plays | Dangerous Common Sense

“As You Like It” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

By Galen|2019-03-28T20:41:42-07:00March 16, 2019|plays|

As You Like It by William Shakespearedirected by Rosa Joshi As You Like It (2019): Román Zaragoza (Orlando), Jessica Ko (Rosalind). Photo by Jenny Graham. At the very least yet another romp through Arden Forest should be enjoyable fun. Done with artistry, a director can use this comedy to make Shakespeare seem like a feminist. After all, the freedom to love will win out and the women's decisions share the shaping of action in Arden Forest. At least I think they do. On the other hand, the current Oregon Shakespeare Festival's offering didn't even amuse me. The show is both [...]

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The 2018 Oregon Shakespeare Festival Season Rankings

By Galen|2018-10-21T12:07:33-07:00October 21, 2018|osf, plays|

The Ranking of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2018 Season by Ozdachs the Elder Three-Way Tie for Best Show of 2018, in alphabetical order: Destiny of Desire Oklahoma Snow in Midsummer Manahatta Othello Henry V The Book of Will Love’s Labor’s Lost The Way the Mountain Moved Sense and Sensibility Not seen, due to smoke cancelation, Romeo and Juliet. The first four shows are five-star, must-see events. Almost everyone in our group agreed. #5, Othello, was universally loved by those of us who saw it early in the season. The reviews from mid-season on were mixed. I worry that the cast [...]

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Love’s Labor’s Lost at Oregon Shakespeare Festival

By Galen|2018-10-21T10:43:40-07:00October 21, 2018|osf, plays|

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Love's Labor's Lost by William Shakespeare directed by Amanda Dehnert After I wrote my delayed review of Manahatta last month I was ready to post my season ratings for the excellent 2018 OSF season. I lined up all my reviews, added in the Romeo and Juliet we didn't see because of smoke, and set about to rank the plays. I got to 10. But, there were 11 productions this year. I initially thought I mistagged a review in the blog, so I searched though my posts. Nope. Only 9 plays plus R&J. I went to the OSF [...]

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“Manahatta” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

By Galen|2018-09-29T16:49:34-07:00September 29, 2018|osf, plays|

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle directed by Laurie Woolery Steven Flores, Rainbow Dickerson, Sheila Tousey, Tanis Parenteau. ,br />Photo by Jenny Graham. This world-premiere production tells the story of the poor treatment of Native American people by Imperialistic white "settlers", brillianty weaves together narratives four centuries apart, and gives us a satisfying understanding of how the actions taken in 1626 reverberate in today's America. Manahatta deals with themes similar to the also-world-premiere The Way the Mountain Moved , but Manahatta did it right, engaging the audience instead of giving a sermon to it. Manahatta is about [...]

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“The Way the Mountain Moved” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

By Galen|2018-09-26T09:16:04-07:00September 25, 2018|osf, plays|

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Way the Mountain Moved by Idris Goodwin directed by May Adrales Julian Remulla, Maddy Flemming, Sara Bruner, Al Espinosa. Photo by Jenny Graham. This American Revolutions OSF commissioned play earns a star for its attempt at dealing with a complex subject and another for the quality of the acting; there's nothing given for any actual quality of the play. The Way's major faults are glaring: The theme of Bad, Insensitive Interlopers taking over the Native American/wild lands is hammered home without redeeming subtlety. The play is embarrassingly unedited. There are several decent [...]

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“The Book of Will” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

By Galen|2018-09-09T06:34:03-07:00September 9, 2018|osf, plays|

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Book of Will by Lauren M. Gunderson directed by Christopher Liam Moore "Masturbation is loads of fun," sing Romanovsky and Phillips, and the Book of Will is loads of fun. It's a truly enjoyable evening for theater aficionados and Shakespeare cognoscente. Excellent fun. Self-indulgent, self-centered, masturbatory theater fun. The "play" is a cover to allow extremely fine actors to deliver some of the best lines of Shakespeare, one after another, from productions unrelated except that they share an author. Kate Hurster, David Kelly, Kevin Kenerly, Jeffrey King. Photo by Jenny Graham. The Book of [...]

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Snow in Midsummer

By Galen|2018-09-07T19:55:21-07:00September 7, 2018|osf, plays|

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Snow in Midsummer By Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig Based on the Play The Injustice to Dou Yi That Moved Heaven and Earth by Guan Hanqing Directed by Justin Audibert Snow in Midsummer may be the best production of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival season. It certainly is the best production most likely to be overlooked by old-chestnut-seeking, casual theater goers. One reason Snow is a candidate for audience neglect is that it's a new play that hasn't been vetted by Broadway. Another reason is that the publicity for Snow makes it sound intellectual and good-for-you. You learn that [...]

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Oklahoma!

By Galen|2018-07-15T09:56:21-07:00July 15, 2018|osf, plays|

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Oklahoma Music by Richard Rodgers Book & Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Based on the Play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs Original Dances by Agnes de Mille Directed by Bill Rauch Oregon Shakespeare Festival has been workshopping and mulling over this production of Oklahoma for five years, according to cast member Barzin Akhavan (playing Ali Hakim) when he spoke at a coffee in April. OSF's dream was to create an Oklahoma! with non-standard gender roles throughout the territory. Will Parker (Jordan Barbour) is hot for Ado Andy (Jonathan Luke Stevens) and Curly (a definitely [...]

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Vietgone

By Galen|2018-04-03T10:22:49-07:00April 2, 2018|plays|

San Francisco, CA at the American Conservatory Theater, Strand Theater Extended through April 29, 2018 Vietgone by Qui Nguyen directed by Jaime Castañeda ACT advertising Vietgone as "The irreverent road-trip comedy" is almost sacrilegious. The categorization misses the depth, power, and cultural importance of this newish play. Anyone selling Vietgone as a mindless-sounding comedy rode the momentary surface story, ignoring the characters, context, and important human issue that makes Vietgone truly memorable. The strength of Vietgone is its suburb writing which hits the mark in storytelling, characterization, pace, and perspective. The playwright character (Jomar Tagatac) comes on stage in the opening scene to assure the [...]

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Henry V

By Galen|2018-03-05T20:02:55-08:00March 5, 2018|osf, plays|

Ashland, Oregon at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Henry V Ensemble as Chorus. Photo by Jenny Graham. by William Shakespeare directed by Rosa Joshi Daniel José Molina (Henry V) and other cast members deliver many truly spectacular moments -- especially in Act II -- which make this Henry a must see. Unfortunately, Director Rosa Joshi's choices diminish the impact of the play itself and leaves the audience to appreciate master-class acting set in a confusion of activity. I think the audience is supposed to [endlessly] appreciate the turmoil and indiscriminate horrors of the machine of war. Toward that end, actors push [...]

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