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Four hundred plus years after his final curtain call, William Shakespeare continues to amuse, inspire and draw crowds. It seems the play's the thing.
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival reports record ticket sales this season. The festival is celebrating its 75th anniversary with productions of The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night, the same plays it opened with in 1935. Shakespeare in the Parks will perform around Portland this summer for its 41st year. And in schools across the country students are discovering, often to their surprise, the raw emotions stirred by those ancient words.
What does the legacy of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and of the Bard himself mean to you?
Do you have fond memories of "discovering" William Shakespeare in school? Are you a regular at the Ashland festival? Did you introduce your children to his plays in the park or read the Classical Comics versions? Do you find Elizabethan english difficult to follow? Do you prefer film adaptions such as the one with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes?
GUESTS:
- Lue Douthit: Director of literary development and dramaturgy at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
- Trisha Todd: Theater teacher at Grant High School and experienced stage and film actress
- Curt Hanson: Actor with Shakespeare in the Parks in Portland and film actor who played Mr. Perkins in The Goonies
Tagged as: oregon shakespeare festival · shakespeare · theater
Photo credit: Courtesy Oregon Shakespeare Festival
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I decided to attend Southern Oregon University (SOSC back then) after a senior class trip to Ashland during which we attended two plays at OSF. It was a great experience and I liked the town and what I saw of the school. I made use of the cheap $5 student nights they offered several times while in school there.
My favorite memory is of a night performance of Macbeth in the open-air Elizabethan theatre. A light rain was falling on the audience and as Banquo steps forward not knowing he is about to be murdered, he searches the sky and says, "There is rain tonight." The audience roared with laughter at this unintentional comedy bit, completely drowning out the murderer's lines and the next several moments of the play. It was great!
I like traditional Shakespearian language best but I am not of the mind that the costumes or sets need to be period-accurate. I saw Romeo and Juliet dressed with tuxes and evening gowns but with original scripting and liked it very much. The power is in the words.
OSF is a treasure. I hope it lives on for many years to come.
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Not to take anything away from the wonderful Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as I am a big fan of Shakespeare in general and the OSF in particular. However, as usual the local media like to highlight all of the superlative and special attributes of Oregonians the unique culture of the Pacific Northwest tend to forget that Ashland is in fact an outpost of Northern California. The OSF can provide those figures, but the demographics of their ticket buyers are heavily weighted towards Northern California, in particular the San Francisco Bay Area. Both overall tourist visitor numbers and newly arrived residents and homeowners (lets say during the past 15-20 years) is also heavily weighted towards Northern Californians. Arguably one could say if it weren't for the relatively easy access of Ashland and the OSF for Northern Californians, there wouldn't be an Oregon Shakespeare Festival, at least not one that is so vital to this day, including right through this current recession.
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My first Shakespeare memory is playing Queen Gertrude in a 6th grade production of Hamlet. That gave me a taste for Shakespeare. Then in the early the 70's my tiny, rural high school actually got the funds to take a group of students to the OSF in Ashland. I have been hooked ever since.
I have seen many versions of the plays, live and on film, and the whole package of Ashland is right up there with the very best. The plays, the theater, the town... I admit to bias but I love it!
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My first time in Ashland as a six year old (I'm 38 now), we saw A Midsummer Night's Dream and Marlowe's Dr. Faustus. My dad summarized the plot of Faustus to me as Mephistopheles and Faustus in a contest for Faustus' soul. 15 minutes into the play I ask, "Daddy, who wins the contest?"
"You'll just have to wait and see, Matt."
"Well, who's ahead?"
I've been hooked ever since.
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As the parent of two boys (9 and 11), we refer to Shakespeare often. For example, we all appreciate his expertise in generating amazingly creative insults..!
And of course, there's his observation from MacBeth: "you doth protest too much."
It applies in so many situations, from family life ("but I didn't DO IT!!!") (hmmm...perhaps you did..?) to the daily news (all that gay bashing from the Catholic Church, for example - hmmm...perhaps all those popes and priests are creepy closet cases? No surprises here, thanks to the Bard's insight).
