Barrett Johnson

I'd like you to think of this play as a boxing match. However, this is not a fight carried out with physicality, but with words, with implied meaning, and with silence. Words are our weapons here and words - equally - our weapons of defense. This is the nature of THE HOMECOMING.

Portland Center Stage opens up the season with SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, and a powerhouse ensemble makes this musical too impressive to miss. A great shot at show-of-the-year and a high end production that is packing the house. Tune in!

Broadway Rose returns with their well-casted, talent-fueled farce of the 1950s B-Movie in THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. With debuts and returns, the cast delivers a knockout!

HENRY V may be well remembered for its iconic wartime speeches, but is its intention as honest as it seems? The text provides strong evidence for its inception as a propaganda piece, but a strong delivery and production value deliver in classic Shakespearean fashion, with one or two twists along the way!

BWW journeys down to Ashland to the wildly magnificent Oregon Shakespeare Festival! First stop is ROMEO AND JULIET, set in California during the Mexican-American War. This treatment brings a fresh look and new conversation to the Bard's most famous romance. Part One in the OSF double feature!

There's a question that I know we've all been wrestling with for a long time now. A question that was answered in New York in 2006 when THE DROWSY CHAPERONE first premiered on Broadway, and a question that the Broadway Rose Theater Company has finally allowed Portland to answer as well. Can a 1920s Jazz-Age musical in all its spectacle and glory be performed in an elderly man's apartment? Finally. And the answer is yes.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC remains as true to form as ever, made even more impressive by its slick direction, larger-than-life production value, and extensive cast that has talent (so close to literally!) pouring out into the aisles.

NOVEMBER by David Mamet falls short in this amateur production, but JANE theater company shows they've got heart.

A clown in a one-man cell. CoHo opens their 'Solo Summer' series with an absolute home run and though THE CENTERING has ended its run, the rest of the shows are only just beginning!

Four men in a pool. Wearing speedos. For 90 minutes. Sometimes, plays are just destined to be successful. PENELOPE shows through June 17th at the Winningstad Theatre!

Getting to pick the minds of the director, dramaturge, and two leads in one of the most exciting plays of the season? Never let such an opportunity go to waste. BWW chats with Jerry Mouawad, Laurence Kominz, Anne Sorce, and Matthew DiBiasio concerning their recent success, THE BLACK LIZARD

Though 'grotesque' and 'for adults only' are the buzzwords in the advertisement, THE BLACK LIZARD delivers a dynamic, entertaining, and incredibly knowing production at Imago Theatre, merging and subverting the traditional styles of Kabuki and Noir for a story that makes for more than just the wild ride.

At the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, NEXT TO NORMAL shows that musicals just require some conviction and fire to be successful. Mixing an ensemble of hard talent, a very full docket of songs, and a story of mental illness in a fragile family takes the audience on a troubling but not unhappy ride.

Portland Center Stage puts on ANNA KARENINA, and the women of both the story and the show are more dynamic than they get credit for. Also a much-needed discussion concerning adaptation decisions, Modernism's place in realist fiction, and why selling a joke can ruin can ruin a punchline. Runs through May 6.