February 16, 2006
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"The Winter's Tale" Feb. 17 Oct. 29, by William Shakespeare "The Diary of Anne Frank" Feb. 18 July
9, by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich. "The Importance of Being Earnest" Feb. 19 Oct. 28, by Oscar Wilde "Up" Feb. 23 June 23, by Bridget Carpenter |
The Tony Award–winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival opens its 2006 season with four productions on two stages Feb. 24-26, 2006. Kicking off the festivities is William Shakespeare’s uplifting tale of transgression and forgiveness, “The Winter’s Tale,” directed by OSF Artistic Director Libby Appel. The show opens at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. Opening Saturday, Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m. in the Angus Bowmer Theatre is the haunting, powerful drama “The Diary of Anne Frank,” directed by OSF Associate Artist James Edmondson.
At 8 p.m. that evening, audiences will be treated to Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece “The Importance of Being Earnest,” directed by Peter Amster. Completing the weekend’s performances is Bridget Carpenter’s gripping family drama “Up,” opening at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 in the New Theatre, directed by Michael Barakiva.
OSF’s three stages — the outdoor Elizabethan Stage, the Angus Bowmer Theatre and the intimate New Theatre — will see the opening of seven more plays in 2006, including three additional Shakespeare productions: “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” featuring one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comic creations, Sir John Falstaff, directed by Andrew Tsao, opening June 16 on the Elizabethan Stage; “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” featuring Shakespeare’s canine scene-stealer Crab the dog, directed by Bill Rauch, opening June 18 on the Elizabethan Stage; and the rarely performed history play “King John,” directed by John Sipes, opening July 8 in the New Theatre. OSF’s 2006 season runs from Feb. 17 through Oct. 29 and offers 776 performances of 11 productions.
“I adore planning a season where we can range from the majesty of “The Winter’s Tale,” with its universal themes of reconciliation, redemption and salvation, to Bridget Carpenter’s latest work “Up,” which captures a modern family in crisis, with liberal doses of love and humor laced throughout,” says Artistic Director Libby Appel. “Together with our other nine plays this season, we’ll span the vast range of human experience, with something for every theatergoer’s taste.”
The 2006 season also welcomes the return of Edmond Rostand’s classic swashbuckling tale of love and mistaken identity, “Cyrano de Bergerac.” Last seen at OSF in 1989, the 2006 production will feature returning Festival favorite Marco Barricelli in the title role, opening June 17 on the Elizabethan Stage, directed by Laird Williamson.
Along with the three February opening productions, the Angus Bowmer Theatre will see Lynn Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel,” opening Saturday, April 22 at 8 p.m. Nottage’s compelling tale of Esther Mills, a hard-working, independent black seamstress in 1905 Manhattan, won five major awards, including the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for the Best Play of the 2003-04 season. Associate Artistic Director Timothy Bond will direct. Beginning July 29 in the Angus Bowmer Theatre, audiences will be transported back to the chilly, damp, menacing streets of Victorian London, where Dr. Henry Jekyll attempts to control his tortured alter ego Edward Hyde in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Associate Artistic Director Penny Metropulos and her cast, featuring James Newcomb (last season’s Richard III) playing both Jekyll and Hyde, will bring playwright David Edgar’s script, based on the classic novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, to life.
The New Theatre, in addition to “Up,” will be the scene of an American classic and a rarely performed Shakespeare history play. William Inge’s slice of the American Midwest, Bus Stop, featuring a love struck cowboy, a sultry chanteuse, and other dreamers spending a long, snowbound night in a Kansas diner, opens
Saturday, April 1 at 8 p.m. Libby Appel will direct. Shakespeare’s “King John,” last produced at OSF in 1985, opens July 8 at 2 p.m. Former OSF movement director and fight choreographer John Sipes will direct this tale of intrigue and conspiracy at the highest levels of the English monarchy.
