Matt: The Armory doesn't present anything. The name of the company whose productions you are referring to is Portland Center Stage.

And if I never see another production of Twelth Night, it will still be too soon.

I hate you more than ever, because you've made me jealous.

I wish my brother was getting gay-married too.

(Actually, its the play. McKellen as King Lear. Fuck! enjoy)

j'adore dumbledore? it's a nice rhyme, but shouldn't it be j'adore gandalf? not quite the same ring, but a little more nerdily accurate.

Screw Harry Potter. I've never read it. Never watched it. Never liked it. And now, I mis-reference it. Screw that little boy. Bugger him.

I mean, culturally speaking.

Oh, it turns out I was right. I withdraw my comments.

Take a trip down to Ashland come February. Their Shakespeare Festival is outstanding and is more impressive than anything I've seen in Portland.

Might do, Sara. But why don't they put it on here? I don't have a car!

That bit about Shakespeare being populist is absolutely right.

My favorite bit of Shakespeare trivia:

By most accounts, Shakespeare's most commercially successful play during his lifetime was Titus Andronicus -- primarily due to the disproportionately large number of stabbings, beheadings, and grisly mutilations that occur on stage. It was bloody and violent as visceral as fuck, and those Elizabethan peasants just couldn't get enough of it. It was like Grindhouse in iambic pentameter.

EXACTLY.

And he can still play like that, if the director gets it.

Bloody theater crowd. I blame Noel Coward.

You can get to Ashland by bus, Matt. And it's worth the trip and cost. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Richard III a few years ago was the best theatre production I've ever seen, anywhere.

PCS actually tried a daring and engaging Merchant of Venice a few years ago. Young people loved it, old people didn't; old people canceled subscriptions, and so PCS stepped back. Asking why there isn't good Shakespeare in Portland is like asking why there aren't any women composers. Just look, and by the time you find some you'll understand better the reasons you didn't think they (or it) existed.

Matt, I'm curious to know what that rather harsh assessment of "Shakespeare done in Portland" is based on— what have you seen here in town?

IMO, the Northwest Classical Theater Company does very good work—their recent As You Like It was hilarious. The director "got it." And speaking of, Beaton, Titus Andronicus runs there through the weekend.

http://www.nwctc.org/

It's no Royal Shakespeare Company, but it is a solid crop of actors striving to produce work that is as accessible as possible.

And I'll second that Ashland is worth the bus ride.

Alison: I've not seen any. That's why I wrote the post. If anything had been any good, I've had heard about it and gone. But thanks for the tips.

Why was the production of As You Like It so funny?

So, you're saying you've already heard of everything that's any good in this city, and if you haven't heard of something, it therefore must not be any good?

Ay to both.

It's all here, buddy.

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=388331&category=22143

Sorry you missed hearing about it.

I can relate with this clever journalistic expose: everything back in my hometown of Intercourse, PA is better than its PDX counterpart. Since the whole world revolves around me, I am justified in bringing this to the attention of those around me, so that they can endeavor to improve Portland culture to my liking.

Thanks, Alison! That looks like a great show, and I'm sorry I didn't pay more attention when it came out. It's a shame those guys aren't replacing Underpants at the Armory this Winter, and that they have to play for free with police sirens blaring in the background. But I agree with you on the intention of what they're doing.

Toilet: The first thing that needs to improve in "Portland culture" is our getting on the defensive whenever anybody says we could do better. Touchiness doesn't help us improve.

There used to be a fab Shakespeare company in PDX - Tigres Heart. Gritty, professional theater that took chances. and made Will approachable.

NWCTC does a good job considering their budget but for good Bard, you've got to pay the actors! Ashland is worth the trip.

To quote Hamlet, act III, scene II:"Ashland it is, then! Ashland, it is!"

I was in London back in September and I managed to make it to two plays. I caught Merchant of Venice at the Shakespeare theater down on the Thames. It was a traditional production but only one guy was dressed in drag and he was merely an extra. Highlights: a kiss between the two male leads and one character puking stage vomit into the standing-room-only crowd up front. The 30 middle-schoolers down there went nuts for it all.

Perhaps more interesting was Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart down in Picadilly Circus. It was one those "modernized" productions and it was set in a bizzaro version of Cold War -era Scotland overtaken by communists. The characters were all trapped in some sort of dilapidated mental hospital. The Weird Sisters were dressed as nuns and they worked their mojo over three corpses in body bags instead of cauldrons. Throughout, movie projectors blasted disturbing imagery of swirling blood and other horrors on the walls. Other highlights: Lady Macbeth contending with a sink spewing blood and Stewart getting into a knife fight on a cargo elevator attached to the backdrop.

