There is still time to catch two gender-bending productions in Portland this month.

The first is Theatre Vertigo’s production of Cloud 9 by Caryl Churchill at Theatre! Theater! This play follows the members of a family from Act I in patriarchal, colonial Africa in 1879 to the newly-liberated, “what-now?” 1980s in London. It explores racial, sexual, and personal politics with good humor, sharp wit, and lots of drag. Director Jon Kretzu and a talented cast are more than up to the challenges of double-casting (cross-gender, cross-age, cross-racial) in this show. This is the last weekend to catch Cloud 9, so book your tickets now and hold on to your corsets and leather chaps.

October 14-November 12

Arena Stage at the Theatre! Theater!
3430 SE Belmont Street Portland, Oregon

Cloud 9

Next, defunkt theatre reimagines David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning Glengarry Glen Ross by casting women in this play in which “masculinity and success seem mutually dependent.” Glengarry is the story of some seriously cutthroat real estate salesmen. The notoriously aggressive play is set in Chicago (a notoriously aggressive city) where manipulation, power games, and backstabbing are just another day at the office. Drammy winning actors Grace Carter and Lori Sue Hoffman take the drag roles, although none of the play text has been altered (ie: male pronouns). How do women do in a testosterone-soaked world? You’ll just have to book your tickets and find out.

October 14-November 19

The Back Door Theater:
4319 SE Hawthorne (behind Commons Ground Coffee Shop)
Portland OR 97215

Glengarry Glen Ross