Books & Talks

Kate Carroll de Gutes

7:30 p.m. Sun, Powell's City of Books, FREE
In 2012, Oregon Book Award winner Kate Carroll de Gutes began a 30-day challenge to replace the risotto pics and pithy travel updates of Facebook—the modern-day “back fence” as she calls it—with honest communication about her personal life. That project became a weekly practice, and now a series of essays brought together in The Authenticity Experiment: Lessons from the Best and Worst Year of My Life, a frank examination of grief, anxiety, and the joy of not pretending.

Comedy

Sandra Valls

9 p.m. Sat, Funhouse Lounge, $15 ($75 VIP)
After an appearance at July’s Queer Comedy Fest, Sandra Valls returns for one night of extended stand-up. Valls has appeared on several Showtime specials, and Curve magazine named her one of the their top 10 funniest lesbian comics. Prepare for stories ranging from her “super Mexican” upbringing to explanations of “butch talk.”

Dance

Diva Practice

8 p.m. Thu–Sun, The Headwaters Theatre, $20
On stage, one of the city’s best-known drag queens puts a Donald Trump mask on, morphing it through gestures and video manipulations. It’s part of the show Diva Practice, which Pepper Pepper says is both a research project and “a performance about queens dancing in the face of uncertainty.” The Trump section is a relatively new addition. “It’s definitely a heavy-handed statement inside the piece,” Pepper says. “But part of Diva Practice has always been politically conscious and aware of power structures, and it would be ridiculous not to acknowledge the power structure that is the presidency of the United States.” Still not sold? Here are four reasons you must see the show.

Dancenorth Australia

8 p.m. Thu–Sat, Lincoln Hall, $25–34
Dancenorth Australia performs Attractor, 60 minutes of choreographed contact dance with no intermission. Javanese experimental duo Senyawa provides the rhythm: multilingual vocals, intermixed with primal grunts and the sounds of homemade bamboo string instruments. For the final 15 minutes, the Queensland dance troupe will share the stage with 20 pre-selected audience members, who’ll perform simple moves.

Film

The Beyond with Live Score

6 and 8 p.m. Thu, Hollywood Theatre, SOLD OUT
Just in time for Halloween, the Hollywood Theatre brings back Italian horror composer Fabio Frizzi—joined by a seven-piece orchestra—for a screening of The Beyond, Lucio Fulci’s 1981 gore fest.­

Queer Horror Halloween

9:30 p.m. Fri, Hollywood Theatre, $8–10
“Make it Satanic and make it feminist.” That’s the directive Portland drag clown Carla Rossi gave a slew of local and national directors, who’ve created short films for this Halloween-themed evening. Plus: death metal burlesque, performed live. 

Cat Videos Live!

8 p.m. Sun, Aladdin Theater, $31
How much do you really love cats? This is basically comic con for cat lovers, an attempt to socialize the masses who generally prefer to watch spooked felines and frowny furry faces in solitude. Join an all-ages crowd for internet cat videos on the big screen, with a portion of ticket proceeds benefiting Panthera, which is devoted to the conservation of big cats, and Friends for Life, an animal rescue and adoption organization.

Music

Alvvays

9 p.m. Fri, Doug Fir Lounge, SOLD OUT
The Toronto indie group, whose Nova Scotia-born front woman Molly Rankin ever so gently channels the Cranberries, released its second full-length album, Antisocialites, in September.

EMA / The Blow

9 p.m. Sat, Mississippi Studios, $15–18
Erika M. Anderson’s third solo album, Exile in the Outer Ring, speaks—through breathy vocals over an array of synthesizers—to the paralyzing effects of polarization in the nation. In “Down and Out,” she pleads, “What were you hoping for?” Opening for her are Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne of electro-pop duo the Blow, who released Brand New Abyss in September.

Las Migas

7:30 p.m. Sun, Winningstad Theatre, $30
With a Latin Grammy nomination for their most recent album, Vente Conmigo, this all-lady quartet blends flamenco and Mediterranean sounds. This tour also brings special choreography from vocalist Alba Carmona.

Theater

CLOSING Caught

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, 2 p.m. Sat–Sun, Artists Repertory Theatre, $50
A cross between live theater and visual art, Christopher Chen’s Caught explores America’s obsession with the intersection of fact and fiction as it relates to art. Chinese artist Lin Bo, whose work once offended his country’s government so severely that he was arrested and incarcerated for two years, will give an introduction prior to each performance. Plus, catch static components of Bo’s work on display in the theater lobby through October from noon–6 p.m., Tuesdays–Sundays.

OPENING The Events

7:30 p.m. Fri–Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, Imago Theatre, $25–45
Third Rail Rep presents The Events, David Greig’s drama of forgiveness and healing after a community choir faces sudden tragedy. The play—which won a Scotsman Fringe First Award in 2013—will also feature live community choirs from the area.

OPENING Year of the Rooster

7:30 p.m. Fri–Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, CoHo Theater, $20–32
Lauded by the New York Times as “astonishingly entertaining,” Olivia Dufault’s fierce comedy takes on the high-stakes world of cockfighting—in the process requiring several performers to portray the beaked brawlers themselves.

Visual Art

CLOSING Thomas Roma and Karolin Klüppel

Noon–5 p.m. Thu–Sun, Blue Sky Gallery, FREE
Photographer Karolin Kluppel’s Kingdom of Girls focuses on young girls from the Indian village Mawlynnong, a matriarchal society where the family’s land is passed to the youngest daughter. Thomas Roma’s photos, Plato’s Dogs, take inspiration from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, in which the philosopher sees shadows on the wall as a misrepresentation of reality. Roma captures silhouettes in an attempt to convey each dog’s “essential self.” 

Representing

10 a.m.–8 p.m. Thu–Fri, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sat–Sun, FREE–$19.99
PAM’s exhibit brings together photographs that were taken by, for, and of African Americans, spanning the late 1800s through the 1990s. Portraits from the estate of a prominent North Portland family appear alongside vernacular snapshots and found Polaroids—vivid glimpses into life over the course of more than a century. Plus: we’ve got a slideshow of images from the exhibit.

CLOSING A Situation of Meat

Noon–5 p.m. Fri–Sun, Disjecta, FREE
From a childhood bedroom dripping with maraschino cherries to videos of chicken feet and pink dahlias, the five artists in Disjecta's latest exhibit explore contemporary femme identity—both the beautiful and the grotesque.