Books & Talks

Poe Ballantine

7:30 p.m. Thu, Powell's City of Books, FREE
Whirlaway is acclaimed American novelist and essayist Poe Ballantine’s newest work of fiction, a comedic chronicle of the outrageous and messy situations that Eddie Plum—a patient who breaks out of a psychiatric hospital after 14 years—finds himself in while on the run from the fuzz. Among the capers? Horse racing, prostitutes, liquor, and a mysterious cliff-diving suicide.

Dance

Northwest Dance Project's Summer Performances

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, Lincoln Performance Hall, $34–58
To end its 14^th season, Northwest Dance Project showcases three original and eclectic contemporary works, including the world premiere of an untitled piece by internationally acclaimed resident choreographer Ihsan Rustem, featuring live accompaniment by Portland-based electro-acoustic musician Savage Nightingale. Then reality, memories, and dreams intertwine in MemoryHouse, choreographed by artistic director Sarah Slipper.  Rounding out the evening is Israeli choreographer Danielle Agami's playful This Time Tomorrow.

Music

Soweto Kinch

8 and 11 p.m. Thu, Jack London Revue, $20
The British saxophonist and MC is known for incorporating rap into his musical storytelling; he’s also found inspiration in Dante and mathematics. Live, he’s a lesson in improvisational energy and a genre-crossing jazz master.

Stars

8 p.m. Thu, Aladdin Theater, $22–25
Along with the likes of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, Stars was a part of Montreal’s indie outburst in the early 2000s. Last October, the electro-pop veterans dropped their ninth studio album, There Is No Love in Fluorescent Light, which Pitchfork praised as “airy and danceable.”

Oregon Zoo Summer Concerts

7 p.m. Thu and Sat, Oregon Zoo, $35–100
The zoo’s venerable alfresco series kicks off with reggae standby Ziggy Marley on June 14 and Violent Femmes on June 16, followed later by Belle & Sebastian (June 30), Punch Brothers and Andrew Bird (Aug 18), and Pink Martini (Aug 25–26). 

Justin Townes Earle

8 p.m. Fri, Aladdin Theater, $25
The Nashville-born-and-raised son of country folk legend Steve Earle calls Portland home now, and he’s no musical slouch himself. His most recent album, 2017′s Kids in the Street, is a 12-song ode to a gritty, grainy past and its characters, at once swinging and bluesy, that still manages to poke fun at country music cliché.

Theater

CLOSING Faust

7:30 p.m. Thu and Sat, Keller Auditorium, $35–250
In Gounod’s masterwork, hell breaks loose when an aging scientist gives his soul to the devil in exchange for another chance at youth. In addition to eye-catching sets and costumes, this special co-production by Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Portland Opera incorporates 3-D projection mapping by visual artist John Frame.

CLOSING Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, CoHo Theater, $25–45
Language is loaded—perhaps especially when it comes to sex and gender. Alice Birch’s play, presented here by Third Rail, blasts open those complications. “Kaleidoscopic, unruly, searing, sharply funny,” wrote the Guardian.

CLOSING I and You

7:30 p.m. Thu–Fri, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, Artists Repertory Theatre, $25–50
There’s no greater glue to unite two seemingly incompatible teenagers than a deep analysis of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” right? In this drama by Lauren Gunderson (one of the most produced playwrights in America), two classmates—Anthony is popular, athletic, and polite, while Caroline is feisty but homebound due to illness—find that the more familiar they become with Whitman’s poem, the closer they grow to one another.

OPENING The Secretaries

7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, Artists Repertory Theatre, $20–38
SlimFast shakes, synchronized menstrual cycles, and murder—those are the ingredients in this dark comedy by the Five Lesbian Brothers, presented here by Profile, about five women working in the secretarial pool at an Oregon lumber mill.

Broken Bone Bathtub

7 and 9 p.m. Thu–Sat, 2 and 4 p.m. Sun, locations vary, $25–30
An immersive theater production in the bathroom of a private home? The fourth wall is defiantly broken in Siobhan O’Loughlin’s one-woman show, which chronicles the performer’s experience of seeking help after a serious bike accident. The audience, gathered around a bathtub, help O’Loughlin wash herself as she digs into themes of trauma and generosity. Locations vary; you’ll be sent info after purchasing a ticket.

Visual Art

OPENING The Shape of Speed

10 a.m.–8 p.m. Sat, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sun, Portland Art Museum, $19.99
Take a joyful ride back in time and see some of the finest streamlined automobiles and two-wheelers from the 1930s. Throughout the summer, PAM will display 19 rare US and European vehicles and motorcycles—including a classic 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt and the unrivaled BMW R7 Concept Motorcycle—all of which show how auto designers back in the day were able to incorporate the concept of aerodynamic efficiency into car manufacturing.

Linoleum Flowers

Noon–6 p.m. Thu–Sun, Ori Gallery, FREE
For two weeks, Lo Smith and Nadia Wolff—both black queer artists living in Providence, Rhode Island—separately pondered the prompt: “How does a flower become a pattern?” The result of this botanic reflection: printed works that explore such themes as the transience of nature, the objectivity of beauty, and how black queer bodies disrupt institutional spaces.

Special Events

Northwest Deaf Arts Festival

2 and 5:30 p.m. Sat, Mississippi Studios, $25–100
The inaugural Northwest Deaf Arts Festival features an impressive program filled with prominent deaf artists, including “the king of deaf hip-hop” Sean Forbes, acclaimed poet and author Raymond Luczak, dancer Antoine Hunter, and multimedia performer Myles de Bastion. Produced by CymaSpace—a local nonprofit that works to bring culturally inclusive events for the deaf and hard-of-hearing—the one-day multisensory festival will include both a family-friendly matinee and an evening show for those 21 and up.

Portland Pride Festival

Various times and locations, prices vary
The centerpiece of the LGBTQ fest, turning 43 this year, is Sunday’s Pride Parade, but there are plenty more official events and adjacent offerings to keep you busy, from a concert by the Portland Gay Men's Chorus to blowout dance party Gaylabration. Want more? We've rounded up six artsy options (think queer storytelling and a sci-fi-themed wine tasting). Plus, our June issue takes a look at Portland pre-Pride, when officials tried to crack down on the city's gay scene.