Review: ‘The Other Place’: A devastating descent

Sharr White’s riveting psychological drama features a woman whose life is unraveling for mysterious reasons.

21ten’s brilliantly acted production of Sharr White’s drama The Other Place took me by surprise. Reading a quick description of the play, I knew it featured a tough and brilliant scientist, Juliana Smithton, whose life is upended at a conference when she sees a mysterious girl in a yellow bikini.

Foolishly, I pictured Juliana impulsively engaging in a romantic romp that destroys her marriage and career, but White had something very different in mind with this riveting psychological mystery where nothing is as it seems.

Like an intricate jigsaw puzzle, the play, which opened on Broadway in 2012 and is directed here by Gavin Hoffman, comes into focus slowly, beginning with the supremely self-composed Juliana (Diane Kondrat, in an award-worthy performance) telling the audience about an incident that happened during her sales pitch for a promising new drug at a medical conference at a St. Thomas resort.

Delivering her witty (sometimes bitingly so) and intelligent narration with a mesmerizing smile, Juliana appears to possess an ability to handle anything life throws her way. Her clothes support this impression. Authoritatively dressed in a long black vest and trousers, she stands in stiletto heels that have pencil-sharp pointed toes, and yet her balance seems to be as unshakable as if she were wearing a pair of old Birkenstocks.

Her sharp sense of humor emphasizes her strength as well as her charm. She can even crack jokes about the incident, which she believes was caused by brain cancer, a disease that she says killed her father. Later, talking with a humorless doctor (Ashley Song) who may or may not be an oncologist, Juliana says she didn’t want to go to the hospital on St. Thomas, because such facilities were equipped to deal with nothing more serious than “heat stroke and scooter issues.”

“Are you flirting with suicidal thoughts?” the doctor later asks Juliana, who becomes increasingly distressed during their visits as she senses the doctor is trying to trick her into saying something she doesn’t want to acknowledge.

The clever Juliana, though, can think on her feet and responds with a quip: “I’m dating suicidal thoughts, but they won’t put out.”

Throughout the first act, the script shifts between past and present and also between Juliana’s narration, her actual presentation, and her conversations with the other characters, including her angry daughter, Laurel (Song again, who seamlessly slips into three different personas in the show). We also see her interacting with her strangely irritable husband, Ian (Todd Hermanson, impressive as this sober character who’s a far cry from the rowdy Alfred P. Doolittle he portrayed in Clackamas Repertory’s My Fair Lady last year).

As more is gradually revealed about the incident, which seems to be sparked by the surreal sighting of the bikini-clad girl, the audience becomes as unmoored as the characters. At first Juliana is intrigued by the girl, but this soon develops into an inexplicable antagonism. “I’m sharpening my claws on her,” Juliana tells us, before slut-shaming the girl by suggesting she work on her “dick-tation.” Next, though, comes a trickle and then an overwhelming sensation of regret that leaves her speechless.

Ian, whom Juliana says is a philanderer who’s divorcing her, may have sound reasons for his oddly volatile response to Juliana’s growing crisis. Then again, he also hugs and kisses his soon-to-be ex with exquisite tenderness. This feeling that we, the audience, are in a fog where nothing makes sense heightens the nearly unbearable empathy that’s roused as we watch Juliana’s gradual descent into a hell that seems to have been designed to torment a smart woman who’s accustomed to being in control.

Besides Hoffman’s sure hand as director of this powerhouse cast, which includes Tyler Shilstone, the set itself (designed by Julianne Bodner) is a potent storytelling device, as it always is at 21ten. The characters move through myriad locations, although the only scenery we see is an airy room that evokes the Cape Cod cottage that Juliana and Ian both once loved. Whether Juliana sits at a table with the doctor or spars on the phone with Laurel, each scene is equally absorbing, and the beachy vibe makes the house a continuous, if vague, presence, like a dream of a happier past.

