Bag&Baggage Productions

My first experience with Bag&Baggage was ten years ago and it was hot.
Not in the sense of the actors giving a sizzling performance on stage, but more like dying of heat exhaustion watching a show (The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged) in the Octagonal Barn at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse when someone over stoked the fire. I don’t know how the actors survived that night, but the show must go on!
In the early days, Bag&Baggage was an acting troupe without a home, hence the appropriately whimsical name for their company. So they would pop up to perform on different stages and venues all over the state.
Fast forward 10 years and I’ve gotten to really know and love this acting company which is now based in the 400 seat theatre at The Venetian in Hillsboro’s historic downtown Main Street.
The founder and creative director, Scott Palmer, and his cast of actors are making some really interesting choices. This season I saw the all female cast perform The Six Gentlepersons of Verona and the wonderful Our Country’s Good just wrapped up an excellent run. They have a solid resident company of actors [1] and I’ve also been intrigued by the set design, costuming, etc. For example, The Six Gentlepersons’ set was a collection of moving boxes of various sizes painted on four sides and then rotated and moved in different formations to set the stage for different scenes during the show.
Portland has a wonderful theatre scene, but you don’t have to be in Portland proper to have a great theatre experience. Combine that with The Venetian’s bar and restaurant, free and easy parking, and you have a great dinner and a show combo in Hillsboro.
[1] In the interest of full disclosure, two of the actors are my son’s instructors at his performing arts academy.

Bag & Baggage is my favorite theatre company in Portland, even if they aren’t in Portland (and I live downtown). Their Macbeth was amazing! Their Crucible was astounding! I was honestly pretty worried about a hippy era Shakespeare with a pug… What I have learned: never question! Scott Palmer is a theatrical genius to which none other in the area, and who knows how far beyond, can compare. I ride the train for two hours from downtown to see their plays. I strongly recommend you do the same. The only regret you will have is if you miss a show. Scott can make ANYTHING work! If there’s ever a theatre competition like iron chef, Scott would kill it. Everything he touches becomes magic. I always want to see every show his company does twice. Best, highest quality entertainment in town.

Wow this is a hidden gem! The Bag and Baggage crew with the restored Venetian as the venue provided a top notch theater experience. The wife and I saw a wonderful production of The Glass Menagerie. The actors and production value were awesome. I highly recommend this to anyone that enjoys a great night out.

Don’t come to Hillsboro expecting an amateur community theater type production. You won’t get it from these folks. Professional, smart, engrossing, funny and a darn great way to spend the evening, Bag and Baggage seems to do everything well.
I went to one show last year and immediately bought a seasons pass. This year — I’ve bought four season passes.
Glass Menagerie kicked off this season and it was just marvelous. For the money you just can’t have a better theater experience anywhere in Portland.

Lean in close. I’m going to tell you Hillsboro’s best kept secret.
Bag & Baggage is the real deal. An actual professional theater troupe in Hillsboro. Yeah, Hillsboro.
I just saw Twelfth Night outdoors at the Hillsboro Civic Center. It was hilarious – the bawdy bard at his best. The Gatsby-​ish interpretation was great fun, and not at all distracting from the story. The actors were fantastic. Even the actress playing Olivia, who was last-​minute stand-​in who needed notes, was so great I forgot she was holding the script.
It was a great girlfriend’s night out and got me really excited about my 2010 – 2011 season tickets.

We saw Steel Magnolias about a year ago… and it was a very good production. There is a nice little café/​waiting area — out front… and seemed very high class. This place is tucked away downtown… and easy to find. Parking wasn’t an issue on a side street. The theatre itself feels like a high school auditorium… but oh well… it worked. The actors were pretty good, compared to other local productions. Worth a trip!

I saw «The Complete Works of Shakespeare» a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m going to see «Taming of the Shrew» soon, but wanted to comment on the quality of customer service while it was fresh in my mind.
I snagged a great deal on tickets on groupon, but found the method of redeeming them (completely unexplained… thanks groupon) quite confusing, and not only that, groupon had screwed up the date I’d tried to purchase them for. The gal I spoke with at B&B wasn’t sure exactly how to solve my problem, but instead of making me sit on hold for hours, told me she’d make everything right and my tickets would be available for pick up. I’d only have to talk to her again if she ran into a snag.
YES!
A couple of hours later printable tickets showed up in my inbox.
double YES!
Bag & Baggage ticket lady, I owe you a cookie.

Bag & Baggage Productions put on unique, professional productions in the beautiful Venetian Theatre, among other locations in Washington County. They typically do classics, but usually have a very fresh adaptation or take on the show. You never can anticipate what you’ll see, but it’s always great!