Oregon Shakespeare Festival receives an ‘A’ for class participation
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As I discovered in my recent visit to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which I wrote about in Sunday’s Arts & Books, the audiences up in Ashland really get into it.
I’m not just talking about ovations — though they’re extremely generous with applause even with spotty casts — but the general level of engagement. These are serious theater junkies, the majority of whom travel scores of miles for their dramatic fixes. And the fare here is hardly Neil Simon lite, where you can pile trifle after trifle on your plate and not feel full.
During my two days, I saw Clifford Odets’ “Paradise Lost,†Shakespeare’s “Henry VIII,†Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man†and Bill Cain’s hot new play “Equivocation.†And I never had so many conversations with informed strangers — during intermissions, at breakfast at my hotel, in the cutesy little shops that dot the streets near the festival.
The pad I carried served as an icebreaker — for audience members sitting in my vicinity. “Was I an understudy?†they eagerly wanted to know. When I told them I was a, ahem, critic, they immediately turned up the level of discourse. Of course, they were eager to hear whether I was having a good time and to give me their opinion of the uneven acting standard. But they also wanted to discuss the ins and outs of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, the subject of Cain’s play, as well as the connections among ‘Equivocation,’ “Henry VIII†and “Macbeth,’ which was also playing.
Phew. There’s no downtime at OSF for theater reviewers. Not only are there more shows than one can catch in a single visit, but the avid spectators there sure keep you on your critical toes.
-- Charles McNulty