Although some audience members may find White’s painful story overwhelming, the drama is balanced by a brave and breathtaking scene where the clever talk and travels through time go quiet, making space for a long moment of unexpected human kindness, revealing that at its heart, The Other Place nurtures an inner warmth.

The Other Place continues at 21ten Theatre, through May 25. Find tickets and schedules here.

Portland Playhouse keeps the story alive

Who has the right to tell stories?

The National Endowment for the Arts’ response to this question is to withdraw funds from Oregon arts organizations such as Profile Theatre, which lost $35,000, and Portland Playhouse, which was informed that it had lost a $25,000 grant that was to help fund its production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone just 24 hours before the show opened on May 2. (See Claire Willett’s ArtsWatch story NEA funding cuts hit Oregon arts organizations.)

According to an email from Portland Playhouse’s producing artistic director Brian Weaver, within 36 hours, the company raised enough money to replace the NEA grant.

Now the company is taking its funding drive a giant step farther by launching a statewide campaign called Keep the Story Alive: Oregon Arts Rising, with a goal to raise all the money the NEA withdrew from state arts organizations (Weaver estimates that totals at least $590,000) and to distribute the funds evenly across all the affected groups.

“This is about more than a show,” Weaver’s email stated. “It’s about what happens when we stand together to say what we’ve always known to be true: ‘The arts are kept alive by the community that surrounds them, and we will not let our stages go quiet.’”

Fuse Theatre Ensemble kicks off its OUTwright Festival with Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Assassins,’ May 15-June 15

Making queer voices heard, Fuse Theatre Ensemble 2025’s OUTwright Festival will feature new works by LGBTQIA+ creators as well as the company’s feature presentation of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by John Weidman, the dark comedy that depicts nine people who set out to assassinate American presidents also features a collage of different musical styles.

“This show has been on our bucket list for years,” Rusty Tennant, the production’s co-director and set designer, said in a press release. “It has always been about timing, and something about what is happening in our country right now, especially towards queer and trans people, well … let’s just say the timing felt right.”

“This show has never been about glorifying assassination, as is often the criticism,” Tennant added. “[It’s] about how power is wielded, brutalizing anyone who tries to stand up against it, and how that relationship between the powerful and the powerless serves as a breeding ground on which the seeds of violence grow. It is a musical about how the rich and powerful oppress the poor and powerless to the point where desperate measures are the only recourse. It is about unmasking the American Dream and seeing it for the lie that it is for many Americans. It is about the America I see when I look around me.”

OUTwright 2025 will also include productions of Scot Zellers’ solo hit H@PPY F@GGOT and Lijoi to the World: a celebration of the work of Ernie Lijoi, the Portland multi-skilled theatermaker who died in February, plus the OUTwright reading series. This year’s titles for the series include: Merry Xmas and a Happy New Queer by Meg Shenk (Portland), Dreams of a Celestial Night by Ajai Tripathi (Portland), Filthy Lucre by Mikki Gillette (Portland), Small Domestic Acts by Joan Lipkin (St. Louis, MO), and My White Husband by Leviticus Jelks (Atlanta, GA).

“The reading series is the foundation of OUTwright,” said Tennant. “When we started the festival 15 years ago, it all began as a series of readings of queer scripts we loved. It has since morphed into an incubator for new and emerging scripts as many of the plays that have been part of OUTwright reading series in the past have gone on to receive full production by Fuse and other companies across the country.”

All OUTwright shows will be performed at Reed College’s Black Box Theatre. Find tickets and schedules here.

Also opening

Happyness (The Wrecking Ball) at Imago Theatre, May 16-31.

Described as a tragicomedy for our times and a futuristic farce with music, Carol Triffle’s new satire centers on two women trying to survive in a world of Dune, Beckett, and … sock puppetry. Returning for the production will be longtime collaborators Kyle Delamarter, Laura Loy, and Anne Sorce. Recommended for 16+.

Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson at Portland Center Stage, May 16-June 22, previews begin May 11.

