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*Fertile Ground 2016
Fertile Ground is the biggest theater festival in town—a 35-venue theater takeover of Portland that's both a preview of the season to come and a chance for unknown artists to be seen by broader audiences. Packed into the 11 days of the Festival are 44 workshops, readings and plays. The Fertile Ground Kick Off Party is at Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 9:30 pm Friday, Jan. 22. Previews written by SOPHIA JUNE. Shows marked with a * are Fertile Ground productions. Through Jan. 31. Festival pass $50, individual ticket prices vary. Visit fertilegroundpdx.org for details.
Follow WW's Fertile Ground Diaries for reviews.
See the venues mapped.
OPENINGS & PREVIEWS
*Burning Basil
A poet is caught in a love triangle with the ghost of a dead woman and the complications of a live one in this romantic comedy in the vein of Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit. Presented as a reading. Lakewood Theatre Company, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego, 635-3901. 2 pm Saturday, Jan. 23. $10.
*Under The Yew Tree
In Ron Lee's new play, two farmers recently lost their only son. Before he died, he wrote a letter telling them that he had a surprise for them. Little do they know, that surprise is still coming. Presented as a reading. Lakewood Theatre Company, 368 State St., Lake Oswego, 635-3901. 2 pm Sunday, Jan. 24. $10.
*A Cavalcade of Awesome! I Died Today: A Musical Tribute to Rodd Keith
The bizarre life of '60s country singer Rodd Keith comes together in Action/Adventure Theatre's second workshop, a science fiction musical. A key figure in song-poem music, an obscure scam of setting words to music and then charging a fee to the lyricist, Keith was also highly religious and famous for experimenting with psychedelic drugs. Action/Adventure Theatre, 1050 SE Clinton St. 7:30 pm Monday, Jan. 25. $10.
*A Cavalcade of Awesome!: The Alien Chicken Remembers Galatea
Action/Adventure Theatre is presenting three workshops for Fertile Ground, all under the title A Calvacade of Awesome! The first actually isn't the name of a Flaming Lips album, but is loosely inspired by John Lyly's Elizabethan comedy Gallathea. Except this show has an alien chicken. Action/Adventure Theatre, 1050 SE Clinton St. 2 pm Saturday, Jan. 24 & 7:30 pm Tuesday, Jan. 26. $10.
*A Thousand Tongues
One of the festival's musical offerings is a concert performance workshop featuring Danish performer Nini Julia Bang, singing original songs to a blend of Danish, Middle Eastern and flamenco music against the backdrop of different visual art pieces. Presented by Source Material Collective, who is brand new to Portland. The Headwaters Theatre, 55 NE Farragut St., No. 9., 308-2427. 8 pm Friday-Sunday, Jan. 22-24. $15.
*The Adventures of Dex Dixon: Paranormal Dick
Paranormal investigator Dex Dixon undertakes adventures with vampires, trolls and werewolves in this new musical noir by Portland writer Steve Coker. It's part absurdist theater and part horror film told in a cabaret style, and there are puppets. Brunish Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway Ave., 800-273-1530. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 21-23 & 28-30, 2 pm Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 23-24 & 30-31. $25-40.
* Apple Season
A girl and her brother who have been running away from home for 20 years return when their father dies and have to decide if they can stay this time. Oregon-born playwright and librettist E.M. Lewis' play is about the complexities of coming home. Presented as a lunch reading. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 971-803-7712. Noon Monday, Jan. 25. Free.
*Baba Yaga
An old crone who lives in a house on chicken legs tells three traditional Russian fairy tales in this one-woman show, created as a senior thesis by Lewis & Clark student Sam Reiter. The fables are backed by shadow puppets and infused with Reiter's passion for everything Russian, and the play is a sympathetic look an often-demonized, old-lady character. "I wanted to know—how did she get to be that way?" said Reiter, who thought up the show while studying abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre. The Headwaters Theatre, 55 NE Farragut St., No. 9, 289-3499. 2 pm Sunday, Jan. 24, 8 pm Monday-Thursday, Jan. 25-28. $10.
*The Big One
Kathryn Schulz' July 2015 New Yorker article, "The Really Big One," shocked the Pacific Northwest as much as the imminent shockwaves signaling our doom. Shoba Satya's play explores what it means to live in Oregon when we could be destroyed at any moment. Cerimon House, 5131 NE 23rd Ave., 307-9599. 8 pm Tuesday-Thursday, Jan. 26-28. $10.
