Arts

Stirring the pot

Changes are afoot in the local theater scene
The new year ushers in some lively shake-ups and stirrings among Portland's theater community.

By MEGAN GRUMBLING | January 14, 2009

Review: Appetite for Self-Destruction

How the record industry killed itself
Like any good murder mystery, Steve Knopper's Appetite for Self-Destruction keeps the tension high and the action swift as the search for a culprit drags on.

By JEFF TAMARKIN | January 13, 2009

Troy, Gabriella, and the HSM2 crew put the music in them. Now our two quasi-theater critics are trying to get it out.
When I was a teenager, all I ever longed for was to live in a world where it was socially acceptable, nay, a social requirement , to frequently burst into song.

By SARA FAITH ALTERMAN AND CHRIS FARAONE | January 07, 2009

Exploring deep within

Animal instinct
Hannah Holmes, the Maine-born, Portland-dwelling science writer, naturalist, and friend to all animals has turned her lens deeply inward in her latest book, The Well-Dressed Ape: A Natural History of Myself .

By JEFF INGLIS | January 07, 2009

Forming a Collective

'Where am I? And what the hell am I doing here?'
When your intrepid correspondent walks into Arabica Coffee to meet with the members of a shadowy group rumored to be executing a graphical Exquisite Corpse the likes of which Portland has never seen, he finds out that the group is in fact so shadowy that its members aren't quite sure how many of them there are.

By ALEX IRVINE | January 07, 2009

Preaching to the choir

Alternative left
Despite the curious omission of the Phoenix, that bastion of liberal, progressive, alternative news, The Nation's Guide to the Nation (Vintage) mostly lives up to its stated goal of being " a kind of collage of the Left.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | January 07, 2009

Groups + solos

Looking forward to 2009
First on the list of this year's points of interest is the anticipated Portland Museum of Art Biennial, which opens in early April.

By KEN GREENLEAF | December 31, 2008

In the shadows

Secrets + stories hit the boards in 2009
As we look into the new year, let's start with the most primal theatrical basics: stories.

By MEGAN GRUMBLING | December 31, 2008

More sex, more Lincoln

A hefty reading season, from Jayne Anne Phillips and T.C. Boyle to Pablo Neruda
The subject of Lincoln is like catnip to publishers (and readers), but the only things missing from our winter list are actual cat books.

By BARBARA HOFFERT | December 30, 2008

Poetic sense

Age of art
For the last end-of-the-year review I had to rely on the kindness and opinions of others, having just started reviewing again after a long hiatus.

By KEN GREENLEAF | December 23, 2008

Year in Books: Word plays

Of werewolves and wastelands
Here, listed alphabetically by author, are 10 of the best works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry that the Phoenix wrote about in 2008.

By JON GARELICK | December 22, 2008

New and old

The best of 2008's theater productions
First, a tribute to a few of the year's newer theater ventures.

By BY MEGAN GRUMBLING | December 23, 2008

One city, many angles

Artists capture the city for Greenhut's fourth biennial Portland Show
Artists capture the city for Greenhut's fourth biennial Portland Show

By IAN PAIGE | December 17, 2008

First Friday frenzy

Reflecting on an art-fueled weekend
Reflecting on an art-fueled weekend

By IAN PAIGE | December 10, 2008

Drink up!

Santaland gets to the dark heart of Christmas
Santaland gets to the dark heart of Christmas

By MEGAN GRUMBLING | December 10, 2008

Drugs and culture

Books
University of Southern Maine professor Wendy Chapkis usually studies, teaches, and writes about gender issues, so her latest non-fiction outing, Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine , might seem like a bit of a departure.

By DEIRDRE FULTON | December 04, 2008

Seeking Relevance

A MECA faculty show goes didactic
Here in Maine we're used to living in a mediated landscape. Painters have been reframing how we see the shore and woods for generations, defining what's worth looking at for a larger audience.

By KEN GREENLEAF | December 03, 2008

Founding father

Books
North America's fascinating French heritage is rarely the topic of today's leading historians.

By JEFF INGLIS | December 03, 2008

A print apart

Anna Hepler 'flattens' sculptures into woodcuts
Anna Hepler's major works are sculptural installations made from wires and joints that are held together in tension, creating mighty metallic clouds that fill big spaces and change with the light.

By KEN GREENLEAF | December 01, 2008

Don't get comfy

The Pain and the Itch is no cozy reunion
If you expect your own Thanksgiving to also include a helping of familial anxiety, rest assured that you have nothing on the relatives gathered in Bruce Norris's very black comedy, The Pain and the Itch .

By MEGAN GRUMBLING | November 26, 2008