“The Winter’s Tale”
Feb. 17 – Oct. 29
“The Winter’s Tale,” along with The Tempest, Cymbeline and Pericles, is often referred to as a “late romance” or “tragicomedy.” It reaches a happy ending, but not without encountering the darker forces of the world, including death, madness and family strife. In “The Winter’s Tale,” the poisonous jealousy of King Leontes wreaks havoc on those he loves, with disastrous consequences. Only the passage of time and the loss of some of his dearest loves can bring forgiveness and reunion. OSF veteran William Langan, last seen as Sigmund Freud in Oedipus Complex and the Duke of York in Henry VI, Parts Two and Three, plays Leontes, King of Sicilia. Libby Appel revisits “The Winter’s Tale” after first directing it on the Elizabethan Stage in 1990.
The cast of 21 also includes Miriam A. Laube as Hermione, queen to Leontes, Rex Young as Polixenes, King of Bohemia, Alexander Barnes as Mamillius, son to Leontes and Hermione, Greta Oglesby as Paulina, Jeffrey King as Camillo, Mark Murphey as Antigonus, Christopher DuVal as Autolycus, Josiah Phillips as Old Shepherd, Nell Geisslinger as Perdita, and Juan Rivera LeBron as Florizel. Other cast members are Tyrone Wilson, Mark Peterson, Geoffrey Blaisdell, Eileen DeSandre, Rafael Untalan, and newcomers Kjerstine Anderson, Michelle Beck, Richard Baird, John J. O’Hagan, and Adam Yazbeck.
Costumes are designed by OSF Resident Costume Designer Deborah M. Dryden. Scenic design is by Rachel Hauck (Richard III, 2005; Hedda Gabler, 2003). Lighting is by OSF Resident Lighting Designer Robert Peterson and music by OSF Composer and Music Director Todd Barton. Patricia M. Troxel (Rough Crossing, 1997) is dramaturg, and Head of Voice & Text Scott Kaiser is voice and text director.
Production Sponsors: Roberta Bialek and U.S. Bank. Production Partner: Mrs. Donald Hare
“The Diary of Anne Frank”
Feb. 18 – July 9
By Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich; newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman
Young Anne Frank did not survive the horrors of World War II, but her words, contained in a remarkable diary, did. Wendy Kesselman’s unflinching adaptation of the Goodrich and Hackett classic sheds new light on Anne and her fellow refugees, revealing them in all their humanity. Their daily struggle with the fear of being discovered and the harshness and close quarters of life in the cramped, secret attic they called the Annex are poignantly illuminated by Anne’s coming-of-age experiences — her animosity toward her mother, her budding sexuality, her determination to be someone in the world. This story, rescued from the Holocaust, has inspired generations.
The role of Anne Frank will be played by Laura Morache, with Linda Alper and Tony DeBruno as her parents, Edith and Otto Frank. Other cast members include Sarah Rutan as Margot Frank, John Tufts as Peter van Daan, Catherine E. Coulson as Mrs. van Daan, Michael Hume as Mr. van Daan, Michael Elich as Mr. Dussel, Brad Whitmore as Mr. Kraler, and Linda K. Morris as Miep Gies. Also in the cast are James J. Peck, Todd Bjurstrom and Jeris Schaefer. OSF Associate Artist James Edmondson is directing.
Costumes are designed by B. Modern (Humble Boy, 2004). Scenic design is by OSF Principal Scenic Designer Richard L. Hay. Lighting is by Kendall Smith, and sound design is by David K. Weberg. Judith Rosen is dramaturg, and OSF Head of Voice & Text Scott Kaiser is Voice & Text Director.
Production Sponsors: Peter and Helen Bing. Production Partners: Amy and Mort Friedkin.
“The Importance of Being Earnest”
Feb. 19 – Oct. 28
What’s in a name? John Worthing and his friend Algernon Moncrieff find out when they fall in love with two young ladies who have their hearts set on marrying men named Ernest. Rather than confront the situation directly (where is the fun in that?), Jack and Algy engage in an elaborate deception featuring a fictional wayward brother and an imaginary invalid, which leads to more surprises than even they could have envisioned. Oscar Wilde’s effervescent masterpiece presents a drawing-room world peopled with lively, unforgettable characters who say the cleverest, most scandalously unsentimental things about life, love and Victorian society.