*Broken Promises
Four urban teens strapped for cash get sucked into sex trafficking in Milagro's Fertile Ground offering, a world premiere written by the theater's top creative, Olga Sanchez. Adriana's entrapment in a black hole of internet porn and prostitution is based on stories Sanchez sourced from local teens and aid groups. Filtering these accounts through Milagro's trademark Latin lens, she and director Francisco Garcia add a heavy dose of hip-hop, poetry and dance. Recommended for ages 13+. Talks by representatives from Planned Parenthood, Lifeworks NW and Youth Ending Slavery will run after many shows. Performances Jan. 21-23 are part of the Fertile Ground festival. Milagro Theatre, 525 SE Stark St., 236-7253. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, Jan 14-23. $25.
*Buried Fire
The newest jazzy album from Portland band the Blues Cabaret, Where Love Begins, is being workshopped as a full-on musical about navigating love. Oregon Book Award finalist Wayne Harrel and composer Dave Fleschner wrote the songs into a script, and the show—playing at O'Connor's Vault and also on the recital stage at Michelle's Pianos—stars Portland Gay Men's Chorus singers and Grammy-nominated songwriter Earl Thomas. O'Connor's Vault, 7850 SW Capitol Highway, 244-1690. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Jan 20. Michelle's Pianos, 600 SE Stark St., 295-1180. 7:30 pm Thursday-Friday, Jan 21-22. $20.
*Business as Usual & Forethought: Four Short Plays
Think images of the misplaced staplers and smashed computer monitors in Office Space in this comedy about Cindy, Jack and Sanjeev at their "powerfully indifferent investment firm" in Michael Josef's play. Forethought includes short plays about everything from a nerd trying to talk to girls to a mad sculptor in a night of staged readings, presented by PDX Playwrights. Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St., No. 104, 358-0898. 8 pm Sunday, Jan. 24 & 31. $10.
*Daisy Dukes Shorts Night
Eight Portland playwrights will showcase their short plays in an evening of workshop performances with titles ranging from Under a Tin Roof Moon to Close Shave. Presented by PDX Playwrights.. Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St., No. 104, 358-0898. 7 pm Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23. $10.
*The Dark Rider
A psychological drama by C.S. Whitcomb about a paralyzed ballerina who's forced to explore the different people inside her head, which may be a result of Multiple Personality Disorder. Presented as a 100-minute reading. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 971-803-7712. Noon Tuesday, Jan. 26. Free.
*Dear Committee Members
Julie Schumacher's award-winning novel, Dear Committee Members, is a collection of fictional letters of recommendation from a burned-out creative writing professor. In the first-ever adaptation of the book, Portland theater teacher, actor and writer David Berkson stars as the professor in this one-man show. Schumacher has already given her stamp of approval with a talkback and book signing on opening night. Presented as a staged reading by Readers Theatre Repertory. Blackfish Gallery, 420 NW 9th Ave., 971-266-3787. 7:30 pm Friday-Sunday, Jan. 22-24. $10.
*Family Hardware
In Gary Corbin's comedy about modern relationships a man who's too unhealthy to have sex with his wife agrees to let her see a hired escort—who he happens to already know. Presented as a staged reading by PDX Playwrights. Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St., No. 104, 358-0898. 6 pm Sunday, Jan. 24. $10.
*Frankenstein: A Cabaret
Last year, Laura Christina Dunn and Maggie Mascal of the Broken Planetarium theater group presented The Snow Queen as an opera set in Detroit. This year, the duo will reimagine Frankenstein. Except this time, it's set in Portland. Told in cabaret style, the folk opera will focus on themes of female sexuality by combining dance and comedy in a documentary-style version of the gothic classic. The Steep and Thorny Way To Heaven, 1464 SE 2nd Ave. 8 pm Wednesday, Jan. 20 & Saturday, Jan. 23, 10 pm Thursday-Friday, Jan. 21-22 and 2 pm Sunday, Jan. 24. Individual tickets sold out.
*General Hazard
A Civil War general named Hap Hazard used to be a statue and is no longer a statue anymore in the staged reading of this comedy about expectations by John Byrne. Presented by PDX Playwrights. Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St., No. 104, 358-0898. 1 pm Sunday, Jan. 24. $10.
Great Expectations
The downtrodden orphan Pip has the worst type of life—his brother-in-law abuses him and a convict threatens to kill him—but things change when an anonymous benefactor puts him down as their heir. PCS is borrowing the adaptation and director from Seattle, where it premiered in 2011. Most of the talent are familiar faces, though, Third Rail Theatre company members and PCS veterans. The notable exception: New Yorker Stephen Stocking making his Portland debut as Pip. Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave., 7:30 pm Tuesday-Sunday, 2 pm Saturday-Sunday, noon Thursday, Jan. 22-Feb. 14. $25-$70.