The casting of Scarlett Johansson as Major in the 2017 film Ghost in the Shell continues to generate controversy today. The movie was based on the Japanese manga series of the same name, in which “Major” was Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the film’s choice for a lead actor inspired the Chinese American comedian and actor Chris Grace to create a 65-minute comedy about representation and race in which he plays, with the help of wigs, himself, Johansson and Johansson playing him. Grace told PCS literary manager Kamilah Bush, “The first time you see yourself more accurately reflected on screen, it’s like the training wheels have come off and often there’s a burst of emotion and connectedness that comes with it.” Eric Michaud directs Portland Center Stage’s production.

Godot Is a Woman: Corrib Theatre’s staged readings at Historic Alberta House, May 8-11.

Continuing with its season of Beckett-inspired works, Corrib is offering two programs of readings. The scripts are from Ireland, the UK, and Portland, and feature women and nonbinary people. Program A includes Black and Blue by Sela Ellen Underwood and Not Beckett, a collection of short plays from Ireland (I Can’t Remember The by Nicola McCartney; Wait by Felispeaks; Never Apologize by Jennifer Barclay; Duet by Olwen Fouéré; and The Lighthouse Keeper’s Son by Hannah Khalil). Slated for Program B is The Following Day by Joellen Sweeney; Conditions for Survival by Ken Yoshikawa; and Godot is a Woman by Silent Faces Theatre of the UK. Find tickets and schedules here.

Artiface: PETE’s Institute of Contemporary Performance festival of new works, May 8-11.

Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble is staging readings of new works from its current ICP cohort at various locations in Portland. The shows include The Keepers, which is part memory play, part art installation, part sci-fi fantasia; Make. Believe.; the outdoor The Only Tool in the West; the absurd multimedia piece True Enough; and the gothic horror Birds of Grief, Must I Weep? Find tickets, locations and schedules here.

Third Rail’s Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home at CoHo Theater, May 16-June 1.

Damaris Webb, who co-wrote this intriguing magical-realist solo show with Chris Gonzales, tells the story of her experience as a third-generation Black Portlander and Oregonian who went on a series of camping trips to move beyond her family history and inherited possessions. Along the way, she also explored her relationship to the land and found a place of personal transformation. Olivia Mathews directs.

Bottoming For Jesus, a solo show by Michael R. Speciàle at Process PDX, May 8.

This one-night-only show is described as a “a raw, genre-blurring” piece that “blends cabaret, confession, and theatrical exorcism.” Directed by  Spenser Theberge, who met Speciàle when they were classmates at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics.

 This show is both a send-up and a love letter,” says Speciàle. “To organized religion, to the queer party scene, to anyone who’s ever felt holy and horny at the same time or asked the big questions out loud. It’s about the myths we inherit, the stories we perform, and the cycles of doubt, longing, discovery, and belonging that make up the human experience.”

Unit Souzou: Constant State of Otherness at Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro, May 9.

This multi-layered performance explores othering and alienation. Using taiko drumming, Japanese folk dance, song, and personal story, six performers guide the audience through a four-part journey rooted in ancestral wisdom and survival. Read Brett Campbell’s ArtsWatch feature about the original 2022 stage production and Marty Hughley’s ArtsWatch preview of the 2020 streaming version, and hear Dmae Roberts’s Stage & Studio ArtsWatch podcast interview with the producing company Unit Souzou’s Michelle Fujii. Find tickets here.

The Glass Menagerie at Pentacle Theatre in Salem, May 9–31.

Jeff Sanders directs the show that catapulted Tennessee Williams to fame when it premiered on Broadway in 1945. This memory play features characters based on Williams, his mother, and his mentally fragile sister. 

Red Herring, a reading at Twilight Theater, May 9 & 10.

Part of Twilight’s Readers Theater Series, this noir comedy by Michael Hollinger involves three love stories, a murder mystery, and a nuclear espionage plot. In the world of the play, which takes place in 1952, Senator Joe McCarthy’s daughter just got engaged to a Soviet spy, and Boston detective Maggie Pelletier has to find out who dumped a dead guy in the harbor before her own wedding. Directed by Emilie Weidlich.

