ASHLAND or BUST
Friday, April 21, 2006
That was the sign we pasted on the back window/door of the bus several years ago on our way to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. Now, the mantra returns.
This afternoon, my friends and I set a date. A DATE. That is what we have been lacking these past years. We are going. We will be in Ashland, gallivanting around, watching plays, buying merchandise with prominant logos, and drinking Lithia water (maybe).
As I was telling Jess earlier, my dad says (in reference to getting married), "If you don't set a date, you're not engaged." So, we've set a date and it's ACTUALLY happening. I haven't been to Ashland in three years. It has seemed much longer. Wait no longer, my dear.
Which plays shall we see? We've not yet decided. We will probably only be able to afford three . . . maybe four tickets. Here are our options:
| Angus Bowmer | The Winter's Tale | |
| The Importance of Being Earnest | ||
| Intimate Apparel | ||
| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | ||
| New | Bus Stop | |
| King John | ||
| Elizabethan | Merry Wives of Windsor | |
| Cyrano de Bergerac | ||
| The Two Gentlemen of Verona |
posted by tuesday at 1:19 AM
33 Comments:
Well, let's make it easy and see one in each theatre. How exciting to finally see something in the Elizabethean!
Let's see...I nominate Earnest, King John, and...Two Gents. It's got the most famous dog in history! Also, I haven't read Merry Wives.
On the other hand, I know that's an awful lot of Shakespeare to ask you guys to sit through. I know Jenn's going to put her foot down with Winter's Tale, and I refuse to see Bus Stop...but anyway, what do you guys want to see?
Well, if I am restrained to pick only one from each theatre, my choices would be Jekyll and Hyde, King John, and Cyrano.
Well, as far as the Bowmer season, I'd like to see them all (except Winter's Tale . . . duh), but I've wanted to see Jekyll and Hyde for a while now. So, if neither of you want to see Jekyll and Hyde and we choose one of the two other, perfectly wonderful-sounding plays, I won't be crushed.
I actually wouldn't mind skipping the New Theatre all together. Yes, I love the building, but I'm not jazzed about Bus Stop or King John. I mean, King John? Even the BEST Shakespeare histories are pretty dull, and this one is not among his best.
We did Two Gents this year at BYU . . . and I was unimpressed. The script is okay, and I know OSF will be better by a long shot. Maybe I just didn't like the chick who played Silvia (a shame, really, 'cause she's playing the lead in Barefoot at PTC). Maybe I didn't really believe Proteus' character . . . I don't know. I DO know for a fact I did NOT like the set for the one we did here, and that (sad as it may be) could very well be a large part of my dislike. I've not read Merry Wives and Cyrano seemed like a good alternative.
So, I'd like to see at least one Shakespeare while we're down there because it definitely feels like blasphemy not to. Overall though, I'm not too picky. Let's see how britt feels.
P.S. When did OSF re-do their website?
i like comedies. i love shakespearean comedies. my top choices:
earnest (classic! a must!)
merry wives of windsor
cyrano de bergerac
two gentlemen
bus stop (i haven't seen it! it's not the snoozer from state, i'm sure.)
britt, you definitely have seen Bus Stop. At State. With the hideous bright-pink set and the girl with the dress that ripped down the center.
On second thought, that may have been Grants Pass, and I'm not sure you went.
But I refuse to sit through that torture again.
I suppose we could bypass the New. I'd cry a little, but I'm not totally jazzed for King John either.
Two Gents? Come on, the script is phenomenal! "What light is light..."? Are you kidding me? It's beautiful.
But I believe Merry Wives is on my reading list, so I'll have a look at that.
Earnest Earnest Earnest! Oscar Wilde is a freaking comedic genius!
I'm cool with seeing Earnest. I've never actually seen it . . . only read it. And yes, it is comedic genius. We're there.
Jess, just because you saw VERY bad (I'm agreeing with you here---it was physically painful) version of the play four or five years ago done by a bunch of immature and unskilled high school actors with extremely limited budget, technical skills, and sense of color doesn't mean that it's a bad script. If you have a good argument against the script or story, let's hear it. If not, then let's not discount Bus Stop so readily.
