Mark Bedard is hilarious and charming as the title character in Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s new adaptation of Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters. Photo by Jenny Graham
Two and a half weeks after running Part 1 of my Oregon Shakespeare Festival reviews, the San Francisco Chronicle finally published the second round, which includes thoughts of my favorite shows from this season: The Servant of Two Masters and the incredible Equivocation.
Read the reviews here.
I also saw Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone, but I didn’t review it because the production closed at the end of June. Having recently seen the SF Playhouse production of the play, it was interesting to see the OSF take on it. I think the play, which can be wonderful in Ruhl-like ways, has some fundamental problems, but it is greatly helped by a gorgeous physical production, which is what it gets in Ashland. Ruhl is a fan of visual poetry to enhance the emotion of her writing, and that potent combination made for a stunning experience in OSF’s black box New Theatre.
Vilma Silva and Armando Durán star in Octavio Solis’ adaptation of Don Quixote on the Elizabethan Stage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Photo by David Cooper.
The first round of my reviews from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival — the three outdoor shows on the Elizabethan Stage — have arrived and were published in the San Francisco Chronicle. Read the reviews here.
The second batch (including the superb drama Equivocation and masterful Servant of Two Masters) will be published in the Chron’s Pink section July 5.
Vasantasenā (Miriam A. Laube) paints a portrait of her lover, Chārudatta (Cristofer Jean) in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of The Clay Cart. Photo by David Cooper.
Here’s the link to the last batch of reviews I wrote of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore., for the the San Francisco Chronicle.
Click here.
And may I just say how fun it is to control the Little Man?
Last week I spent four glorious days in Ashland, Ore., covering the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the San Francisco Chronicle.
The first few stories are online now, and conveniently, I provide the links.
For a news story involving Jonathan Moscone and Tony Taccone collaborating on an OSF-commissioned show about Moscone’s father, slain San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, visit here.
For an interview with new OSF artistic director Bill Rauch, visit here.
For Round 1 of the reviews (all three shows on the outdoor Elizabethan Stage), visit here.
Round 2 of the reviews (all the other shows except A Midsummer Night’s Dream) will be in the Chron on Friday.
Many of us here in the Bay Area consider the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in lovely little Ashland, Ore. to be a theatrical home away from home. A great number of local theater lovers make annual pilgrimages to the charming hamlet just over the California-Oregon border.
Big changes are afoot in Ashland next year as artistic director Libby Appel steps down and Bill Rauch steps in (in June to be exact). Rauch sent an e-mail to OSF patrons this week announcing that he’ll arrive in April to direct Romeo and Juliet, and he’ll stay to begin planning for the 2008 season.
Here’s some of what he wrote:
The opportunity to follow in Libby Appel’s footsteps at OSF is both humbling and thrilling, and I am very grateful to Libby for introducing me to the incomparable artists, and audiences, here in Ashland. Beginning with Angus Bowmer, the four preceding OSF artistic directors have fostered a theatre company that remains unique in the history of American theatre. Carrying that legacy forward is a great responsibility for me and an adventure that awaits all of us together.
Visit the OSF Web site for information. To learn more about Rauch, to watch an interview and see a slide show, click here.