If you read this blog, you probably love food – it’s mostly what I write about. But once in a while I review a book, or a theater production. This post is a heads up about one performance show and one movie, both are limited engagements, both events first week of March 2017 in PDX already have tickets online if you are interested.

Cuisine and Confessions

The first is about a combination of food and theater: namely, the production of Cuisine and Confessions that is coming to the Newmark Theater in downtown Portland in a few weeks Thursday March 2 – Saturday March 4, 2017. This is a visiting show from the company 7 Digits from Montreal.

I haven’t seen the production yet, so I can’t review it, but the high level overview is that it is a combination of Cirque du Soleil (which if you haven’t seen before, is itself a combination of circus and dance theater – some of the original founders of 7 Digits were originally performers from Cirque du Soleil!) and takes place in a setting that actually is a working kitchen and the stories/settings behind the performances are themed around food and family and food memories.

One of the descriptive lines of the show promises “acrobats who cook and bake before your very eyes”.  Members of the cast are from all over the world, and I look forward to seeing how despite different languages and upbringings, food can bring everyone together while also being witness to amazing feats of athleticism and visual beauty.

The performance is for all ages, and includes evening shows at 7:30 on the three nights and a matinee on Saturday at 2 PM. The doors open 30 minutes before the show, which some reviews highly recommended you get there when doors open as performers are already on the stage having discussions and interacting with the audience before the show itself begins. The show itself is about 90 minutes – and there will be freshly baked banana bread at the end!

You can purchase tickets from White Bird with a range from $26-$64. I bought my own tickets to the show and was not asked to promote it, but I thought this was a fun event to share.

The Movie Kedi

The other future event that I am really looking forward to is the movie Kedi, a subtitled Turkish Documentary about the cats in Istanbul. also playing that timeframe of Thursday March 3- 9. I like how this review by Todd VanDerWerff at Vox summed it up,”Kedi, a documentary about cats in Istanbul, is expectedly adorable and unexpectedly wise. Cats. Cities. God. Life. Humanity. This new film covers it all in just 80 minutes.”

By the end of its trim, 80-minute running time, Kedi is asking questions like “How do we live in society without destroying each other?” and “Could you ever prove God exists?” without straining under the burden of those questions — a remarkable feat for a movie that spends so much time on cute kitten footage. Our relationship with the animals around us that we can destroy casually and easily, the film suggests, is our relationship with everything.

There is also a much detailed longer review from RogerEbert.com here though it had more spoilers of what you’d see. “What (Ceyda) Torun really captures in her unexpectedly powerful film is kindness in its purest form.” You can also look at the original movie site to see when and where it is playing near you in your city. You can purchase advance tickets to the Cinema 21 screenings now.

What upcoming shows or movies are you looking forward to?