Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalThe Tempest by William Shakespeare Director Tony Taccone should be ashamed.  This Tempest not only lacked insight and sharpness, my group of friends was struggling at intermission to recall a more juvenile, poorly executed production.  Most of us went back to junior high school to match the feel of the opening night evening.  What a disappointment. The Tempest fails in the same way as last year's Lear.  In Lear, the true goodness of Cordelia was not communicated to the audience so the father's spurning of his rebellious teenage daughter seemed reasonable and not the [...]

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalA Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams When a complicated, difficult story plays out flawlessly and naturally, the review of the performance can only lift up a part at a time.  Any look back on OSF's A Streetcar Named Desire will fail to capture the depth and flow of the production which needs to be experienced as a whole. Each of the characters presented on stage felt strong and authentic.  Danforth Comins (Stanley Kowalski) feels young, strong, frustrated, insightful, and horrible at just the right moments in just the right way.  He would steal [...]

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalKing Lear by William Shakespeare I guess it's a relief to discover that Artist Director Bill Rauch can stumble as a director.  After seeing one amazing Rauch production after another, year in and year out, it is cathartic to experience a badly-focused, inconsistent performance in which many actors and crafts still excel but which, overall, disappoints. Bill Rauch is a fallible human after all. The intimate space of the Thomas Theater is perfect for the play's intense family interactions.Unfortunately,  there is no uniting vision in this production, and so even a very good Lear -- [...]