Oregon Shakespeare Festival Launches Shakespeare Translation project

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is commissioning 36 playwrights to translate 39 Shakespeare plays into contemporary modern English. The OSF announced the three-year project this week, in which playwrights — among them Lisa Peterson, Lloyd Suh, and Taylor Mac—are paired with dramaturges with the goal of increasing understanding and connection with the Bard’s works. Play on! 36 playwrights translate Shakespeare is being led by OSF’s Lue Morgan Douthit. 

"'Translate' is an inadequate word because it implies a word-for-word substitution, which isn’t what we’re doing,” she explains. “I’m going for something much more subtle. But I like the rigor that ‘translate’ implies. What excites me the most about this is who will dig into these texts… It will be the geekiest exercise ever.”

Portlandia’s 30^th Birthday Party

Portlandia—the sculpture, people, not the show—turns 30 next week, and you’re all invited to the party! The Raymond Kaskey sculpture of hammered copper took three years to complete but has been a presence at The Portland Buliding for three decades now. Mayor Charlie Hales, Arts Commissioner Nick Fish and former mayor Bud Clark will be among those attending the October 8 celebratory shindig at noon at the Standard Insurance Plaza, while the big voiced chanteuse Storm Large will be singing Happy Birthday to the trident-toting copper goddess.

Pure Bathing Culture’s New Track

Portland’s indie pop/rockers Pure Bathing Culture have a new track out, with a brand spanking new video to match. “Singer” is a track from the band’s forthcoming album Pray for Rain, out on October 23. The video was filmed at Braund Sound in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and features Otto Hauser (touring drummer for Sharon Van Etten and Jeff Tweedy) on percussion. Have a look and listen here...