We like to expand our cultural bounds every now and then. Get a bit off the beaten path. Find something truly different.

This is part of our 100 Things in 2017 challenge. Click on the photos for a closer look!

This year while attending a dance performance, we spotted a flyer for Belfast Girls, a play about several women emigrating from Ireland to Australia during the potato famine. We had a fair bit of context for this, having just toured EPIC in Dublin, so to get a more “first-person” account of what it was like was fascinating.

The production was put on well, and the costumes and props were just perfect for the mood. The venue (Shaking the Tree Theatre) is a nondescript warehouse in southeast Portland, with all the spareness and raw charm that entails. The audience felt their hopes swell and be dashed, just as the emigrants’ were. It was heart-wrenching and lovely, and we heartily enjoyed it.