Books & Talks

Sloane Crosley

7 p.m. Thu, Literary Arts, FREE
In her third essay collection, Look Alive Out There, the sharp-witted writer takes on swingers, Gossip Girl, and fertility. She's joined in conversation by author (and recent Portland transplant) Chuck Klosterman.

Zulema Renee Summerfield

7:30 p.m. Fri, Powell's City of Books, FREE
In the sun-drenched Californian suburbs of the 1980s, the 8-year-old protagonist of Portlander Zulema Renee Summerfield’s debut novel, Every Other Weekend, adjusts to the logistical changes that come with her parents’ divorce, while battling anxiety about drought, Gorbachev, and other grown-up preoccupations.

James Comey

Noon Sat, Revolution Hall, SOLD OUT
Wonder how James Comey has been keeping busy ever since Trump famously fired him as the FBI director last May? Following in the longstanding tradition of other ousted and controversial government officials, he wrote a book—titled A Higher Loyalty—to document his untold experiences.

Dance

OPENING Early

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, A-WOL Dance Collective, $20–25
In Portlander Samuel Hobbs’ minimalist world, only movement, light, and sound exist. Hobbes is the artistic director of contemporary dance troupe push/FOLD, which presents his new piece, Early, exploring the juxtaposition of creation and destruction. Expect an intimate evening performed in-the-round.

CLOSING Man/Woman

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, Newmark Theatre, $29–102
It’s a gender showdown at Oregon Ballet Theatre, with a program of all-female and all-male works (plus a co-ed piece, for good measure) exploring stereotypes of femininity and masculinity. Among the mix: a men’s trio in blue tutus, James Canfield’s 1990 meditation on the AIDS crisis, and Michel Fokine’s iconic The Dying Swan. 

Film

Japanese Currents

7 p.m. Fri, 4:30 and 7 p.m. Sat, Whitsell Auditorium, $9
For the 11th year, the NW Film Center tosses the spotlight on Japan’s impressive cinematic landscape, with screenings of contemporary films from across genres, anime to documentary to comedy.

Music

Soul'd Out

Various times and venues thru Sun, prices vary
An embarrassment of riches: De La Soul, Wyclef Jean, and Cécile McLorin Salvant share billing in Portland’s annually awesome Soul’d Out Festival. Catch these and more of the best soul, hip-hop, R&B, and jazz music makers around at venues all over the city.

Frankie Cosmos

9 p.m. Fri, Wonder Ballroom, $15–17
Greta Kline, recently praised by the New York Times as “one of the leading lights of today’s fiercely independent singer-songwriter scene,” launched her musical career posting DIY home recordings on Bandcamp. Today, the 24-year-old Kline—who performs under the name Frankie Cosmos, with a backing band—is a fount of upbeat, quirky, and emotional songs, as showcased on her third and latest album, Vessel.

The Hope of Loving: The Music of Jake Runestad

7:30 p.m. Sat Agnes Flanagan Chapel, Lewis & Clark College, $17–20
Two Oregon choirs—Choral Arts Ensemble and Linn-Benton Chamber Choir—unite for an evening of emotional work by young composer Jake Runestad. For more, check out our event preview.

Theater

OPENING Major Barbara

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sun, Gerding Theater, $25–72
Chris Coleman, Portland Center Stage’s artistic director since 2000, has chosen a classic for his farewell production at the theater. (He’s leaving to take a similar job in Denver.) In George Bernard Shaw’s comedy, a wealthy capitalist father and his selfless, idealistic daughter feud over the best way to lift people out of poverty. Who will prevail?

OPENING Luna Gale

7:30 p.m. Fri–Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, CoHo Theatre, $25–32
Sexual abuse, drug addiction, and a custody battle: the stakes are high in Rebecca Gilman’s 2014 play, a peek into the moral murkiness (and sheer exhaustion) of social work. 

Quietly

7:30 p.m. Fri–Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, New Expressive Works, $20–25
When two middle-aged men walk into a bar in Belfast, an emotional reunion occurs in the very same place that transformed their lives more than 30 years ago. Owen McCafferty’s play, presented here by Corrib Theatre, finds the men—Ian (Tim Blough) and Jimmy (a commanding Corrib debut for Tim Rooney)—attempting a kind of reckoning with their past and grappling with the legacy of violence in their communities and personal lives, as a Polish bartender (Murri Lazaroff-Babin) bears necessary witness.

The Thanksgiving Play

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, Artists Repertory Theatre, $25–50
Here’s a Sisyphean project: a politically correct school pageant about both Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month. That’s the premise of Larissa FastHorse’s new satirical comedy, a world premiere commissioned by Artists Repertory Theatre. 

Visual Art

Crowns

Noon–6 p.m. Thu–Sun, Ori Gallery, FREE
New York–based Alisa Sikelianos-Carter explores black hair as armor, weaponry, and royal symbol, through collages of braids, dreads, and black textured hair: what she calls a response to—and an escape from—the policing and dehumanization of black bodies.

The Feeling Good Handbook

11 a.m.–6 p.m. Thu–Sat, Upfor Gallery, FREE
Heidi Hahn and Shana Moulton are determined to prove that neither the most sophisticated 21^st-century technology nor the “connections” made through social media can provide answers to the timeless existential questions of the human race. (No biggie, really.) The Feeling Good Handbook is their multimedia exhibit, featuring narrative paintings and episodic video works.

Special Events

TEDxPortland

8 a.m.–5 p.m. Sat, Keller Auditorium, $125–200
For its eighth year, the local TED offshoot takes on the theme of “Bridges,” with a wide-ranging group of speakers that includes Portland Police chief Danielle Outlaw, journalist Ann Curry, chef Peter Cho, musician Edna Vazquez, and architect Kevin Cavenaugh. Check out our event preview, and our spotlight on Instagram sensations the Gay Beards.