Family, Fear and Identity Have Emerged as Some of the Fertile Ground’s Defining Themes

From Climate Activist Puppets to Presidential Affairs, Fertile Ground Returns With Engaging New Works

Sex, Puppets and a Beauty Pageant are Coming to Portland Stages This Winter

Fertile Ground 2019 Concludes With Monsters and Musicals

Fertile Ground 2019 is literally ending on a high note with an array of plays that includes several striking musicals. The Broken Planetarium’s Sirens of Coos Bay is a rock-and-roll revamp of The Little Mermaid, Holly Yurth Harmon’s Welcome to Zion uses song to take us inside the mind of a tormented gay Mormon and Lily Valentine Productions’ disconnected: a frankenstein musical is exactly what it sounds like—except when it isn’t.

Teen Detectives, Embattled Siblings and an Airport are Among Fertile Ground’s Highlights

“Electricity”—that’s the word playwright Maeve Z recently used to describe the vibe of Fertile Ground. The aggressive pace of the festival of new works, she points out, forces you to go onstage before you are ready. There isn’t always time to finesse every detail in the lighting design or rehearse to perfection all the emotional beats. Sometimes you simply have to trust that what you are offering will thrill, move or entertain.

Fertile Ground Celebrates its 10th Anniversary With an Epic Lineup

With a terrifically diverse group of artists and a slate of productions that promises to take us around the world—from World War II Germany to a post-apocalyptic Portland—Fertile Ground 2019 looks to be a fitting culmination of the festival’s first decade. Here are 10 of this year’s can’t-miss events.

Get Ready for Clowns, a Teenage Richard III and Barbara Streisand in Local Theater

The following is a schedule of the most promising plays that will run in Portland through March. For all we know, these 10 works will deflate in the face of the hype and be eclipsed by something no one is on the lookout for. But all of the theater companies behind these productions are renowned for their creativity, ingenuity and guts. If you’re wondering what to see in 2019, this lineup is a place to start.

This All-Female Frankenstein Cabaret Ties in the Year's Most Controversial Rape Case

The avant-garde burlesque variety show turns Mary Gothic novel on its monster-green head, exploring women’s suppressed desires, sexual liberation and rape culture.