Category Theater
“MMC”, a guest review of an OSF Play
“Medea Macbeth Cinderella”
Karen’s Review of MMC:
This is the fourth iteration of a play-making process Bill Rauch began 30 years ago. At that time it was presented in his dormitory basement, then as an Actor’s Gang-Cornerstone production in 1998 in Los Angeles before opening the Yale Repertory Theatre’s season in 2002.
And, it is a fascinating idea. Take three plays, one from each of “the three great populist movements of Western drama” – classical Greek tragedy, Elizabethan drama and the American musical – and meld them together into one theatrical experience. Apparently, Rauch placed the scripts side by side and discovered a “synchronicity” of themes and events. They all dealt with the same things: ambition, magic, transformation, the parent/child relationship, and the role of women in male-dominated societies. “Medea Macbeth Cinderella” pays homage to these themes and the three historical genres. Read More
All the Way, LBJ!
Another review from Karen, this one on Robert Schenkkan’s play “All the Way.”
Robert Schenkkan’s play about Lyndon Baines Johnson takes place during the first year of his Presidency, immediately after the assassination of Jack Kennedy in 1963. The production went into rehearsal at the same time as the release of Robert Caro’s fourth volume of his LBJ biography, covering about the same time period. The play focuses less on the events of that year, and much more on the interactions between the President and the major players in those events: Martin Luther King, J. Edgar Hoover, Governor George Wallace, and Senators Dick Russell, Everett Dirksen, and Hubert Humphrey. Read More
Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa: a guest review
My dear friend and long-standing guest Karen writes this review of Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa. My opinions are in the comments.
Maybe it was the stress of worrying whether or not the fog was going to lift early enough for my Monterey-SFO flight to land in time for me to make my 1/2 hour connection to the plane to Medford. Or, perhaps it was the cab driver telling me that the audience for this show was “leaving in droves” at the intermission. Or, it could have been the other guests at my favorite bed and breakfast remarking how astonished they were that OSF would present a play that still needed so much work. Read More
Camelot Theatre: The Best Man, 10/3/12 thru 10/28/12
THE BEST MAN October 3 – 28, 2011
by Gore Vidal
This Tony Award winning play examines the two front runners for their party’s presidential nomination. Ex-Secretary of State William Russell is a wit and a scholar with high principles but no integrity in the bedroom. Joseph Cantwell is a ruthless and hard-driving young man, a dirty fighter who will let no scruples stand in the way of his ambitions. Both vie for the support of ex-President Art Hockstader, a man who loves politics for its own sake, admires a rough-and-tumble battle more than a chivalrous one, and is determined to have the final say in selecting his party’s candidate.
“Vidal’s story is…suspenseful, funny…fresh!” — Associated Press.
Camelot Theater, a semi-professional company renowned for performing high-quality plays, musicals, and musical events year round. Ashland Oregon theater
OSF Noon Talks: 7/22–7/31
This Week: OSF Noon Talks
Through lectures, panel discussions and questions and answers, actors, artisans and other company members of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival will share their knowledge about the OSF, and theater in general.
Admission is free, no tickets are required.
All Oregon Shakespeare Festival noon talks are in the Bill Patton Garden, uphill side of the Elizabethan theater.
This week:
Jul. 22, Sunday Park Talk: Brent Hinkley and Kate Mulligan, Actors
Jul. 24, Tuesday Park Talk: Jacquelin Leighton, Costume Properties Artisan
Jul. 25, Wednesday Lecture: “Henry V on Film: Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branaugh,” David Riggs, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, Palo Alto
Jul. 26, Thursday Preface Plus: Party People Jul. 27, Friday Lecture: “As You Like It on Film: Laurence Olivier and Christine Edzard,” David Riggs, Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, Palo Alto
Jul. 28, Saturday Performance/Discussion: “Virgins to Villains: My Life with Shakespeare’s Women,” Robin Goodrin Nordli, Actor
Jul. 29, Sunday Park Talk: Lydia G. Garcia, Literary Associate, Dramaturg
Jul. 31, Tuesday Park Talk: Michael Maag, Lighting Department Manager and Noah Beauregard, Master Electrician
OSF Noons 7/15 to 7/21
This Week: OSF Noon Talks
Through lectures, panel discussions and questions and answers, actors, artisans and other company members of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival will share their knowledge about the OSF, and theater in general.
Admission is free, no tickets are required.
All Oregon Shakespeare Festival noon talks are in the Bill Patton Garden, uphill side of the Elizabethan theater.