*Grimm Northwest
The Oregon Tellers, Anne Rutherford and Norm Brecke, are the comedic duo responsible for bringing Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales to life in this fully staged world premiere; not in the streets of Portland on NBC, but in the intimate and rambunctious setting of the Lucky Lab Taproom, featuring an open mic for personal stories from audience members. Don't bring your kids; these stories are far from the watered-down Disney versions. Lucky Lab Taproom, 1700 N Killingsworth St., 505-9511. 7 pm Saturday, Jan. 23. $15.
*Growing New Works Within Theater Institutions
A discussion about how to approach new works in theater for different sized companies, moderated by artistic director Jessica Wallenfels with four of Portland's key theater players: Lue Douthit of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Luan Schooler of Artists Repertory Theatre, Mead Hunter of University of Portland and the New Harmony Project and Benjamin Fainstein of Portland Center Stage. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 971-803-7712. 6 pm Tuesday, Jan. 26. Free.
*Hollywood Syndrome: A Psychomedy
In Alex Haslett's comedy, a playwright has released a successful play and is under the insane pressure of the Hollywood machine to create another. Presented as a staged reading by PDX Playwrights. Hipbone Studio, 1847 E Burnside St., No. 104, 358-0898. 3 pm Sunday, Jan. 24. $10.
*I Hate Positive Thinking
Performance artist Faith Helma is a creative guide who's here to take down the self improvement agency one vague, unrealistic idea at a time. She recognizes the beauty of "flawed glory" and finding "freedom through failure" in her fully-staged personal manifesto, which she's been crafting for over a year. Shout House, 210 SE Madison St., No. 11., 971-266-1765. 7:30 pm Friday-Sunday, Jan. 22-24 & 29-31 and Feb. 5-7. $16.
*I Want to Destroy You
Loosely inspired by the life of Chris Burden, an artist who had a friend shoot him in the arm as part of a performance art piece, Theatre Vertigo's play explores themes of gun ethics and education in juxtaposition with Burden's story. Shoebox Theatre, 2110 SE 10th Ave., 306-0870. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23, $20.
*In Toxic
Addiction—not only to drugs, but a larger societal addiction to fossil fuels, is the driving theme in this play, which features eight actors and elements of magical realism to tell the partially autobiographical story of two sisters growing up in a small, religious community. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23 and 2 pm Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 23-24. $10.
*Matthew McConaughey vs. the Devil
A comedic musical adaptation of Faust, told through Matthew McConaughey's tried and tired journey to winning an Oscar. Director and playwright Emilie Landmann calls her musical a show "for people who don't like theater." Presented as a reading with songs. Lakewood Theatre Company, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego, 7 pm, Tuesday, Jan. 26. $10.
*Multnomah Village Now
Portland's changing identity and the role of Multnomah Arts Center in the community is explored in Amy Jo McCarville's new play. Presented as a workshop over six events. Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Highway, 7 pm Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23 & 29-30 and 3 pm Sunday, Jan. 24 & 31. $10.
*Noise in the Waters: Music & Theatre on the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis
Stories of the journeys made by migrants across the Mediterranean are told in this English translation of Teatro delle Albe's piece, Rumore di Acque, in a special performance by Boom Arts and Al-Andalus Ensemble. Boom Arts is known for timely, cross-cultural plays, while Al-Andalus Ensemble is a group that blends African, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean musical styles. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 4 pm Sunday, Jan. 24. $20-$30.
*Ophelia in Oblivion
Borrowing Ophelia from Hamlet, who goes mad because there's no other way to express herself, poet and first-time playwright S. Renee Mitchell weaves a story about how love and relationships can become corrupt, exploring mother-daughter relationships in her original full-length play, which will be presented as a staged reading. Celebration Tabernacle Church, 8131 N. Denver Ave., 489-7804. 7:30 pm Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23 and 2:30 pm Sunday, Jan. 24. $10-$40.
*Perspective
Fifteen-year-old Mark delves into themes about exploring your own identity when your family is flawed, as both his birth parents and adopted parents seem to be, in the third play in Redmond Reams' series. The first two plays, Shadows and Threshold, are about Mark's life as toddler in foster care and as a five-year-old entering kindergarten, will be performed Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1 pm and 3 pm. Twilight Theater Company, 7515 N Brandon Ave., 847-9839. 7 pm Sunday, Jan. 24. $15.
