It was a moan-a, a groan-a, he left her alone-a

So a couple weeks ago I went to Oregon to visit my parents and also visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Unlike various Renaissance festivals, the OSF is somewhat permanent; it has four theaters, and performances run from early spring to late fall. Some actors have 10-month contracts, so it's a pretty decent season.

I had gone once before, in high school. We saw three plays in two days, and it was fantastic. I have only vague memories of the plays themselves (though I will say that I imagine I'd have a much better appreciation of Arcadia if I saw it today, as opposed to when I saw it 12 years ago), but I remember loving the town and being bowled over by it all.

And yeah, still loved the town, still bowled over. We saw Comedy of Errors and A View From the Bridge, which really could not be more different--broad comedy and fairly dark drama (though it did have a few funny moments). They added some songs to Comedy of Errors, which is also what they did in a Royal Shakespeare Company production I saw a video of back in high school. I think I enjoyed the songs in the RSC production more; the OSF one seemed to take some monologues and put them to music. It was still neat, but I think I liked the original songs more. The acting, naturally, was all quite good, though Adriana's voice was a bit...off. I initially thought she sounded sick, and maybe she was. I kind of hope so. Overall, good acting, enjoyable show.

What was really cool is that we saw it in the Elizabethan theater. The seating is all modern (unlike at the new Globe in London), but the stage looks Elizabethan. It was just such a neat experience. Plus, the weather was perfect.

View From a Bridge was just riveting. I didn't know the story at all, and wow. I could not take my eyes off it. Everyone was phenomenal. I kind of want to see Death of a Salesman again, because I feel like this is just way better. The issues are harder to deal with, so I can see why Death might be the more famous one. It's always impressive watching a play where you pretty much know how it's going to end, but still can't take your eyes off what's going on. And while it was written in reaction to events of Miller's era, there are themes there applicable to current events.

If you get a chance to go to Ashland and see a play (or two) (or three--I would've, but my parents weren't up for it), do it. And definitely get a backstage tour. Totally worth it, and given by actors in the company. Fantastic.

The one distracting thing is that Othello was also being performed, so naturally we saw a lot of posters for it. And I can't think of Othello without getting the Othello rap from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)in my head: