103

Posted on November 15, 2013 by djnpub

shakespeare playsAfter going though theater programs and old tickets I’d hoarded in a drawer for the last few decades, and organizing the information on a Shakespeare page on my blog, I realized that by the end of this summer I’d seen 103 live productions of Shakespeare plays since I first started going back in Berkeley. I’m impressed. And despite all those shows, there’s still a few Shakespeare plays I’ve never seen live. I’ve already got my subscription to next year’s CalShakes season, and I’m probably going back to Ashland again next year, so that number is just going to keep climbing.

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Exit, pursued by a bear

Posted on October 3, 2013 by djnpub

A Winter's TaleExperiencing my 6th Shakespeare play of the year, tonight I saw my last CalShakes production of the season, A Winter’s Tale. It was a fun, if a bit offbeat, production. It featured much of the cast of last year’s Spunk. The cast was all very good, most of whom played multiple parts in the dual kingdoms of Sicilia and Bohemia. L. Peter Calendar was particularly good. Also noteworthy was the use of lighting. There was a lot of dropping the barrier between the acting and the audience, and a couple of audience participation pieces.

We lucked out as the temperature was quite bearable, but the wind did pickup and was a bit blustery. A couple of Bill and Andy’s friends joined us, so we had nearly a full crew. Considering this is my 5th Shakespeare play in just a few weeks, I can honestly say my appetite is just getting stronger. At least this summer my theater drought has subsided a bit, even temporarily exceeding my DC rate. I’ll have to seriously looking to some of the alternative venues during the fall/winter/spring.

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Ashland — day 5

Posted on September 20, 2013 by djnpub

ElizabethanOn my last full day in Ashland, in the morning I went on a backstage tour. This was fascinating. Not only did I get to see the inner workings of all 3 theaters, but I also discovered how complex it is to actually execute a show. By luck, my group’s guide was Jeffery King, the same actor I’d been impressed in seeing in major roles in two plays on Tuesday. OSF does around 800 shows every year, and sells around 400,000 tickets. There is an acting staff of 90-100, and additional artistic staff of another 450. Putting on so many plays in rotating repertory is an amazing challenge that takes an army.

King LearAfter a brief break, I headed back over to the Thomas Theater. The last day of plays couldn’t have ended any better. I saw an amazing production of King Lear. They have two different actors rotating the role of Lear, and the production I saw featured Michael Winters, the actor who had starred in Gilmore Girls as Taylor Doose. The Thomas Theatre was setup in arena / theater-in-the-round style, and is only 6 rows deep, so it is very up-close and intimate. The acting was outstanding, and the production very moving. I’m so glad I got to see this. Interestingly, after the play, when I came out of the gift shop I ran into the lead actor, leaving in shorts and a straw hat looking like just another tourist.

The first play of this visit was the amazingly powerful and moving A Streetcar Named Desire, and the last play was a similarly moving and powerful King Lear. This visit certainly sold me on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

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Ashland — day 4

Posted on September 19, 2013 by djnpub

I determined this was going to be a lazy day. Since I had just one evening play, I had toyed with the idea of trying to drive to Crater Lake and do some exploring. However, I decided that would be a bit too much rushing to go and come back in time, and since my goal for this vacation is to relax I decided to do just that. I spent the morning just taking it easy. Then I went over to the plaza for a late lunch / early dinner, and got some souvenirs. It was a nice warm day, so I came back and did some reading by the pool. Not much accomplished, but very relaxing.

Midsummer Night's DreamAfter a low-key day, in the evening I headed over to the Elizabethan Stage to see my 4th OSF production, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The weather was much kinder than Tuesday for an evening play in the outdoor theater. It was a wonderful production. The basic stage set was the same one from Cymbeline, but dressed a little differently. The Athens part was reset into a Catholic School in 1964 (the time of Vatican II), and that was a bit strange, but when they got into the forest, in the realm of the fairies, it was awesome. The fairies were played by a group of cute and enchanting children. They were first introduced bringing forth the moon and hanging it in the sky. Titiana, the queen of the fairies came on scene looking more queen-like and fairy-like than anything I could imagine. Lighting and projected leafy and viney images were used to sell the forest. The acting was superb. I recognized various major players from major parts I saw in plays I saw earlier in the week. This was a funny and enjoyable way to spend the evening.

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Ashland — day 3

Posted on September 18, 2013 by djnpub

LithiaI’m starting to get things figured out here. Today again started with a bountiful breakfast. I only had one matinee play, so after breakfast I did some walking and picture taking. I went into Lithia Park, a park that starts adjacent to the OSF campus, and runs along Ashland Creek for a couple of miles. I was in no hurry, so I strolled along, took pictures, and sat. Lots of people in the various green spaces just hanging out, reading, meditating, etc.

Taming of the ShrewAs time moved along, I made my way back to the Angus Bowmer Theatre to see one of my favorites, The Taming of the Shrew. This was a very campy, slapstick production, which ultimately worked. The cast was great. The setting of Padua was basically a version of the Coney Island boardwalk. Petruchio was a rockabilly musician, and there were background musicians playing rockabilly music throughout. It was a fast, fun production that still managed to deliver the main themes. The shrew Kate was played excellently by Nell Geisslinger, the same actress who played Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Green ShowAfter dinner, and some more walking around downtown, I stopped by the free Green Show, which was featuring the Taming of the Shrew Band, a.k.a. Boys With Bugs. They played a number of songs, and segments, from the production as well as others. It was a nice way to end off a long day.