The older crowd couldn't stand it. I overheard one lady, maybe 60, muttering "I absolutely hate it when they update Shakespeare's plays. I can't focus on the Bard's words with all this monkeying about." I enjoy this sort of thing myself. I've seen enough productions of Shakespeare with bored actors standing around in tights. I suppose it really depends on a person's preferred brand of pretension.

I've seen Ashland productions that follow the same route. A fantastic version of King Lear one year began Act 1 on a tiny set consisting only of a wall and four thrones. As the ol' king descended further and further into madness, the set opened up, eventually leaving him to wander around a gigantic blank "wilderness." By the conclusion, the characters were all back on the tiny set for a big, happy ending. A few years ago, according to a friend, they put together a proudction of Othello with a river of blood around the set. The lead paced around the stage during the intermission to further build dramatic tension.

This post was longer than it needed to be. I'm stuck at work and bored today. Here's hoping Gandalf puts on a show at least as good as Jean-Luc Picard did.

Man, Matt (and Alison too!) I wish you had gone to see Cheeseburger Dinner Theatre / Portlandian Theatrical Society's desecration (and I mean that in the best sense of the word) of Macbeth. It was hilarious, bawdy, epic, irreverent, deeply informed and what so much theatre isn't: a thrilling night out. And you can order cheap cheesburgers, onion rings & beer to eat while you watch! The name "cheeseburger dinner theatre" is not a joke: it is the literal truth.

You should both check out what they are up to next (though I know Matt was only trying to raise people's hackles and has no intention of seeing any theatre), it gets me really excited about theatre in Portland, particularly Shakespeare which I am generally not a huge fan of.

Brandon. This sounds awesome: "Perhaps more interesting was Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart down in Picadilly Circus. It was one those "modernized" productions and it was set in a bizzaro version of Cold War -era Scotland overtaken by communists. The characters were all trapped in some sort of dilapidated mental hospital. The Weird Sisters were dressed as nuns and they worked their mojo over three corpses in body bags instead of cauldrons. Throughout, movie projectors blasted disturbing imagery of swirling blood and other horrors on the walls. Other highlights: Lady Macbeth contending with a sink spewing blood and Stewart getting into a knife fight on a cargo elevator attached to the backdrop."

La Foi: Actually, I was expressing an opinion without trying to be ironic. I know that's new to Portland, but believe me, if your hackles were up, it wasn't my intention. When is the next Cheeseburger Macbeth? I'd definitely go.

I was also thinking: Why not put some Shakespeare on at the Acropolis? $3 steak, strippers, and Shakespeare? There's real potential. Let's start with Midsummer Night's Dream.

Matt: You didn't raise my hackles. I agree with you for the most part. I haven't seen any theatre in London but I hear it blows ours out of the water. I just thought you'd have a stronger case for writing about that assertion if you had a cursory knowledge of the Portland theatre scene. But that's ok, you're not a theatre critic.

Anyway, I don't know what Cheeseburger Dinner Theatre is up to next. But next time I'll champion their show before it closes! Maybe they'd be interested in putting on a show at the Acropolis...

How nice for you Matt, that you have the luxury of traveling to London where daddy has already set you up with tickets to what you seem to consider "more authentic" Shakespeare. McKellan is a phenomenal stage actor but methinks it really was his LOTR stint that put him on your radar in the first place.

Theater is an expression of community, Matt, so once you've decided you want to be a part of this one...feel free to get involved. If you're so disappointed in Portland theater, how bout asking daddy to put up a big donation to support one of the many local companies?

Re: Twelfth Night/Beard of Avon - Who are you, the great Carnac? You might at least check out the casting before droning their eulogy at the water-cooler.

Matt's insistence on well-reasoned argument does burn my brain.

I do suspect I have done some offence/That seems disgracious in the city's eyes,/And that you come to reprehend my ignorance.

Brandon: "A few years ago, according to a friend, they put together a proudction of Othello with a river of blood around the set. The lead paced around the stage during the intermission to further build dramatic tension."

That was seven years ago, and was the best theater production I've ever seen. Anthony Heald played Iago and was completely riveting. He eschewed the usual choice to play up any humor and chose instead to create a character simmering with rage that would absolutely flood over during his monologues. I still shiver when I think of him uttering the line, "I hate the moor." Fantastic production.

Greetings from Theatre Uber Alles and the Cheeseburger Dinner Theatre. Our mission statement is to do nothing for nobody except have a fucking good time (except in our children's Shakespeare classes where we have a darn good time.) From response of those who filled our house for the burlesque of Macbeth we can mark this one down as "mission accomplished". Look for us in late spring. Allison May will be bringing forth a new work by a local Portland writer.
The Shakespeare Liberation Army will return in fall with yet another desecration of some profound nature. Thanks for caring, Dawn (Mistress of the Arts and Crafts)