With the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in full swing, it’s possible to spend a week in Ashland,OR, and see a total of nine plays in three theaters — two of them indoors, the other outdoors.
On the outdoor Elizabethan Stage (modeled on the Old Globe where William Shakespeare premiered most of his works), the lineup features the Bard’s “Henry V” and “As You Like It” plus the world premiere of Alison Carey’s “The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa,” based on the Bard’s “Merry Wives of Windsor” through the second weekend in October.
The indoor Angus Bowmer Theatre (named after the festival’s founding artistic director) is offering four works through the first weekend in November: Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” plus “Animal Crackers” by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind; “Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella,” Tracy Young and artistic director Bill Rauch’s combination-adaptation of Euripides’ “Medea,” Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and Rodgers and <B>Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”; and the world premiere of Robert Schenkkan’s “All the Way.”
The smaller, more intimate New Theatre has the final two offerings: Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida” and the world premiere of UNIVERSES’s “Party People.” The two shows that have already closed (the season begins in late February) are artistic director emeritus Libby Appel’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull” and the world premiere of “The White Snake,” Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of a classic Chinese fable. The latter production will be seen as part of Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s 2012-13 season.
While the play’s the thing in Ashland, this Southern Oregon city also has an array of restaurants from casual to white tablecloth, interesting shops, the beautiful and adjacent Lithia Park, nearby wineries and numerous outdoor recreational activities.
My most recent visit there was all too short, so I was able to see only two plays, as follows:
ALL THE WAY
As it did with “Party People,” the festival commissioned Robert Schenkkan’s “All the Way” as part of its American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle. This 10-year program of commissioning up to 37 plays aims to explore moments of change in U.S. history.
“All the Way” focuses on the approximately 11 months between the time that Lyndon Baines Johnson became president upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, and Johnson’s election victory in early November 1964.
The first act concentrates on Johnson’s efforts to secure congressional passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act, while the second looks primarily at his efforts to defeat Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater ofArizonaat the polls. (The title comes from Johnson’s election slogan, “All the way with LBJ.”) There’s also a whiff of the seeds of the Vietnam War in a brief mention of the Gulf of Tonkin incident and mention of the War on Poverty, a centerpiece of Johnson’s elected term in office.
This production features Jack Willis as LBJ. Even though he calls himself “the accidental president,” Johnson was an outsized figure who used every trick in the book — from flattery to threats — to achieve his goals. Willis embodies this temperamental, wily Texan without actually imitating him. It’s a tour de force performance.
Others in the excellent ensemble cast play a variety of characters, most of whom were household names to those of us who remember those turbulent times. Terri McMahon plays LBJ’s long-suffering, loyal wife, Lady Bird Johnson, as well as Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham. Christopher Liam Moore is featured as another long-suffering, loyal confidante, aide Walter Jenkins, who had to resign in disgrace after being caught in a romantic encounter with another man. Ironically, the person who brought this incident to LBJ’s attention was FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (Richard Elmore), who later was outed himself.
Also featured are Peter Frechette as Sen. Hubert Humphrey and Sen. Strom Thurmond; Mark Murphey as Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and others; Jonathan Haugen as Alabama Gov. George Wallace and others; David Kelley as Sen. Everett Dirksen and others; Douglas Rowe as Sen. Richard Russell and others; and Erica Sullivan as Lurleen Wallace and Muriel Humphrey.
In his efforts to pass the Civil Rights Act, LBJ tried to enlist prominent black leaders, who didn’t necessarily agree about what was being proposed. They are portrayed by Daniel T. Parker as Stanley Levison of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Kenajuan Bentley as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., SCLC co-founder; Tyrone Wilson as the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, SCLC co-founder; Derrick Lee Weeden as Roy Wilkins, executive director of the NAACP; Kevin Kenerly as Bob Moses, co-director of the Council of Federated Organizations, and David Dennis, a leader of the Congress of Racial Equality; Wayne T. Carr as Stokely Carmichael, an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and others; and Gina Daniels as Coretta Scott King and Fannie Lou Hamer, a SNCC organizer who was arrested and beaten for trying to register Southern blacks to vote.
One prominent person who doesn’t appear in the play but who is mentioned several times is Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the slain president’s younger brother and someone whom Johnson privately despised.
Schenkkan packs a lot of history and people into the play’s three hours, but it all works well, especially with Willis at the center. His LBJ may come across asTexashomespun and often humorous, but he was as shrewd and effective a politician and leader as ever sat in Oval Office. Credit for this play’s success also goes to artistic director Bill Rauch, who directed it. His artistic team includes scenic designer Christopher Acebo, costume designer Deborah M. Dryden, lighting designer Mark McCullough, projections designer Shawn Sagady and composer-sound designer Paul James Prendergast.
ANIMAL CRACKERS
In contrast to “All the Way,” George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind’s “Animal Crackers” is sheer fluff, though expertly contrived fluff. Reconceived from an adaptation by Henry Wishcamper, with music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, “Animal Crackers” was a vehicle for the zany antics of the Marx brothers — Groucho, Zeppo,Chicoand Harpo.
This two-act, 1928 work is set in an estate on New York’s Long Island. The plot, superfluous as it is, centers around a society matron’s efforts to honor an African explorer and to display a painting by a prominent artist, while her social rival tries to sabotage her efforts.
The real sabotage, however, comes from the characters originally played by the Marx brothers. Mark Bedard plays the explorer, Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding, the Groucho character, complete with thick eyebrows, mustache and trademark walk. Eddie Lopez is Horatius Jamison, the Zeppo character, and others; John Tufts (alternating with Daisuke Tsuji) plays artist Emanuel Ravelli, the Chico character; and Brent Hinkley is The Professor, the blithely silent Harpo character.
Also featured are Jonathan Haugen as Hives the butler and Roscoe W. Chandler, an arts patron; K.T. Vogt as hostess Mrs. Rittenhouse; Mandie Jenson as Arabella Rittenhouse, her daughter; Kate Mulligan as Mrs. Whitehead, Mrs. Rittenhouse’s rival; Jeremy Peter Johnston as several characters; and Laura Griffith as two characters.<P>
Allison Narver directs this hilarious romp with a sure hand, taking the antics just to the comic edge without allowing them to get out of hand. Scenic designer Richard L. Hay’s set features a lovely Art Deco proscenium in front and a platform for a five-member onstage band in back (David O> is musical director).
The elegant costumes (at least for the social set) are by Shigeru Yaji, with lighting by Geoff Korf and sound by Matt Callahan. The musical stagings are by Patti Colombo.
For tickets and information, call (800) 219-8161 or go to www.osfashland.org.