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Ashland — day 2

Posted on September 17, 2013 by djnpub

A Streetcar Named DesireToday I got my official first exposure to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The morning was gray and rainy, so I guess I can say I’ve experienced the reputed Oregon rain. The day started with a bounteous breakfast with the two guys who run the B&B and a couple of the other guests. After noon I made my way over to the Angus Bowmer Theatre to see A Streetcar Named Desire. WOW. It was a single basic set, similar to what you might see at CalShakes. The acting was great. The four leads were all quite impressive. The end of the play is very emotional. They got a standing ovation, but I could barely look at the cast while clapping for fear of starting to bawl. A very moving production, and a great way to start the OSF experience.

Elizaabethan Stage CymbelineAfter a quick dinner of bangers and mash I headed back to my room for a very brief break before heading out for my 2nd play of the day. I went to the outdoor Elizabethan Stage, and saw Cymbeline. The stage of the theater is probably smaller than CalShakes, but the height and the surrounding walls and balcony make the theater feel much bigger. It has twice the seating capacity. It was in the 50s after a rain when the play started, but it never felt as cold as the Bruns does sometimes. They preceed each show by a herald of trumpets, and someone hoisting a flag from the top window of the stage. The set was large and beautiful and was transformed by backing images. The play was solidly done, and very well acted, and the comic bits were very enjoyable. There were several interesting aspects of this production. Two of the cast were faces I remembered from TV: Anthony Heald, who played the smarmy psychiatrist in Silence of the Lambs, and Peter Frechette who played in Profiler.Cymbeline It also included Robin Goodwin Nordli from past CalShakes seasons. The actor who played King Cymbeline appeared to be hearing impaired, and he signed his dialog which was spoken by Frechette as his interpreter. The other really stunning thing, which I guess is the norm for OSF’s rotating repertory style, was the fact that the actor who played the major role of Mitch in the afternoon’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire, Jeffrey King, was 4 hours later playing the major role of the banished Belarius in Cymbeline. He was completely different in each role, and it was very impressive.Cymbeline

I enjoyed the day of plays very much, but I’m glad I’m only doing one two-fer on this trip.

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American Shakespeare Mecca

Posted on September 16, 2013 by djnpub

Mt. ShastaI guess this counts as a bucket-list item. After many years (decades?) of thinking about it, I finally made my way to Ashland, Oregon so that I could attend some plays of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I left home this morning, almost an hour later than I had planned, and made my way up I-5 in north central California. I’ve never been this far north on I-5, and never been in this part of the state. I didn’t realize I’d end up driving by Mt. Shasta, an “active” volcano and the 5th highest mountain in California.

Lithia ParkI arrived in Ashland, and checked into the B&B I was staying, the Arden Forrest Inn. Very nice accommodations. I then did a little exploring around the town plaza where the three theaters are located, and stumbled across the beautiful park they have in town. Since a main objective of this vacation is relaxation, this park looks like a good place to do some exploring — and just some lounging — in the upcoming days. I ended the evening by finding a place to get some Italian food for dinner. Since there’s no TV in my room, I’ll have a nice restful evening.
Lithia Duck PondAshland plaza at night

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Lady Windermere’s Fan

Posted on August 22, 2013 by djnpub

Lady Windermere's FanTonight I saw the 3rd play in this year’s CalShakes season, Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan. It was a very cool night at the Bruns, but this was a very good play. I had never seen it before. The acting, in a 19th turn-of-the-century English story, was as usual good. James Carpenter was as awesome as I have seen him playing a more dopey character than usual. Some of the other CalShakes standards put in solid side roles, like L. Peter Calendar, and Danny Scheie, who often plays over-the-top characters hilariously played two different older women characters.

We managed to have a full group this time. In addition to the Winters, Ben and Kyoko and John Brooks joined us. Everyone had a nice evening, and we didn’t freeze too much.

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R&J

Posted on July 11, 2013 by djnpub

Romeo and JulietTonight I got to see the latest CalShakes production, Romeo and Juliet. It is always one of my favorites, and this was a very good rendition. The staging was very spare, consisting of just a couple of crossing platforms on the stage. Throughout the show, a stair-ladder was brought in for the balcony scene, and a bed was brought in for some of the scenes, but that was about it. The cast was similarly sparse, all of the characters being played by 7 actors. But it really worked. In addition to the minimalist cast, what was unique was that Romeo and Juliet were really portrayed as young teenagers, so some of their over the top emotion is more believable. Particularly the actress who played Juliet really conveyed the youth of her role.

Bill and Andy managed to make it to this one. It was a bit of a cool night, with the fog coming in early, but a great evening of live theater.

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American Night

Posted on June 6, 2013 by djnpub

American NightTonight I saw the first play of this year’s CalShakes season, American Night, The Ballad of Juan José. It was great to get out and see some live theater again. This was a very modern play built around a Mexican immigrant’s dreams through American history while studying for his citizenship test. It was over the top comedy with some very pointed political messages dealing with some less wonderful aspects of our history as well as pointing to some often overlooked characters and groups. All in all a very interesting and entertaining play.

Due to some missing folks, it was just me and Bill who made it. It was a nice balmy night, and a wonderful way to kick off the new season.

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