Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalHenry VIII by William Shakespeare A better title of this production of the seldom-produced Henry VIII would be The Vilma and Tony Show.  The performances of Vilma Silva (Queen Katherine) and Anthony Heald (Cardinal Wolsey) alone are enough to make this an extremely satisfying evening of theater. This play is looked down on as odd — if not downright “bad”.  The Oregon Shakespeare Festival avoids it, having last put in on 25 years ago in 1984. The audience was littered with people who are seeing Henry VIII to complete their viewing of the Shakespeare [...]

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka The rhythms, the timing, and method of communication in Death and the King’s Horseman are not familiar or comfortable for a typical American play-goer. But, if you let yourself be absorbed into the opening long, chatty, riddling, market scene — if you let your thoughts fall into the same tempo as the indirect, elaborate, and elegant storytelling dialog — then Death will grab you from the opening curtain… err… more like opening colorful banner… and make you witness an unwanted, unavoidable, and unstoppable tragedy. This vignette of [...]

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalEquivocation by Bill Cain This world premiere production is stuffed with clever concepts, interesting plots, brilliant acting, spectacular execution, and meaningful messages. It’s an artistic tour de force bursting with importance and complex stories which are determined to cross centuries of time to reflect the current events of 2009 (or, at least George Bush’s 2001-2009 torture-burdened court). But, it is disappointment to have to sit through such an overwrought and under-edited excellent draft play.  I am puzzled why a typical amateur error of piling on content was allowed to progress to a full-blown production on [...]

Ashland, Oregon opening night at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Macbeth by William Shakespeare We were so looking forward to seeing the Oregon Shakespeare Festival redeem themselves after their 2002 butchery where they “adapted” Macbeth to make Lady Macbeth warm and cuddly and misunderstood. We went home thoroughly disappointed. Last night’s production left Shakespeare’s words intact but unsexed it emotionally and deposited its storyline in disconnected speeches all across the stage.  This Macbeth is a bombastic mess badly conceived and faithfully driven into the ground by the talented acting staff. […]

Ashland, Oregon opening performance at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl A fun, snappy script built around a clever premise makes this theater adventure a satisfying romp.  The play is pure entertainment as far as I can figure out. Its send-up of our need for constant communication makes me worry that I am missing Something Deeper.  But, if I’ve missed it, I am happy anyway. The play notes tell us about a “… film-noir odyssey that crisscrosses life and death, isolation and connection, what’s real and what’s not.”  Yeah, well, sure.  It was mostly fun, though. [...]

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare Adapted and Directed by Penny Metropulos Music  by Sterling Tinsley Lyrics by Penny Metropulos and Sterling Tinsley. Additional lyrics by Linda Alper. Oregon Shakespeare Festival has a affinity for breakthrough productions of Comedy.  In 2004 Bill Rauch set the play in Las Vegas with one set of twins sporting New Jersey accents and the other sounding Texan. Strip cocktail waitresses swirled through the audience at intermission.  This year, OSF upped the creative ante and not only moved the set to the mythical wild west, they also adapted the play [...]

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Othello by William Shakespeare Words, words, words!  Othello (Peter Macon, pictured left) and Iago (Dan Donohue, pictured right) made me feel like they each had too many of those damn multisyllabic chores to get through before they were allowed to go offstage and do something else. There was one wordy speech after another.   You know the kind: they’re loaded with big rhyming Shakespeare words.  Good-for-you and opaque. Othello starts off on full-tilt loud ranting pitch which Macon maintains for nearly every scene and utterance.  Donohue is quieter, more controlled, and clearer. But, he is also always [...]

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Our Town by Thornton Wilder When you decide to present a well-known, quality chestnut, you’re declaring that you either have a fresh vision or else you’re going to new heights in production standards.  Hurtling above raised expectations is the stock in trade of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with its schedule of Shakespeare and other plays that everyone has seen from high school on.  OSF also shares new perspectives on tired war horses many times a season. Unfortunately, this edition of Our Town is neither innovative nor Tony Award material.  It’s a technically competent production [...]