Outta Hand Puppet Slam, Chapel Theatre, Milwaukie, May 9 & 10.

This raucous evening of short puppetry pieces is hosted by Portland’s favorite little red dog, Randy Knickers (Bill Holznagel). The night will feature a variety of different puppetry styles, plus prize giveaways and surprise guests.

The Play About My Father at Artists Repertory Theatre, May 11.

Kate Mura’s stunning solo show will be presented at Artists Rep at 4:30 p.m., following the 2 p.m. matinee of The Storyteller. This exquisite double bill of two magical plays that explore grief and the power of storytelling is made possible by Fuse Theatre.

Three Mothers, a reading at PassinArt, May 12.

Ajene D. Washington’s fictional play was inspired by real people, real events and the 1964 photo of three mothers whose sons were brutally murdered during Civil Rights upheaval in the South. During shiva in Carolyn Goodman’s home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the three mothers come to grips with the details surrounding their sons’ deaths at the hands of Ku Klux Klan members, and forge a bond with each other and a commitment to the Civil Rights movement.

“As I was Saying…” Rick Lewis’s solo cabaret at Bridgetown Conservatory, May 17 & 18.

Rick Lewis, founder and artistic director of Bridgetown Conservatory, performs an evening of stories and songs in a one-man cabaret drawn from his work in New York City as an audition pianist for William Finn (America Kicks Up its Heels), Stephen Sondheim (Sunday in the Park with George), Cy Coleman (The Life) and more.  

“I had the great fortune to work in the New York theatre during the late ‘70s through the early ‘90s,” Lewis said in a press release. “I had some amazing opportunities with incredible people. It still amazes me that I got to do what I did!  It’s just fun to share some of the wonderful, silly, beautiful things that happened.” 

Performances are at Bridgetown’s Black Box Theatre in Portland, and all proceeds go to Bridgetown Conservatory of Musical Theatre, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The evening will include silent auctions and other surprises. Tickets and schedules here.

Continuing shows

Broken Toe Productions’ No Sex Without Toys at Shaking the Tree Theatre, through May 10.

The world premiere of this comedy by Doug Sellers follows best friends Randy and William, who are overheard by Aaron, a nonbinary server at their golf club, complaining about not getting enough sex at home. The solution? A night for the men at The Honeymoon Hideaway, where the couple in the next room seems to be having a much better time.

The Ballad of Iron Jo at Bag&Baggage through May 11.

Elliot Lorenc’s new musical was inspired by Iron John and other Grimm Brothers tales. ArtsWatch ran preview articles here and here.

a home what howls (or the house what was ravine) at Milagro Theatre, through May 17.

Soledad Vargas is fighting for her family’s right to live on their land in this lyrical modern myth drawn from the real-life struggles of displaced communities around the globe. Lawrence Siulagi directs the show, which was written by Matthew Paul Olmos.

Silent Sky at Magenta Theatre in Vancouver, Wash. through May 18.

Lauren Gunderson’s play tells the true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, whose pioneering work in astronomy went largely unrecognized during her lifetime. This compelling drama explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, highlighting how women’s ideas were often dismissed until men claimed credit for them. In a press release, director Pat Nims said, “Lauren Gunderson’s play is a beautiful tribute to Henrietta Leavitt and the countless women whose contributions to science have been overlooked. We’re honored to bring this important story to life on the Magenta Theater stage.” 

The Storyteller at Artists Repertory Theatre, through May 18.

Portland writer Sara Jean Accuardi’s new play was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The production, which is a world premiere, follows 17-year-old Randy, who lives off-grid with her dad in an old houseboat along the Columbia River. Directed by Luan Schooler. ArtsWatch reviewed it here.

The Brothers Size at Portland Center Stage, through May 18.

Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, one of the Oscar-winning writers of the film Moonlight, The Brothers Size features the steadfast Ogun Size as he fights to connect with Oshoosi, his aimless younger brother, who has recently been released from prison. The production is directed and choreographed by Chip Miller. ArtsWatch reviewed the show here.

