Portland Center Stage

Widely acknowledged as Stephen Sondheim’s musical masterpiece, Sweeney Todd is set amongst London’s seedy side streets and laced with Sondheim’s characteristically brilliant wit and dark humor.

This landmark musical depicts the barber Sweeney Todd’s savage quest for justice and retribution after years of false imprisonment. Aided by harridan pie shop owner Mrs. Lovett, who is secretly in love…More

As the royals Theseus and Hippolyta prepare to marry, four young lovers from their Athenian kingdom flee to the forest in the wake of parental disapproval. But in the woodland, these lovers’ lives are complicated upon crossing paths with feuding faerie royalty. As Oberon and Titania bicker over a changeling child, the mischievous Puck and his sprightly accomplices use herbal spells to hilariously…More

EXTENDED THROUGH FEBRUARY 10!
This new play celebrates the life and talent of a Portland, Oregon, original—James Beard.

Before Julia Child, before today’s proliferation of cooking shows and networks, there was James Beard, the first TV chef. He brought fine cooking to the small screen in 1946 and helped establish an American cuisine. But, as is often the case with pioneers, his early efforts on…More

In the post-Civil War South, three men are tied to each other by history and faith, but are also bound by secrets. A badly wounded Jewish Confederate soldier returns home at war’s end to find that his family has fled to the countryside. Remaining in the city mansion are two former slaves, also raised by his family as Jews. With Passover upon them, the three men unite to celebrate the holiday,…More

A white community in 1950s Chicago splinters over the black family about to move in. Fast forward to our present day and the same house represents very different demographics, and neighborhood values and tensions. Decades apart, neighbors pitch a hilarious—and appalling—battle over territory and legacy that forces us to consider how far our ideas about race have evolved—or not.

When our houses…More

Young playwright Richard Collier has an encounter with a mysterious old woman on the opening night of his earliest success; she entreats him, to his bewilderment, to “come back to me.” Several years later, with his life and career in disarray, he seeks quiet and contemplation and checks in to a storied hotel from his youth. But his stay at the hotel turns into the journey of a lifetime as he…More