Curators of lives
There is a reason journalists use “man on the street” interviews. It is because they work so well. They grab the audience as nothing else can. When the microphone is placed in front [...]
Mothers, daughters, and universal issues
“My mother is a fantastically energetic person trapped in an utterly exhausted body,” says Lisa (Allison Mickelson) near the beginning of Lisa Kron‘s play Well (which in [...]
Nora isn’t dead-A Doll’s House, Part 2
Nora Helmer is dead. Long live Nora Helmer. In Lucas Hnath‘s A Doll’s House, Part 2 now playing at Artists Repertory Theatre, Nora Helmer (Linda Alper) most assuredly is not dead. [...]
Everybody Dies
What does everybody fear most? Why, death, of course. Women may fear childbirth. There is something near-death-like about it. But death? Death happens to everybody. Which is why some may find [...]
Small Mouth Sounds–A romp in the woods
“I have no plan,” announces the guru-like Teacher (Mary McDonald-Lewis) to a gathering of six disparate and mostly miserable souls in Bess Wohl‘s Small Mouth Sounds now running [...]
Magellanica–8 1/2 months in the speaking darkness
I’ve never wanted to go to Antarctica. Too dark. Too cold. No good restaurants. But scientists love it. In the world premiere of E.M. Lewis’s Magellanica, six of them are falling all [...]
My favorite plays of 2017–Portland area
Thinking back today about what a wonderful time I had reviewing plays in 2017, it occurred to me that a round-up of my favorites might be a good thing to do. So, without further fussing around, [...]
A Riddle and a prize–Pericles Wet world premiere
It’s a special night, indeed, when a local playwright–Ellen Margolis–can enjoy a world premiere of her own work in her own hometown. Even better, when that play is one of great [...]