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In 1962 when I was ten, my parents took me to Ashland to see my first
Shakespearean play the Comedy of Errors. This began an almost
50 year love affair with the festival in Ashland and Shakespeare.
Not to mention the wonderful music and dancing which is truly
world class.
Thanks for everything.
John Ross, Salem
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Free Shakespeare !
Part of the Bard's historic appeal was that his work was performed for the masses without tariff at the Globe.
A few valiant and somewhat suffering troupes still stick to that tradition -- Oregon's own Willamette Shakespeare troupe being among them. Free performances are scheduled for this summer at Reed College and at several venues in Yamhill county.
Free Shakespeare !
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My first experience of OSF was in the late 70's when our small high school drama class made annual trips during the school year to see plays in Ashland. I made trips back as a young newlywed to share my love of the festival with my wife. We have returned on and off throughout the years and now for almost 10 years we have been going every year seeing Shakespeare, classic and new plays over a long holiday weekend. We have a standing reservation at the same B&B every year and we visit a lot of the same businesses including the surrounding wineries.
I think my favorite thing about OSF is the inclusion of new plays as well as the traditional Shakespeare. I tell all my friends that even if you are not a big fan of Shakespeare there is plenty of theater for you to enjoy while at OSF.
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Ashland has changed my life! I am dyslexic and I didn't learn to read until I was in 6th grade. I felt disconnected from the world of literature, but when I started going to Ashland in 7th grade, everything changed! I have gone every year since and I am now an English teacher and I am taking my own classes to Ashland! It is an amazing feeling to introduce new dyslexics into a world that doesn't judge their ability to sound out words, but rather their ability to absorb and analyze the material.
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I took several classes in college in Shakespeare but I never understood the language and its careful use until I took an acting class here in Portland. The teacher was so good at pointing out the meter and the pronunciation, the use of rhyming to end a scene, the addition of another "foot" to signal a thought or change of idea. It was fascinating. Everyone should have a real actor teach them Shakespeare at least once.
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While my first striking memory of the Festival was of Othello, with Anthony Heald as Iago (so good!) I must say, that I am more continually impressed with the more modern works that they do. The Festival premiers new writers and first works consistently. I so appreciate that they can honor the past works that serve as a road map to the current and future works that keep living drama alive, relevant and in our lives.
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My first encounter with Shakespeare was actually in middle school when our advanced theatre ensemble performed an abridged version of "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream". After many years of performing in plays and musicals, that experience has been one of the most memorable. It was perfect for us new teenagers. We got to demonstrate our maturity by understanding the old English, yet the plot and the characters were still very silly. We got to be young adults and children all at the same time.
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Our four daughters looked forward every year to family trips to Ashland for two or three plays under Ashland's magical stars. Two of the daughters attended SO because of those lovely trips.
For more than 30 years, we took all house guests from out of state for a drive down the Oregon coast, with Ashland as the destination. A few nights in an Ashland motel allowed us to explore Tule Lake and other attractions nearby. We left Ashland loaded with souvenirs, clothing and even furniture.
The first time we ran into a modern-style Shakespearean production was about six or seven years ago. The actors looked like homeless people! They reclined onstage, jumping up now and then to plop down in another location. It truly looked like desperation thrift. Nothing in advance publicity warned of the change. We have not been back.
"Modern costuming" is available in every entertainment venue on a daily basis. Visuals are vital. The Wizard of Oz is special. Alice in Wonderland is special. Shakespeare is in a class of its own -- the most special of all, and visuals are vital.
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This was an interesting show.
I like hearing people talk about what they do. I think you get more depth than you would in listening to critics or reviewers.
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How did we get so lucky to have a world class theater company right here in Southern Oregon? Thank you Angus Bowmer and the many talented and dedicated directors who have followed in his foot steps.
I am totally addicted: my husband and I go down three times a year to catch all of the plays. It is fascinating to see the actors in the company take on such different rolls with such skill. The noble king from Friday night becomes an alcoholic Saturday afternoon.
Thank you OSF, keep up the marvelous work!