Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalRomeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Director and future Artistic Director Bill Rauch found ways to make this classic fresh and standout from the pack of “another Romeo and Juliet”.  Rauch’s creativity augers well for his upcoming run as the festival’s Visionary In Chief. This is a fast-paced R&J, and it is viewed with a generation gap at the center of the drama.  The parents’ generation is decked out in old fogy Elizabethan grab while the young adults and town folk are with-it, modern, dressed as prep school students and in current-day suits. The parents are stuck [...]

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalTracy’s Tiger  Book and Lyrics by Linda Alper, Douglas Langworthy, and Penny Metropulos Composer: Sterling Tinsley When I rail against musicals, I am denouncing the big stage, big production number shows that seem only incidentally interested in the erstwhile story.  I am frustrated beyond reason by those extravaganza’s whose spoken words serve only as bridges for a street urchin, young lover, or wandering king to burst forth in rah-rah upbeat song.  Go to a concert or a piano bar if you want that type of entertainment.  But, don’t call it an evening of theater. These [...]

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalDistracted  by Lisa Loomer The cacophony of cell phones, bad hip hop, and telemarketing calls is familiar. The witty commentary on our overstimulated life is satisfying and relaxing.  The faux concerned neighbors, teachers, and doctors are so recognizable that they’re disarming. The script is sufficiently pleasant and smugness-producing that it takes a while for the realization to develop that you’re watching a Neil Simon commentary on ADHD, teenage self-mutilation, and some true terrors of parenthood. The dialog nails the thoughts and conversations of today’s educated middle-class.  The Ashland audience is watching itself on stage, [...]

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalThe Tempest  by William Shakespeare Note to self:  You do not like The Tempest.  You think it is pretty much a waste of time. In the first act one implausible thing happens after another, and the remainder of the play just doesn't have enough pleasurable fantasies or moralistic outcomes to redeem the show. You sucker yourself into seeing this show because the storm and spirits sound frightening and fun.  They're not worth it. Remember the 2007 Oregon Shakespeare Festival production?  It had Derrick Lee Weeden as Prospero and Dan Donohue as Caliban.  They did excellent [...]

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalThe Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare There’s so much chemistry between Vilma Silva’s Katherina and Michael Elich’s Petruchio that this male chauvinism manual almost escapes its own words.  Silva is a striking, confident, beautiful woman.  Elich is vigorous and sexy in a way that seems unique to wiry bald men.  Together on stage the are in love and lust. This production is a straight-on shrew taming.  No winks, nods, or knowing looks that sometimes indicate that Kate is complicit in a charade.  No, in this staging Kate and Petruchio may be in love, but Kate learns [...]

Ashland, OR at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Tartuffe by Moliere, translated by Ranjit Bolt Damn, it’s satisfying when a hoary piece of “accessible” culture is given genuine life on stage.  When I last saw Tartuffe it was played for all of the pretentious fluff possible.  The play had no present meaning, unless you read the scholarly playbill notes.  It was a happy vacuous evening of Theatre.  Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the 2002 translation by Ranjit Bolt, have banished that cotton candy Tartuffe from my memory. They’ve created a production that’s equally good fun and sharp satire. The book is still happily over-populated [...]