HENRY VII Opens Oregon Shakespeare Festival Summer Season 6/12

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will open its summer season with one of Shakespeare's rarely produced history plays, Henry VIII. Last produced at OSF in 1984, the play will be staged with all the spectacle of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Some tickets remain available for previews and openings. To purchase tickets go to www.osfashland.org or call the Box Office at (541) 482-4331.

The opening outdoor performance of the weekend begins at 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 12, with William Shakespeare's Henry VIII, directed by John Sipes. Presented on the Elizabethan Stage, as designed Richard L. Hay, based on a 1599 description of the Fortune Theatre, the stage provides a tailor-made presentational venue for this spectacular pageant play. Michael Ganio has designed the set; Susan E. Mickey has created the costumes; Alexander V. Nichols is lighting designer; Alan Armstrong is dramaturg, Scott Kaiser, voice and text director; U. Jonathan Toppo is fight director, Suzee Grilley is choreographer and Ed Sylvanus Iskandar is assistant director.

Director Sipes has noted that the issues of Henry's long reign were as complex as the man himself, and Shakespeare touches on many of them in his play. Henry's obsession with producing a male heir, his divorce of Katherine and subsequent marriage to Anne, the genesis of the Reformation, and Wolsey's influence on the governance of the kingdom are the dramatic fabric of Henry VIII. Yet, Sipes said, despite the play's curious subtitle, All is True, Shakespeare seemed to have little concern for the truth of these events. The harsh realities are often burnished or omitted. Instead Shakespeare presents Henry, Wolsey, and others of his court in a more compassionate light than history might warrant. "For all of the complexities and wrongdoings of Henry and his reign," Sipes said, "what seems to matter most to Shakespeare in this last play of his life, is simpler, quieter and more broadly human."

Elijah Alexander, in his first season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, plays Henry VIII, Anthony Heald is Cardinal Wolsey, Vilma Silva is Queen Katherine, and Christine Albright is Anne Bullen. Also in the cast are Richard Howard, Michael Elich, Derrick Lee Weeden, Gregory Linington, Demetra Pittman, John Pribyl and many others. A complete listing of cast and designers, as well as audio and video about this show is available on the OSF website.

Those seeing Henry VIII will want to attend Shakespeare's Macbeth and Bill Cain's world premiere Equivocation, both playing through the end of the season in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. While Shakespeare may have written a cleaner version of Henry's reign, Cain does not fail to present the dire consequences of Henry's rule, which left England rife with religious persecution, harsh repression and torture-the perfect environment for the Gunpowder Plot to occur in 1605. Cain asks the question: if Shakespeare was commissioned by King James to write a play about the Gunpowder Plot, what would Shakespeare do? Would he write the official version? Would Macbeth be the result?

On stage Saturday evening June 13 at 8:30 p.m. is a new adaptation by Octavio Solis of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's Don Quixote. Directed by Laird Williamson, the adaptation re-imagines the Spanish epic adventure of Don Quixote's humorous and outlandish journey with Sancho Panza across La Mancha. Battling windmills and sheep, Don Quixote's story captures the extremes of the harshly realistic and the idealistic, The Common and the chivalrous, the foolish and the courageous.

The production features 34 puppets designed by Lynn Jeffries and created by the amazing artisans in the properties department. The puppets include a seven-foot tall Enchanter, a horse, a donkey, geese, owls, vultures, and sheep. Many of the puppets are made from found items, including work gloves, pieces of tires, old socks and a mop. Actors not only play their characters, but also serve as puppeteers.

Playing Don Quixote is Armando Durán, and Josiah Phillips is Sancho Panza. Also included in the cast of 23 are Jeffrey King, Brent Hinkley, Vilma Silva, John Pribyl, Mark Murphey, Dee Maaske, U. Jonathan Toppo, Danforth Comins and Robin Goodrin Nordli.

Scenic design is by Richard L. Hay, costumes by Deborah M. Dryden, lighting design by Robert Peterson, dramaturg is Lue Morgan Douthit, voice and text direction by Sara Phillips and music by Paul James Prendergast. Suzee Grilley is choreographer, U. Jonathan Toppo is fight director. For a comprehensive list of cast and designers, go to the OSF website.

On Sunday, June 14, Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing opens at 8:30 p.m. Kate Buckley, who last directed the highly popular The Taming of the Shrew on the Elizabethan Stage, will direct this favorite Shakespearean comedy about Beatrice and Benedick and their complicated journey to togetherness. Set in Italy, circa WWII, the scenic design is by Todd Rosenthal, costumes by Nan Cibula-Jenkins, lighting by Robert Peterson, and music by Sarah Pickett. Lydia G. Garcia is dramaturg, Sara Phillips is voice and text director, and U. Jonathan Toppo is fight director.

Veteran actors David Kelly and Robynn Rodriguez play Benedick and Beatrice, and Sarah Rutan and Juan Rivera LeBron play Hero and Claudio. Bill Geisslinger is Leonato, Peter Macon is Don Pedro, and Mark Murphey is Antonio. Tony DeBruno is Dogberry and Michael J. Hume is Verges. A complete list of cast and designers is available at the OSF website.

The outdoor productions join six productions already in repertory at OSF. Playing in the Angus Bowmer Theatre are Shakespeare's Macbeth, Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman, Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey's The Music Man and Bill Cain's world premiere production of Equivocation. In the New Theatre is Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone and an adaptation by TraCy Young and Oded Gross of Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters. Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well opens July 4 in the New Theatre, and Clifford Odets' Paradise Lost will open July 25 in the Angus Bowmer Theatre.

THE GREEN SHOW
The Green Show, produced by Claudia Alick (associate producer, community), building on the success of last season's offerings, provides an ambitious and diverse lineup of artists performing June 2 - October 4 on the OSF courtyard stage. The mix of acts range from Adam Matta's beat box to Calo Flamenco, one of the largest Flamenco dance and music ensembles in the United States. More than 50 different acts will be performed on the bricks during the Green Show season. Local favorites include Rutendo! Marimba, Siskiyou Violins, Karen Lovely Band, Rogue Opera, and the return of past OSF favorites Sue Carney, the Terra Nova Consort and Dance Kaleidoscope.

Green Show performances take place in the Festival courtyard before evening theatre performances, every night of the week but Monday. Start times are 7:15 p.m., June 2 - August 9, and 6:45 p.m., August 11 - October 4. The Green Show performances last approximately 35 minutes. More information, including the full Green Show schedule, can be viewed online at www.osfashland.org/greenshow

FEAST OF WILL
Join the Ashland Lions Club and the Early Bird Club as they serve up a hearty Feast of Will. Held in Lithia Park on Friday, June 12 at 6:00 p.m., the annual festive event celebrates the opening of the Elizabethan Stage and the beginning of summer. Dinner is BBQ chicken and vegetarian lasagna, and entertainment is provided by the Siskiyou Singers and bagpipers. Tickets are $14 and sold through the OSF Box Office.

PREVIEWS AND OPENINGS

Theatregoers can save 20 percent on preview performances that run June 2 through June 11 on the Elizabethan Stage (please see the schedule below). Check ticket availability and buy online. Tickets are available by calling (541) 482-4331 or by visiting the Box Office at 15 South Pioneer Street, Ashland. The schedule of preview and opening shows is as follows. All performances begin at 8:30 p.m. There is no late seating.

Henry VIII (June 2- October 9)
Previews: June 2, 5, 9
Opening: June 12

Don Quixote (June 3 - October 10)
Previews: June 3, 6, 10
Opening: June 13

Much Ado About Nothing (June 4 - October 11)
Previews: June 4, 7, 11
Opening: June 14