‘The Blind Illustratrix’
Portland artist M. Sabine Rear focuses her vision on comics
When you fall down the rabbit hole of zines, comics, social commentary and stickers that make up the work of M. Sabine Rear, prepare for … Continue reading
Anna Grace
Author: Anna Grace
Patio Living
At the McKenzie General Store
Tucked into the trees at the edge of Highway 126 along the McKenzie River is a vintage storefront. Don’t let the quaint exterior deceive you. … Continue reading
Brewed With Love
Equiano Coffee Co. brews something special
The Equiano tasting room is tiny, calm and slow. I enter and am embraced with the redolence of expertly roasted coffee. Two older gentlemen sit … Continue reading
Divine Simplicity
Keeping it easy and authentic at Springfield's Hayden Bridge Tap House
The Hayden Bridge Tap House is full of happy customers on a Friday evening. Multiple screens flicker with basketball games, and classic rock is urging … Continue reading
Restaging the Past
Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2016 takes on tough social issues ranging from abortion rights to the Vietnam War
So often we accept the history served to us. We hold collective truths about our past to be self-evident: Jane Roe and her legal team were brave, honorable women fighting for reproductive rights. Vietnam was a worthless war the U.S. never should have been involved in. Classic theater works are important, but generally not very fun. Continue reading
Works in Progress
Oregon Performance Lab returns with teens, motorcycles and beer
Oregon Performance Lab is back for its second summer of theater workshops, bringing rising playwrights of America to Eugene. Described as a “three-week pop-up laboratory,” OPL connects artists with venues, actors and an audience for theatrical experimentation. The wife-and-husband team of Willow Norton (artistic director) and Corey Pearlstein (creative director) are based in New York but have roots in Eugene. On the heels of last year’s successful inaugural season, now they are fueling even more ambitious plans. Continue reading
Great Expectations
Oregon Shakespeare Festival opens 81st season with beloved classics and world premieres
As the tilted Earth spins and progresses through her orbit, late February brings light and warmth flooding back to us. But spring is not the only fresh thing bubbling up from all points the south. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland soon greets the lengthening days, buzzing with new stories that are beautifully staged. Under the artistic direction of Bill Rauch, the internationally renowned festival’s 81st season boasts first-run plays, elegant classics and a commitment to bringing a broader world perspective to the stage. Continue reading
Princess Act
Bawdy, naughty women set Disney straight in ACE’s Disenchanted
No holds barred: There is nothing the ladies in Disenchanted aren’t willing to throw down in an effort to overturn society’s ideal of a Disney princess. From tirades about historical inaccuracies to really dirty Pinocchio jokes, all’s fair in Actors Cabaret of Eugene’s (ACE) production of Dennis T. Giacino’s irreverent musical. Continue reading
Attempting to Dress
The Very Little Theatre bares all with Love, Loss and What I Wore
You just want a bra. You want to get in, buy a bra and get on with your life. But the next thing you know you’re shoved into some tiny space halfway between a broom closet and a dressing room with a powerfully strong older lady. Aggressively this woman bends you over and pulls you up and actually, physically pushes your breasts around with her hands, then calls the other women in the shop over to have a look. You have lost all dignity. But you have found a really great-fitting bra. Continue reading
Holiday Treats
Local theaters hit the stage with a whirl of winter classics
What is it about the encroaching cold and dark that sends us shivering out into the night in search of a collective theater experience? Local theaters can smell our desire, and like an expert patisserie, they set out the most familiar, uplifting theatrical fare to tempt us. There will be no angst-ridden, painful social statements made on stage this December. The holiday theater season is about warm, familiar classics to satisfy an audience hungry for community and tradition. Continue reading