See How They Run at Mask & Mirror in Tigard, through May 18.

This fast and funny play by Philip King is directed by Rick Hoover and will be performed at Rise Church in Tigard.

Grease at Broadway Rose Theatre Company, through May 18.

Rock back to the 1950s in this musical that features the unlikely pair of “greaser” Danny and girl-next-door Sandy. In Broadway Rose’s capable hands, famous song-and-dance numbers such as Greased Lightnin’, We Go Together, and You’re the One That I Want are sure to wow. Book, music, and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, and directed by Sarah Jane Hardy. The show is sold out, but you can check with Broadway Rose for last-minute cancellations. 

Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka at Gallery Theater in McMinnville, through May 25.

Based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, this musical follows Charlie Bucket’s visit to a mysterious chocolate factory. Adapted for the stage by Leslie Bricusse and Timothy Allen McDonald, the show features songs from the 1971 film starring Gene Wilder, plus new songs by Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Best for ages 8+.

Boeing Boeing at Experience Theatre Project, through May 25.

Aloha’s immersive theater company lands in a Paris apartment for its production of Boeing Boeing, a 1960 farce written by Marc Camoletti. Here, the playboy architect Bernard lives with three fiancées, flight attendants whose work keeps them from home at different times … until one day it doesn’t. Paul Order directs this production, which was translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans.

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at Portland Playhouse, through June 8.

Set in a 1911 Pittsburgh boarding house, August Wilson’s masterpiece gets its title from a blues song. In a story about the African American post-slavery experience, the script follows Herald Loomis, who is searching for identity and belonging after being captured by a bounty hunter and serving seven years of forced labor. The show stars La’ Tevin Alexander, Lester Purry, and Bobby Bermea and is directed by Lou Bellamy.

Theater news

Four plays receive awards from Native Theater Project.

May 5 was National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (#MMIW #MMIR). As part of national efforts to bring attention to the crisis, Bag&Baggage Productions’ Native Theater Project is awarding four cash prizes to playwrights with new plays that address MMIR. (Read Brett Campbell’s ArtsWatch feature about NTP.) Native Theater Project will also join with Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (AGE) and Bag&Baggage Productions (B&B) to develop an MMIR play over the coming year and present it publicly on May 5, 2026, in conjunction with next year’s National Day of Awareness for MMIR.

The four awardees, who will each receive $250, are Marci Rendon, Carolyn Dunn, Isabella Madrigal, and Honokee Dunn.

I is For Invisible by DeLanna Studi will also receive further development, including a workshop with actors, a director, and dramaturg, and a public reading at Bag&Baggage’s The Vault Theater in Hillsboro, Oregon. The play follows a family pulling together to find a missing loved one when the authorities refuse to help.

New Season Announcements for 2025-26

HART

Hillsboro Artists’ Regional Theatre (HART) has an interesting slate of shows planned for the upcoming season, including Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley; the musical Honk! Jr.; A Gift to Remember, a Christmas play based on a Debbie Macomber story and adapted by Joseph Robinette; the dark comedy The Pros and Cons of Killing Your Husband by April Aasheim; Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling; and Disney’s The Descendants: The Musical. 

Bag&Baggage Productions: Living History

Looking to the future while also examining the past, the Hillsboro theater company’s upcoming season will feature The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, The Many Gifts of the Magi by Jesse Bernstein, Beauregard at Manassas by Scott Palmer, and Antíkoni by Beth Piatote.

Portland Playhouse: Hope, Humor & Heart

The company’s 18th year will kick off with a production of Paradise Blue by Dominique Morisseau. Following that will be the company’s musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol; Angry, Raucus, & Shamelessly Gorgeous by Pearl Cleage; Fat Ham by James Ijames; and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.

Profile Theatre: Jen Silverman & Mike Lew

Profile Theatre’s 2025-26 Season will feature playwrights Mike Lew and Jen Silverman, with three productions including best-hits and newest works.