The four young lovers will be played by Jeff Cummings as John (Jack) Worthing, Kevin Kenerly as Algernon, Heather Robison as Gwendolyn and Julie Oda as Cecily. The cast is rounded out by Judith-Marie Bergan as Lady Bracknell, Jonathan Haugen as Rev. Canon Chasuble, Dee Maaske as Miss Prism, Richard Elmore as Merriman, and Geoffrey Blaisdell as Lane. Guest Artist Peter Amster, in his sixth season at OSF, is directing.
Costumes are designed by Mara Blumenfeld (Richard III, 2005; Oedipus Complex, 2004; Present Laughter, 2003; Idiot’s Delight, 2002). Scenic design is by OSF Resident Scenic Designer William Bloodgood. Lighting is by Ann G. Wrightson, a veteran of eight seasons at OSF. Sound design is by Andrew Hopson (The Royal Family, 2004; Present Laughter, 2003; Noises Off, 2002; The Trip to Bountiful, 2001). Patricia M. Troxel is dramaturg, and Louis Colaianni is Voice & Text Director.
Production Sponsors: Jerry and Jeanne Taylor Family Foundation. Production Partners: C. Beth Cotner and John M. Alogna, Avista® Utilities and TransCanada.
“Up”
Feb. 23-June 23
Walter Griffin once managed to float above the earth in a lawn chair suspended from weather balloons, achieving 15 minutes of fame and an offer from the Smithsonian for the chair. Sixteen years later, Walter is still tinkering with ideas for inventions that will help him become airborne again and has imaginary conversations with French wire walker Philippe Petit. Walter’s 16-year-old son, Mikey, languishes, and his wife, Helen, dutifully supports the family as a postal worker. Playwright Bridget Carpenter has taken this nuclear family and fashioned a haunting, bittersweet portrait of love, longing and dreams unfulfilled. Carpenter is the winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn prize for her play Fall, and the Kesselring Prize for The Faculty Room.
OSF veteran Richard Howard plays patriarch Walter Griffin, Terri McMahon is his wife Helen, and John Tufts plays their son Mikey. Christine Albright plays Maria, Robin Goodrin Nordli plays Aunt Chris and Helen’s mother, with U. Jonathan Toppo as Philippe Petit and assorted roles.
“Up” is directed by Michael Barakiva, who was the OSF Phil Killian Directing Fellow during the 2002 season. Costumes are designed by Robert Morgan (Napoli Milionaria!, 2005; Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, 1974). Scenic design is by Daniel Ostling (Enter the Guardsman, 2001). Lighting is by James F. Ingalls (By the Waters of Babylon, 2005). Composer and sound designer is Irwin Appel (Napoli Milionaria!, 2005; Saturday, Sunday, Monday, 2003). Lue Morgan Douthit is dramaturg, and Louis Colaianni is Voice & Text Director.
Production Partners: Charlotte Lin and Robert P. Porter.
For more information about the plays, schedule and biographies, please visit www.osfashland.org
Previews, Openings and Tickets remain available to previews and most opening performances. Patrons can save 40 percent on preview tickets. We invite you to check ticket availability at www.osfashland.org for all shows. Tickets may be purchased online or call the Box Office at (541) 482-4331. Preview and opening times and dates are as follows (sold-out performances not included):
Matinees, parking, access
Patrons are advised to note that matinees begin at 1:30 p.m. through June 4. Starting June 6, when evening performances begin at 8:30 p.m., matinees will start at 2 p.m. Performance times will change back on Aug. 15, when evening shows again begin at 8 p.m. with matinee performances at 1:30 p.m.
The city-owned parking facility next to the New Theatre is available for parking. Cost of parking is $1 in the day and $3 at night. See the Web site www.osfashland.org/visit/directions.aspx for a map of the campus and directions.