This week:
Jul. 15, Sunday Park Talk: Michael J. Hume, Actor
Jul. 17, Tuesday Park Talk: Thomas Curtis, Stage Operations Manager
Jul. 18, Wednesday Lecture: “Cross-Dressing and Gender Confusion in As You Like It,” Gina Bloom, University of California, Davis
Jul. 19, Thursday Preface Plus: Party People
Jul. 20, Friday Lecture: “’And though she feels as if she’s in a play / She is anyway:’ Cressida’s Dilemma in Troilus and Cressida,” David McCandless, Southern Oregon University, Ashland
Jul. 21, Saturday Interactive Workshop: Interpreting Romeo and Juliet, Kirsten Giroux, OSF Curriculum Specialist/Teaching Artist
OSF Noons
This Week: OSF Noon Talks
Through lectures, panel discussions and questions and answers, actors, artisans and other company members of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival will share their knowledge about the OSF, and theater in general.
Admission is free, no tickets are required.
All Oregon Shakespeare Festival noon talks are in the Bill Patton Garden, uphill side of the Elizabethan theater.
This week:
July 8, Sunday, Park Talk: Elib Crist-Dwyer, Carpenter
Jul. 10, Tuesday, Park Talk: Katherine Gosnell, Education Outreach Programs Manager and Jason Sanford, Seasonal Teaching Artist
July 11, Wednesday, Lecture: “Romeo and Juliet: Thinking Inside the Box,” Richard Preiss, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
July 12, Thursday, Preface Plus: “Troilus and Cressida”
July 13, Friday Lecture: “‘Hath Romeo Slain Himself?’ Juliet, Fate and the Death-Darting Eye of Cockatrice,” Michael J. Allen, University of California, Los Angeles
July 14, Saturday Lecture/Demonstration: “Deaf and Loud,” with Greenshow Artist Sean Forbes, Detroit, MI
OSF Festival Noon Talks
This Week OSF Noons
Through lectures, panel discussions and questions and answers, actors, artisans and other company members of OSF will share their knowledge about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and theater in general.
Admission is free, no tickets are required.
All Oregon Shakespeare Festival noon talks are in the Bill Patton Garden, uphill side of the Elizabethan theater.
This week:
Friday, July 6 Lecture: “Magical Connections in Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella: Making the Impossible Possible,” Ketu H. Katrak, University of California, Irvine
Saturday, July 7: Panel Discussion: “‘Call Me But Love’: Actors on Playing Romeo,” Richard Howard, Daniel Molina, Kevin Kenerly and Ralph Burgess, Actors. Lydia G. Garcia, moderator
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Play Reading “8”, 8/5/12
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Play Reading “8” by Dustin Lance Black
Sunday, August 5, 12 at 8:30 pm in the New Theatre
“8″ is based on court transcripts and interviews and chronicles the historic 2010 federal court case Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, which sought to overturn Proposition 8. The reading has renewed relevance in light of the recent decision on February 7, 2012, when a federal appeals court overturned Proposition 8, ruling that Californians took away a right from a minority group without justification when they approved the 2008 ban on same-sex marriage. The reading is among those sponsored by American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact.
All tickets for this reading are $5.00 and will be donated to AFER. To order tickets, click the date of the play reading on calendar to the right or call 800–219-8161.
Cast lists for the readings will be posted when information is available.
Ashland Contemporary Theatre at Paschal’s
“Once in a Blue Moon” Ashland Contemporary Theatre presents 3 outrageously funny comedies, June 9 & 10
Usually Ashland Contemporary Theatre puts on play readings, but this time their production is three comedies by established writers out at Paschal Winery on June 9th and 10th.
The highlight play is “Wanda’s Visit” by Christopher Durang. Imagine when Wanda, Jim’s hot, but shady ex-high school sweetheart, shows up for an extended stay, what hilarious mayhem ensues that rocks his stable marriage.
Directed by Evalyn Hansen, the cast includes: Lyda Woods (as Wanda), Maria Ciamaichelo, Daureen Collodel, Eric Epstein, Joe Suste, Jesse Lawson, and Christopher Morton.
The other two plays range from witty and poignant to absurdly hysterical.
Performances are at Paschal Winery in Talent (1122 Suncrest Rd. Take exit 21 and follow the signs.):
Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 3pm and 8pm and Sunday, June 10 at 3pm at Paschal Winery in Talent.
Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at Paddington Station in Ashland and Grocery Outlet in Medford or online at www.ashlandcontemporarytheatre.org. Reservations: 541–646-2971.