*Psychic Utopia
Reminiscent of the tragically fascinating Jonestown story, this play explores the desire to create a place of ultimate freedom in the Oregon desert and the consequences of that desire. Psychic Utopia is the next play to watch out for in Portland, a dram-com inspired by the former Rajneeshpuram community and how it's now the site of a Christian children's camp. It's still being brainstormed by Hand2Mouth Theatre's team, I Hate Positive Thinking creator Faith Helma and Oregon Book Award winner Andrea Stolowitz. And f you know theater, that gets you excited. Presented as a workshop by Hand2Mouth Theatre with dramaturg Jess Drake and Stolowitz. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St., 971-803-7712. 7:30 pm Monday, Jan. 25. Free.
*Rimbaud's Daughter in Louisiana (or The Drunken Pirogue)
Set in the 1890s, Steve Patterson's play, which received the Portland Civic Theatre Guild's New Play Award, is about a Cajun woman looking her her father, who she believes is the French poet Arthur Rimbaud. She is joined by a French woman, and the duo travel through Louisiana together. Presented as a reading. Cerimon House, 5131 NE 23rd Ave., 971-322-5387. 7 pm Monday, Jan. 25. $10; The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 971-322-5387. 10:30 am Tuesday, Jan. 26. $8.
*Shackleton, The Untold Story
The sixth installment in Portland Story Theater's successful seafaring series about explorer Ernest Shackleton and the British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914 tells the true story of the 10 men in the Ross Sea Party. The first play, Shackleton's Antarctic Nightmare in 2008, went on to be performed off-Broadway. Alberta Abbey, 126 NE Alberta St., 284-2226. 8 pm Saturday, Jan. 23 & 30. $15.
NEW REVIEWS
The Book of Mormon
Let's talk legacy. I remember my high-school class gathering around the ol' Pentium II to watch South Park precursor The Spirit of Christmas from a purple-bottomed CD-R. I am old, which means kids in college have never known a world without Matt Stone and Trey Parker. When they are old, will anyone remember the erstwhile Kenny killers and BASEketball gods? If anyone does, it'll be because The Book of Mormon is still touring.The Tony-winning musical, which combines a faithful retelling of Mormon history with the story of a modern-day Joseph Smith, has some of the most memorable songs this side of Chicago.The Keller's current production presents those songs well. Elder Cunningham, who I'd always cast as a Jonah Hill type, is played by A.J. Holmes, a spazzy Andy Samberg type. His partner, golden boy Elder Price as played by Billy Harrigan Tighe, comes across less like a charismatic Boy Scout than an unlikable Vietnam-era lieutenant. But once the singing starts, everything makes sense and the Keller delivers a better-than-solid production of a new American classic. MARTIN CIZMAR. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 800-273-1530. 7:30 pm Tuesday-Saturday; 2 pm & 7:30 pm Saturday; 1 pm & 6:30 pm Sunday, Jan. 12-24. $40-$154.
*Ethyl's Pies: A Comedy of Deception in Two Acts
Dry Gulch, Nevada (a 200-person town on a good day) is home to Ethyl's Pies, a dusty diner and gas station decorated with clashing plaid, floral and an American flag. Ethyl is dead, 20 customers is a booming day and everyone agrees that the pies suck. Even so, Birdie and Murph have worked there every day for the past 30 years. Until one day, Birdie starts aching for change. This two-man, two-act show from Spring 4th Productions founders Tobin Gollihar and Ian Paul Sieren is like an improv game—the two men switch deftly between four characters rotating through Ethyl's, from a draft dodger to an orphaned Californian. It's a darkly comedic snapshot of a place in stasis with a script that doesn't rely on clichés or one-liners. Beside some absurd moments—Sieren acting out a human slideshow, and Gollihar wistfully singing "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret—the dialogue is never gimmicky and the dry humor rolls off the actors' tongues like they're making it up on the spot. In a play that's largely about feeling stuck—Spring 4th never makes the audience feel that way. Read the full review here. SOPHIA JUNE. Y Arts Little Theater, 6036 SE Foster Rd. 7:30 pm Friday-Sunday, Jan 15-Feb. 7. $15.
*The Yellow Wallpaper
Things get animalistic and filthy by the end of this stunning world premiere adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's classic short story, and you'd never expect it from the tight-lipped Victorian setting. The garden home looks like Pride and Prejudice, the husband is perfect in his coattails and the china came from Paris. But when a new mother is prescribed a "rest cure" for nervousness and begins imagining a woman living in her wallpaper, the psychological twists roll in fast. Imaginative staging plays with your head, as wallpaper projected around the theater twists like a psychedelic screensaver and a woman (Diana Schultz) weaves in and out of panels around the stage. Creator and star Grace Carter paired with local playwriting legend Sue Mach to adapt the story and pen a new intro, CoHo's artistic director Philip Cuomo directs and the athletic crawling scenes were choreographed by Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble's Paige McKinney. "Looks like a lot of cleanup," said a patron leaving opening night. The set, yes. The production itself is near-perfect. Read a behind-the-scenes here. ENID SPITZ. CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 220-2646. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, Through Feb. 6. $28.
ALSO PLAYING
Geronimo Stilton: Mouse in Space
Oregon Children's Theatre stages the epic space journey of Geronimo, star rodent of Elisabetta Dami's Geronimo Stilton book series. When evil forces attack his home in New Mouse City, Geronimo lives up to his name (first, not last) and gets launched into space to head the rescue mission. Newmark Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 228-9571. 2 and 5 pm Saturday, 11 am and 2 pm Sunday, through Feb. 14. $18-$32.
Golden Boy
In this 1937 Broadway classic by Clifford Odets, Joe seems golden as a violin prodigy, until the glamour of the ring ropes him in. Former Post5 Theatre Company co-artistic director Ty Boyce stars. Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S State St., Lake Oswego, 635-3901. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, through Feb. 14. $32.
In The Boom Boom Room
David Rabe's 1972 play about a go-go dancer whose tumultuous relationship with her parents sends her tailspinning into gender-blind sexual romps get paired with video interviews from Portland residents about what's changed? Shaking the Tree Theatre, 823 SE Grant St., 235-0635. 7:30 pm Thursday-Saturday, through Feb. 5. $12.
COMEDY & VARIETY
Nathan Brannon's live album recording is Friday, Jan. 22. Read WW's Q&A with Brannon here.
Josh Wolf
Comedian, writer and actor Josh Wolf is a regular guest and writer for Chelsea Lately, wrote a book titled It Takes Balls: Dating Single Moms and Other Confessions From an Unprepared Single Dad and once worked as a spokesperson for Nintendo in Seattle. Helium Comedy Club, 1510 SE 9th Ave., 888-643-8669. 8 pm Thursday, Jan. 21, 7:30 & 10 pm Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23. $16-$33. 21+.
Who's Metal As Fuck?
Portland's best, and only, heavy metal comedy game show pits local comics against each other in an effort to earn points by deciphering lyrics and explaining music videos to the less metal people in the crowd. Funhouse Lounge, 2432 SE 11th Ave., 10 pm Friday, Jan. 22. $5. 21+.
DANCE
*Displaced
It's fitting, perhaps even intentional, that SubRosa Dance Collective, known for having an international and multiracial focus, should perform a show about being physically and emotionally displaced at Conduit, the studio that lost its performance space earlier this year and was forced to relocate. The show will include some immersive aspects and audience participation, just in time for widespread January rent increases. Conduit Dance, 2505 SE 11th Ave., No. 120, 6 pm Friday-Saturday, Jan. 22-23 and Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 30-31. $15.
*Groovin' Greenhouse feat. Polaris Dance
Polaris is almost single-handedly making dance big at this year's festival, showcasing a different company at each Groovin' Greenhouse performance. The first is its own company doing solo and group pieces, including the premiere of Robert Guitron's "What's Wrong". SOPHIA JUNE. Polaris Dance Theatre, 1826 NW 18th Ave., 7:30 pm Thursday, Jan. 21. $20-$22.
*Groovin' Greenhouse feat. Polaris Junior Company
Polaris Junior Company, dances a new work titled "Pierce," choreographed by Jocelyn Edelstein and M'Liss Quinnly, who is one of Polaris' founding members. The show features music from German electronic artists Apparat and Ellen Allien. Polaris Dance Theatre, 1826 NW 18th Ave., 7:30 pm Friday, Jan. 22 and 2 pm Sunday, Jan. 24 & 31. $20-$22.
*Groovin' Greenhouse feat. Portland Bellydance Guild
These three-minute pieces showcase four distinct styles of belly dance, from folkloric to cabaret. Bevin Victoria self-choreographs a dance about the history of belly dancing. Polaris Dance Theatre, 1826 NW 18th St., 380-5472. 7:30 pm Saturday, Jan. 23. $20-$22.
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