As I discussed with britta, I really don't want to pay $40-50 to just sit through a show. Hence, I'd rather not see King John.
I'm okay with Two Gents. Like I said, it'll be much better than BYU's, and maybe the characters will be more believable. I'll just have to read it before we go see it.
One of us needs to read Merry Wives, figure out what it's about, and see if it's any good.
the merry wives synopsis looked good. it looks funny.
i never saw bus stop. i'm not saying it's my top pick (#5 on my list, i point out), but i think it would be better than some boring old history.
I'm not a William Inge fan at all. Actually, I'd have to say I'm like an anti-fan. The well-made play structure bores me to tears, and I'm so not into it.
So, what are your arguments against Winter's Tale?
Well, you haven't read Winter's Tale . . . neither has britta . . . so if you guys read it and love it, I won't put up a fight. I was just telling britta today how silly and unfinished it is. It bored me . . . and part of that is due to the bad acting here at the BYU performance, yeah. There are good parts, but I don't remember any outstandingly great dialogue (well, I'm probably not the best judge of that anyway). The part I dislike the most is that the story overall is disapointing with a lame deus ex machina at the end.
Oh, and I don't think the comedy character is very funny either.
I see. Well, both Winter and Merry Wives are on my reading list, so I'll have a go at those first thing starting in May, and we can make further judgement calls early on. Have you looked into the tent situation at all.
I turned in my work schedule yesterday, and I'm almost guaranteed to get those days off.
Yeah, read it and tell me what you think. I'd almost be willing it see it based solely on the fact that Libby Appel is directing it. She is brilliant.
I called my house today but no one answered. By tomorrow I'll have an answer about the tent.
Word on the street is: My dad will let us use a tent. He has two. The newer/more expensive of the two can very comfortably fit three, and the older one can snugly fit three.
give it up for the tent!
isn't this libby appel's final year at osf?
jenn, your header keeps growing. it's taking over.
According to this OSF article and this less official but more recent article, next season is her last.
And yeah. Each time I listen to the song I have to add more lines. Do you think it's too much?
you don't need bland coffee and nicotine, huh?
Yeah, not such a fan of muzzles on guns either.
I ran the whole Ashland trip officially past my mom and she was okay with it. I don't know how she feels about the sleeping-in-a-tent thing (I didn't mention it), but there isn't going to be conflict-o-mania about the trip itself. So, yay!
what? your bro and pa can go backpacking for days on end without a car or x-ray machine available in woods with who knows how many serial killers around, but we may not be able to spend the night in a campground with managers and cops and ambulance accessibility in order to save some money?
wait, am i freaking out prematurely?
hey, i got the bus job. and it looks like i can probably go to ashland! woo hoo!
YAY!! And congratulations! So, what does this mean about your pay? Are they upping it from last year so you can eat and sleep indoors and whatnot?
yeah, it's not finalized yet, but i'll get at least $2000 for the summer.
Sweet sassy molasses! That's fabulous. More of the same work as last year? Or is the managing stuff pretty different?
i'll be a freakin supervisor for this summer's fellows. and i'll have more specialized work, and more of an ability to decide for myself what i'm doing. mostly voter registration stuff. the bus got this grant and in return they have to register some outrageous number of people over the summer. so, this is definitely a step up from what i was doing last year.
What's this "outrageous number" and what do you plan to do to meet this grant requirement?
i don't remember. 15,000? that seems a little too outrageous. i'll fill you in after next week.
Yeah, wow, that is quite outrageous. How many people/fellows do you have on your crew?
nope, it's 15000. there's four full time staff, and then we have ten politicorps fellows coming on in about three weeks. they'll be full time too, but they'll have other stuff to worry about besides just registration. we'll see how it goes. we mapped out the summer so that we get over 20,000, but we gotta hit our goals.
Wow, that's quite a large number. Ah, but you'll get it done. You work hard. And break into apartment buildings.
Hey, is it pretty for sure that you can take some time off in early August? Should we maybe look into buying tickets?
let me discuss it with anna before we buy anything, but i think i can manage the time off. we're talking weds through sun or thurs through sun?
Anna?
And yeah . . . Wednesday through Sunday sounds good. The longer the better.
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