There are only FOUR performances of pen/man/ship left.

It's hard to believe, yet here we are. Amazingly, the reviews continue to trickle in, and we'd be remiss if we didn't share this one, the most recent, f rom Krista Garver at Broadway World Portland.

Here's an excerpt:

The play is symbolic and powerful. Even though the setting is 1896, the core theme of destroying darkness by exposing it is timeless. And certainly the issues of racial discrimination and elitism are just as relevant today. pen/man/ship is also exquisitely written. I wished I'd brought a notebook so I could write things down, especially pretty much everything Ruby said.

The cast was also exquisite. Adrian Roberts created the role of the hard-headed, imposing, but still infinitely vulnerable Charles at pen/man/ship's world premiere in San Francisco. His performance in this production is masterful, as you would expect from someone who has been engaging with and refining a character for a couple of years now.

I was especially impressed with Andrea Whittle as Ruby Heard. She is a force be reckoned with! Whittle is a recent graduate of the Portland Playhouse Acting Apprentice program, but she holds her own on the stage with an actor of Roberts' experience just as well as her character holds her own with the overbearing presence of Charles.

DeLance Minefee and Vin Shambry were also well cast as, respectively, Jacob (Charles's son) and Cecil (an accordion-playing member of the crew who provides company and comfort to Charles after everyone else has deserted him).

Pretty spot-on, as far as we're concerned.

So, remember - only FOUR performances remain. The show ends its run March 5.

But what a run it's been.