BOOKS & TALKS

Los Porteños 10th Anniversary Reading
7 p.m. Thursday, Literary Arts, FREE
Started a decade ago as a Spanish-speaking writers group, Los Porteños has grown to become a critical cultural link in the local arts scene. Now offering several yearly readings as well as theater collaborations, the organization has come a long way from those informal Sunday critique sessions back in 2006. To commemorate their success, Porteños members host a free reading featuring poetry, fiction, and memoir in English, but with translations and code-switching in Spanish, Mixtec, and Nahuatl.

iO Tillett Wright
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Powell's City of Books, FREE
In his new memoir, Darling Days, the New York artist and activist recounts growing up gender fluid in the East Village, with a fiercely protective but mentally ill mother and a heroin-addicted father. For more, check out our Q&A with Wright.

Jonathan Safran Foer
7 p.m. Friday, Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing, FREE
In Here I Am, the author of Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close takes us inside a Jewish family in Washington, DC, as their domestic struggles unfold against a backdrop of catastrophe in the Middle East.

National Geographic Live: Exploring Mars
7:30 p.m. Friday, Newmark Theatre
Is there anyone out there or are we all alone? Did the red planet once support life? Join NASA mechanical engineer Kobie Boykins to delve into the secrets of our nearest planetary neighbor. Boykins helped send rovers Spirit and Opportunity to Mars (Opportunity is still rolling), and monitored groundbreaking studies that prove the former presence of water.

Jacob Needleman
4 p.m. Sunday, Powell's City of Books, FREE
Philosopher and author Jacob Needleman stops by for a discussion of his latest book, I Am Not I, followed by a book signing. Know as the father of the “New Religion Movement,” Needleman has penned numerous texts on the meaning of religion.

COMEDY

Bianca Del Rio
8 p.m. Thursday, Newmark Theatre
Christened by the New York Times as “the Joan Rivers of the drag world,” the season 6 winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race has a mission to make brutal fun of just about everyone, all while painted in some high volume makeup.

Trevor Noah
7:30 p.m. Friday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
When the South African comedian took over The Daily Show from Jon Stewart, he stepped into some of the hugest shoes in showbiz—and is definitely still filling them. But even when he could hit a little (or a lot) harder, there’s no doubt he has charm to burn.

MUSIC

Dinosaur Jr.
8 p.m. Thursday, Crystal Ballroom
It’s fair to say that J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Patrick “Murph” Murphy helped define alt-rock in the 1990s. The group, which reunited in 2005 after a long split, is known for melancholy ballads, a skater aesthetic, mumbled lyrics, and incredibly loud sets. Expect to hear tracks from their 11th studio album, Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not, released in August.

The Music of David Bowie
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
No one can replace the Thin White Duke, but vocalist Tony Vincent and a full band will put forth a valiant effort, playing the likes of “Changes,” “Under Pressure,” and “Space Oddity.” If there was ever an occasion to dress up for the symphony, even in casual Portland, it’s tonight.

Bebel Gilberto
7:30 p.m. Friday, Winningstad Theatre
In 2000, the Brazilian vocalist sashayed onto the world stage with her hit CD Tanto Tiempo and fans everywhere sighed to hear her honeyed voice. Now she brings her unique mix of jazz, electronics, and bossa nova to Portland, presenting songs from her nine albums, including her latest, Tudo.

Different Trains
7:30 p.m. Friday–Saturday, Oregon Rail Heritage Center
New music ensemble Third Angle celebrates the 80th birthday of groundbreaking composer Steve Reich—behold, the power of tape loops!—with a program of his three string quartets.

Drive-By Truckers and Lydia Loveless
9 p.m. Friday–Saturday, Wonder Ballroom
This double bill—some alt-country rockers plus a fierce country-punk star—prove this musical genre can have a sharp set of teeth.

Lindsey Stirling
8 p.m. Saturday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, SOLD OUT
The YouTube-famous violinist excels at perplexing music critics with her combination of EDM, New Age vibes, and classical lite.

DJ Shadow
9 p.m. Saturday, Roseland Theater
Twenty years ago, this turntable whiz released Endtroducing, introducing listeners to the wide, wild world of sampling. Shadow is still at it—his fifth full-length album, The Mountain Will Fall, came out in June.

Peaches
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Wonder Ballroom
When Peaches released Rub in 2015, it was her first new album in six years. But she’s roared back with all the ferocity, style, and sexually powerful lyrics we’ve come to expect from the famously transgressive art-pop star.

THEATER

Little Shop of Horrors
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Friday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, Gerding Theater
With this revival of the 1982 off-Broadway hit, Portland Center Stage more than delivers on the musical’s gleefully biting tone and earworm tunes. With great set design, sharp performances, and one mean mother of a plant, the local company perfects it. Need more convincing? Here's our full review.

Looking for Tiger Lily
7:30 p.m. Friday and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Hollywood Theatre
Portland performer Anthony Hudson recounts growing up as a gay, TV-obsessed, half-white, half-Native American kid in Keizer, Oregon, and digs into his still-conflicted sense of identity. Plus, check out our preview of the show.

Come Inside: A Sex & Culture Theater Festival
Various times Thursday–Sunday, The Headwaters
Dance Naked Productions revives this "smut-positive" festival, bringing together eight shows exploring—among many other things—phone sex, horny tomboys, the goings-on of a professional dungeon, awkward sex talks, masturbation in the Montreal airport, and cosmic sexology. 

OPENING Jekyll & Hyde
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, Brunish Theatre
Stumptown Stages presents a pop-rock adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of good versus evil.

OPENING Richard III
7:30 p.m. Friday–Sunday, Post5 Theatre
Post5 puts the spotlight on one of Shakespeare’s gnarliest villains, in a production directed by Patrick Walsh.

OPENING The Nether
7:30 p.m. Friday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Imago Theatre
In a not-too-distant dystopian future, men frequent an online realm to prey on virtual Victorian children. That’s the setting for Jennifer Haley’s disconcerting new play, which caused a critical stir after its London premiere—some deemed it sensationalistic, while others hailed its sly moral provocations. Scott Yarbrough directs this Third Rail production.

CLOSING The Gun Show
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, CoHo Theater
Newtown. San Bernardino. Orlando. As we continue to reel, this play by the Oregon-raised E. M. Lewis about her experiences with guns is particularly (and tragically) timely. For this CoHo show, Lewis sits in the audience as Portland actor Vin Shambry performs onstage. Plus, check out our Q&A with Lewis.

CLOSING The Graduate
7:30 p.m. Thursday–Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Venetian Theatre
Hillsboro’s Bag & Baggage takes on a stage adaptation of the classic ’60s tale of seduction and alienation.

VISUAL ART

CLOSING Sharita Towne
10 a.m.–6 pm Thursday–Saturday, Newspace Center for Photography, FREE
In Our City in Stereo, Towne uses stereographs—a form of 3-D photography pioneered in the mid-19th century—to explore gentrification and displacement today.

CLOSING Carol Benson and Michael Knutson
11 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday–Saturday, Blackfish Gallery, FREE
For Sewn Constructions, Benson finds inspiration in quilting, weaving, and knitting. She uses canvas leftovers to create variations on the traditional handicrafts. Knutson, meanwhile, fills his geometric paintings with spiraling circles and eye-catching neon. 

Photography and Contemporary Experience
10 a.m.–8 p.m. Thursday–Friday and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday–Saturday, Portland Art Museum
From Penelope Umbrico’s iPhone-processed nature shots to Richard Mosse’s hot-pink-hued images of war, this show draws together a wide range of modern photography.