Summer 2025 was a summer of theatre for me! From Portland to Salem, there was consistently great work being done to show a thriving theatre scene looking toward the future while paying homage to the past.
Here are three shows I saw that pushed boundaries and were entertaining–for better or worse.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (Portland Center Stage, Portland)
In June a friend and I made our way up to Portland to see The Importance of Being Earnest at Portland Center Stage, directed by Josiah Davis. With a love for Oscar Wilde, we expected a fun experience reminiscent of previous Earnest productions. What we got was so fun and more overtly gay! Hooray!
This production was derived from a new adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s original play by Kamilah Bush, the literary manager at PCS. Without sacrificing the commentary on Victorian-era ideals, Bush pushed the show’s setting up to the 1920s and from England to Washington, DC. While it wasn’t always clear why there was a need to replant the show in a different time and setting, Bush’s adaptation is still overall a resounding success in its commentary on queer identity, love, and acceptance.
This adaptation played with the idea of Jack and Algernon plus Gwendolen and Cecily eventually coming to the idea to end up in lavender marriages. This clever twist gave us an all-new scene between Cecily and Gwendolen and played up the theatrics between the hetero pairings prior to the stand-off with Lady Bracknell. Each actor committed entirely to their role and brought about a perfect show for Pride Month.
We’re All Gonna Make It (W.A.G.M.I.) by AR Nicholas (Theatre 33, Salem)
Theatre 33 is a staple summer theatre festival in Salem, Oregon (the capital, about a one hour drive south of Portland). The festival format of Theatre 33 lends itself to workshop productions of new plays, as well as staged readings of others, chosen from an open submission process each year. According to the theatre’s mission, it is a “professional new play development company in residence at Willamette University… dedicated to advancing Oregon and NW artists, playwrights, history, and culture.” While I wasn’t able to make it to most of the other shows in their festival unfortunately, I did get to see W.A.G.M.I., written by AR Nicholas and directed by Elizabeth Rothan, which gave a lot of food for thought.
Nicholas’ play is a play in the near future (or now) about a couple who are navigating the different ways surveillance infects their lives. The husband Nick is under house arrest, being investigated for fraud. The wife Jocelyn is slowly losing her grip on reality the longer she finds herself possibly being stalked by a figure in a trench coat.
The workshop of this play showed the potential it has. Actors Devika Danish Dhamija and Parth Ruparel showed a commitment to portraying their relationship as a married couple as organically as possible. Ruparel particularly excelled, coming in and out of each scene with ease, given circumstances clearly embodied in how he portrayed Nick. The actors did a fantastic job, and the projection design by Tim Cowart was particularly effective, embedding the audience in this living room play surveillance state nightmare.
The writing lacks somewhat in cohesion, and that shows in the overall directorial vision of the play. Despite the play going through the development process with Theatre 33, the audience is left with more questions than answers–and not necessarily in the satisfying way–at the end of the play. Dhamija and Ruparel do their best with what they’re given. The play could stand as a two-hander without the inclusion of the third trenchcoat-wearing stalker also, seeing as we get plenty of that character through projection and not enough of them onstage to justify their physical presence.
Overall, Theatre 33 is doing important work for new plays, though it would be cool to see less PDX-based artists involved and more inclusion of theatre artists local to Salem and its surrounding areas. Otherwise, the festival might as well happen in Portland for the sake of the actors commuting.
Hairspray (Pentacle Theatre, Salem)
While this was my first time seeing a show at the Salem community theatre, it was certainly the one I was most interested in seeing. Pentacle Theatre, a staple of Salem since 1954, is the community theatre of the city. Despite being the capital city of Oregon, Salem does lack in a truly robust arts scene, though there is a lot of movement to change that. Pentacle Theatre works to fill that gap, and their production of Hairspray was not one to miss (so sorry if you did!).
Hairspray (by Mark O’Donnel and Thomas Meehan [book], Scott Wittman [lyrics], and Marc Shaiman [music & lyrics]) is a fun musical with campy songs and dances, and its significance in blatantly discussing civil rights rings true even in 2025. As we watch the erosion of people’s rights in the United States under a right wing, openly fascist government, productions like Hairspray that show a community coming together to fight for one another, to fight for inclusion, and to fight for love in spite of racism and discrimination.
Jessica Peterson as Maybelle Motormouth received a rightfully deserved standing ovation for her honest and simple rendition of “I Know Where I’ve Been”; Paige Caballero as Tracy Turnblad, Mason Fuller as Seaweed, Michael Louladkis as Edna Turnblad, Olivia McCoy as Little Inez, Trevor J. Olson as Link Larkin, Natalie Pate Gwin as Penny Pingleton, Peterson as Maybelle, and the entire ensemble round out to perhaps the most professional-level production seen in Salem for the last few years. It’d be cool for Pentacle to pay their talented casts even a small stipend, especially with a powerhouse cast like Hairspray.
Major props need to be given to director Robert Salberg, assistant director Deborah Johansen, music/vocal director Kent Wilson, and all of the designers for a very sleek, fun production that will tug on your heartstrings. Hairspray is the kind of theatrical production Salem needs more of.
Want me to review a show in Oregon or the Pacific Northwest? Email somescriptslitmag@gmail.com with a press comp invitation, and I will happily come see your show and write a review!
Alyssa Cokinis is a writer and theatre artist from Iowa, currently living in the Pacific Northwest. She is also the founder and editor of some scripts.
Like what you read? Help keep some scripts up and running with a small donation!
some scripts 