Mark Bedard News

They just don't make good door slammer farces like they used to. Perhaps we've lost the sensibilities to come up with new ideas that make these tales of mistaken identity, concealed trysts and ridiculous characters funny. But luckily we still have old chestnuts like "Boeing Boeing", currently playing at the Seattle Rep, and people like director Allison Narver who understand what it takes to bring these tales to life and make them gut-bustingly funny.

Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced the directors for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2014 season. The 2014 season playbill was unveiled on February 1.

Following a record-breaking 35th Season, Shakespeare & Company Artistic Director Tony Simotes is pleased to announce the 2013 summer lineup of plays that will take place in the Tina Packer Playhouse and the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, including a number of special events that will underscore those productions. The highlights of the 2013 Summer Season include two full productions of Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost and Richard II, both of which will be performed for the first time on the Tina Packer Playhouse stage, as well as the previously announced Mother Courage and Her Children, directed by Simotes and starring Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis, Apollo Dukakis, and OBIE Award winner John Douglas Thompson. Tickets will go on sale on February 14, 2013, and can be purchased online at www.shakespeare.org or by calling 413-637-3353.

Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced the Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2014 playbill today.

If you watch Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot," you're going to want to think about it. Don't. In the words of the classic play's title, wait. The key to appreciating this much-debated work comes in the audience's willingness to take it as is. Vladimir and Estragon sit by a bare tree, looking for ways to pass the time while they wait for a man named Godot. Time has given us the advantage in that we already know Godot will never appear. You're going to be tempted to dwell on why he doesn't appears and what he represents, and when you actually experience the play for the first time, you're going to want to know who these ridiculously unrealistic characters really are.

Marin Theatre Company begins 2013 and the second half of its critically acclaimed 46th Season with Samuel Beckett's modern classic, Waiting for Godot, which runs from January 24 to February 17. MTC's artistic director Jasson Minadakis directs, returning to "this greatest of 20th-century plays" (The New York Times) over a decade after he first directed an "excellent, electrifying" (The Cincinnati Enquirer) production at Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival. MTC's production features a talented cast: Oregon Shakespeare Festival company member Mark Bedard, popular Bay Area actors James Carpenter and Mark Anderson Philips and Cirque du Soliel and Ringling Bros. clown Ben Johnson, as well as two local southern Marin youths. Opening night is on Tuesday, January 29.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival invites the public to its 25th annual Daedalus Project, a benefit for AIDS/HIV organizations, on Monday, August 20. Last season's Project raised $90,000 for AIDS/HIV organizations.

The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2012 preview performances began February 17, opening a season dedicated to Executive Director Paul Nicholson, who is retiring at the end of the season after 33 years at OSF.

The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2012 preview performances begin February 17, opening a season dedicated to Executive Director Paul Nicholson, who is retiring at the end of the season after 33 years at OSF.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend, everyone! If you're a follower of BWW's School in the Spotlight series, you'll know that every Friday, we shine a spotlight on a school's performing arts program. With today being the day after Thanksgiving, to keep that celebratory feeling going, we bring you a special look back at the schools that have been featured in the past few weeks.

Last year, BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theater website on the Internet, launched a comprehensive Student Database listing college and university performing arts programs across the country. This free service makes it easier for prospective students by showcasing programs searchable by schools, location, degrees and concentrations.