Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson The excellence of Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production serves to point out the flaws in this first episode of August Wilson's 10-play series on the Afro-American experience in America in the 20th Century.  The evening oozes importance and great meaning.  The cast rises to the challenge.  Unfortunately, this penultimately written saga tries to do too much and fails to do much.  The play confuses instead of illuminates.  Set in  Pittsburgh in1904, the story deals with the ambiguity of the new de jure freedom for black people which runs up [...]

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival On the Razzle by Tom Stoppard Either your the type of person who laughs non-stop at silly sit-coms or you're not.  If you're not, then there's no use in someone talking to you about the quality of the script, the acting, the physical humor, or any of the other skills employed in the show.  I am not a sit-com aficionado.  So don't waste your time explaining how right and funny a plot line you saw was. And, that's my feeling about On the Razzle, Oregon Shakespeare's obligatory farce for the season.  It just [...]

February 25, 2007 - Opening Performance Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalRabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire I pushed my way out of the theater at intermission because after only an hour or so, I needed daylight.  I was hoping for bright sunshine, but the obscured sky and the accompanying driving rain actually was probably better. The gloom was less jarring after what we'd been through. The official Oregon Shakespeare Festival synopsis of the play is mechanical and sparse compared to the actual production. It talks about death and colliding grief.  Director Jim Edmonson did a summary that says it better [...]

February 24, 2007 – Opening Performance Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalThe Cherry Orchid by Anton Chekhov Symbolism alert! Or, as redozdachs said as I prepared to come up for opening weekend, “This is your first chance to say ‘good-bye’ to Libby Appel for the last time.” Yes, Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Artistic Director Libby Appel is retiring this season. Her very talented but very self-satisfied, self-congratulating Presence will soon no longer permeate through all sectors of the Ashland stage. She choose to direct this Chekhov classic about change, loss, and growth as a parting gift. What a schmaltzy, in-your-face symbolic choice. As much as it pains me to say [...]

February 23, 2007 - Opening Night Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalAs You Like It by William Shakespeare One of the best aspects of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is its de-monumentizing of Shakespeare.  His plays are put on stage without the pomposity that lets the audience know that they are seeing high culture which is good for them.  The normal OSF attitude is "Shakespeare today, August Wilson tonight, you decide what you like." Well, OSF didn't follow that rule this time.  Not with this As You Like It, and as a result, I liked it very little. The production is [...]

August, 2006 Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalCyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (translated and adapted by Anthony Burgess) is a perfect play for my tragedy-loving and comedy-disliking personality.  The story is a tear-jerker, full of honor, unrequited love, bravery, more honor, more love, and ultimately death. The title character, played by Marco Barricelli, is so honorable and acts with so much integrity, that even disaster lovers like me squirm in our seats hoping for a last-minute rewrite that delivers the girl and a long life to the hero. […]

August, 2006 Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalThe Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare If you’re going to produce an over-the-top romp 400 years after it was written, you should do it with the energy, skill, and good fun that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival gives to Merry Wives. Will’s16th Century sit-coms generally do as little for me as the 21st Century ones that I delete unwatched from TiVo.  Yet, OSF makes the scheming and put-ons of MW a simple good, fun night in the outdoor theater. […]

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde The farce at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this season relies on word play instead of physical humor and timing. Still, the company manages to over-act and put on stuffy English accents to keep alive their tradition of doing b   r  o  a  d comedy. There's not much to say about this good production of a clever but well worn play.  It was good to see Kevin Kennerly as Algernon in a break from his murderous roles of past years (Booth in Topdog/Underdog and Levee in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom).  [...]