shrek Jr." Last chance for the excellent "The Children."

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' "Appropriate" spins the word through all of its many meanings, cultural, racial, and personal. Plus openings and closings.

Corrib Theatre's play about a guy in a bar is being played by a guy in a bar. Oregon Children's Theatre takes on Shakespeare and a bus trip with Grandma. Freud and C.S. Lewis get down to it.

How should audience members act and react in the theater? Who gets to decide? As the Oregon Shakespeare Festival reopens, the questions rise anew.

Old pros Mendelson and Alper continue a long onstage partnership in Artists Rep's "The Children." Plus: Ashland opens, new seasons, Lost Treasures & more.

In Part 2 of the "Queens Girl" trilogy, Lauren Steele dazzlingly embodies voices out of Africa; "Hamilton" and its hip-hop cousin settle in; "Titus" wraps things up.

Picking up what they began in New York, Clackamas Rep and star Lauren Steele take a stellar tale continental. Plus Forgotten Women, Chick Fight, Taylor Mac & more.

The movie star, who died in Portland on Sunday, performed in four plays with Artists Rep. Also: Getting grisly with "Titus," comedy & more.

Portland Center Stage opens the masterful "Gem of the Ocean," "The Queers" lights a Fuse, Milagro's "Antigone" on the border, more.

Shaking the Tree searches for the baddest femme fatale of all time. Plus "Without Rule of Law," audience behavior and more.

Corrib's "Maz & Bricks" deftly juggles formula and function; young actors go lawless; "Thurgood" heads to the finish line.

Lester Purry's fine solo performance as the first Black member of the Supreme Court finds a fitting tension in the Constitution itself.

Looking at sports and theater and the meanings of rituals, new and old. Plus "The Great Leap," Portland Panthers and more.

Eleanor O'Brien talks about how the new-works festival has sparked her sex-positive shows. Plus the festival's Week 2 and the "Anastasia" tour.

Portland plunges into its festival of new works, and "other" theater from "Gatsby" to "Gloria" lights the lights.

Playwright Lauren Yee returns to Oregon stages with a Center Stage/Artists Rep collaboration; "Thurgood" and "Hedwig" get ready to roll.

How to keep yourself and others safe in the theater (we're in this thing together!). Plus an Agatha Christie, Profile's "Gloria," Milagro on Lorca.

The multiple Tony-winning musical, in Portland through Sunday, is 'a small wonder.' Plus: Poirot at Lakewood, CoHo walks with fire, Fuse postpones.

Sure, there's plenty of Dickens in December. But on Oregon stages, it's Conor McPherson season, too.

Remembering Philip Cuomo, Stephen Sondheim, and Dave Frishberg. Plus: A "Curious" reopening, Christmas Carols everywhere.

Portland's LGBTQ theater ensemble gets a new home, a new season, and a new way of thinking about how it does business.

This week at the theater: Chewing over the issues in Portland Playhouse's prism on race and language; "Mean Girls" and 600 Highwaymen hit town; last chances & more.

Imago's Jerry Mouawad talks about the Covid-era fear factor in Conor McPherson's tense and anxious stage version of "The Birds." Plus: Stage openings & closings.

Themes echo and recur in Portland Playhouse's "Barbecue," Artists Rep's "The Chinese Lady," and "The Weir" in Astoria.

Also in a busy week: A "Barbecue" at Portland Playhouse, "The Chinese Lady" at Artists Rep, a "Peep" from The Reformers and a "Lonely Vampire" from Imago, "Danse Macabre" returns, plus plays onscreen.

Vanessa Severo talks about "becoming" the famed Mexican artist; Martha Washington bakes again.

As the stage world begins to bustle, Marty Hughley rides herd on the scene, from Shakespeare to Bojangles.