Summer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
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One of the coolest things about Oregon in the summer is the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
OSF is one of the top regional theaters in the United States; it puts on 11 plays in a season that kicks off in February and runs through October; and, best of all, it doesn’t do only Shakespeare.
We’re just back from a trip south to catch the summer openings on the festival’s outdoor Elizabethan stage. Three new plays opened in June: Henry VIII, Much Ado About Nothing and Don Quixote.
Here, in a nutshell, is what we think:
Much Ado about Nothing: Quick, witty and hilarious. David Kelly’s superb comic acting as Benedick elevates this production, directed by Kate Buckley, from really good to outstanding. You’ve probably seen the Kenneth Branaugh movie version, with Emma Thompson as Beatrice. This is better. See it for sure.
Don Quixote: A new stage adaptation by San Francisco playwright Octavio Solis. It’s fast, funny and poignant. Best of all it has outrageously wonderful puppets by Lynn Jeffries. Laird Williams directs. If you only have time for one, head directly for La Mancha.
Henry VIII: Despite the best efforts of director John Sipes and the cast, this is not one of Shakespeare’s better efforts. It combines tedious English history with a severe lack of good storytelling. Give it a pass.
Advice for first-time festival-goers: summer evenings can be downright cold in Oregon and sometimes, ahem, rainy. You’ll be much happier sitting in the audience during a three-hour show if you bring warm clothes and rain gear. Umbrellas aren’t really practical. Just ask the people behind you.
Second bit of advice: Get there on time. Shows at the festival start promptly and latecomers are out of luck.
Tickets run from $20-$83; get them at OSFAshland.org.
photo: Don Quixote (Armando Durán) and his horse Rocinante (James Jesse Peck). Photo by David Cooper/OSF.
