| Literary Tour: Oregon Shakespeare Festival | |
Enjoy a great literary tour. If you're in the mood for a great theatrical experience--watching some of the greatest classical plays performed upon stage--attend the Ashland Oregon Shakespeare Festival. You'll learn about theater, stage art, the history of the company, and much more.
Going on a literary tour doesn't always have to involve lots of money or extended vacations. The experience may only mean a short drive to the center of town or to an activity a state or two away. What's important is the true sense of the literary experience, learning about literature in a way you may not have thought possible before. One such experience--the Oregon Shakespeare Festival--can be found in Ashland, Oregon.
Nestled in the southern part of Oregon, a short distance from Mt. Ashland and not far from the Californian border, you'll find a company that is unlike anything you're likely to experience anywhere else in the United States. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is unique not only because of the number of plays and players they are able to provide to patrons every year (12 plays this year alone), but also because of the diversity of talents they are able to bring together.
The mission of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is "to create fresh and bold interpretations of classic and contemporary plays in repertory, shaped by the diversity of our American culture, using Shakespeare as [their] standard and inspiration." This year the company again is trying to fulfill their goal by presenting a whole host of wonderful plays: Shakespeare's "Henry V," Tennessee Williams' "The Night of the Iguana," George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's "The Man Who Came To Dinner, "Steven Dietz's Force of Nature, and Euripides' The Trojan Women. These plays are just in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. In addition to these, the Oregon Shakespeare company is performing "Hamlet," "Twelfth Night" and "Taming of the Shrew" in the Elizabethan Theatre and Margaret Edson's "Wit," Lynn Nottage's "Crumbs from the Table of Joy," and Diana Son's "Stop Kiss" in the Black Swan.
I had the awesome opportunity to see several of the plays offered by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival: "Twelfth Night" and "Wit". Both plays were amazing, well-worth the trip.
In "Wit," Linda Alper played the part of Vivian, a professor of literature who specializes in John Donne's "Holy Sonnets". This award-winning play deals with death in a way that seemed very Shakespearean, utilizing witticisms to great affect. It's one of those plays that I think I could see again and again. Of course, since the play was sold out in February and I had to stand in line and be just fortunate enough to get a ticket, it will probably be hard to get a seat for another viewing of the play.
In any case, I enjoyed the play in all it's academic humor and human tragedy. I especially enjoyed the "Talk Back" question and answer session that Linda Alper attended after the play was over. She responded to questions about the difficulty of the subject matter and the important influence that this play could have on future doctors and other health care professionals.
If you have the opportunity to see any of the plays this season in Ashland, you're likely to have a great experience. If you aren't able to make it out West, enjoy the literary tour in your neck of the woods. You don't always have to go far to enjoy literary classics!
