Mike Lew’s Teenage Dick at Artists Repertory Theatre, directed by Josh Hecht, adapts Shakespeare’s Tragedy of King Richard III to the drama-prone environs of a present day high school. 17-year-old…
The play about everything
In Annie Baker’s John, directed by Rebecca Lingafelter, young Jenny and Elias visit a bed and breakfast in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a few days after Thanksgiving, dragging their relationship baggage with…
Death comes for the human archetype
Human beings may find a cure for death someday, but until that happens, we all live with the knowledge we are going to die. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Everybody, which runs through…
Book pedalers
Laura Moulton stood in front of the art museum next to a cargo bike stuffed with books last month at the Portland Book Festival. Among the titles displayed were Ralph…
The man who can say (almost) anything
David Sedaris wants to give you two pieces of advice on public speaking: Keep to your time limit and don’t tell jokes about fisting. These and other nuggets of wisdom…
Portland’s other independent bookstores
Annie Bloom’s Books: 7834 SW Capitol Hwy., annieblooms.com This shop in Multnomah Village, which opened in 1978, is quaint but not in a frivolous way, complete with green awning out…
The world’s nicest man
You wouldn’t expect the World’s Nicest Man to turn up at an obscure literary event. At the Portland Book Festival, on the other hand, an internationally known figure such as…
Shadow of Demons: from Africa to Afru Gallery
In a nondescript industrial building in Buckman, demons, flesh-eating beasts and frightening human faces cover the walls, painted in vibrant colors on canvases made from jumbo flour sacks. These hand-painted…
Book cosmopolis
The Portland Book Festival, formerly known as Wordstock, returns Nov. 10 to Portland Art Museum and surrounding venues with 157 authors and presenters appearing on nine stages, plus writing workshops,…
Sustaining Portland’s culture of reading and reuse
According to Bryn Johns-Hunter, retail operations manager for Friends of Multnomah County Library, there is no such thing as having too many books. I agree, and I know I am…