Posts Tagged ‘John Tufts’
Pride and Prejudice (2010)
Posted by John in OSF 2010 Monday, 5 April 2010 12:00 No Comments
Photo by Jenny Graham
Pride and Prejudice is the cure for what ails you. A sunny, unabashedly romantic production, it shines on the Angus Bowmer stage with polished acting and production values that will keep you entertained throughout. This isn’t a piece to make you question the nature of etc etc… It’s a straight-forward entertainment that succeeds admirably in its goals. One might quibble at the hurried pace it keeps through the opening scenes, but overall it holds together quite well.
All’s Well That Ends Well (2009)
Posted by John in OSF 2009 Thursday, 4 June 2009 12:00 No Comments
Photo by Jenny Graham
My default position towards All’s Well That Ends Well is “Eeeugh.” The play isn’t written for modern sensibilities, true, but I can’t help the disgust I feel towards the treatment of Helena and, worse, her willingness to shoulder the appalling burden that Bertram places upon her. When Diana is describing Bertram’s wooing (to Helena!) I just want to slug him.
The fact that I was crying at the Epilogue is thus a testament to the miracle I saw in the New Theatre today.
Equivocation (2009)
Posted by John in OSF 2009 Monday, 27 April 2009 12:00 No Comments
Photo by Jenny Graham
The word on the street is that Equivocation, a new play by Bill Cain that receives its world premiere in this year’s repertoire at OSF, is something special – darkly funny, profound and illuminating. The word on the street is bang on – this is a passionate, exhilarating play that is more timely than any work about a turn-of-the-17th-Century acting company has any right to be.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2008)
Posted by John in OSF 2008 Friday, 15 August 2008 12:00 No Comments
If you’ve already seen one or six productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and you’re thinking that you can skip this year’s production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival… wrong wrong-y wrong wrong. Assuming you can still get tickets, buy two: one to see the show, and one to sacrifice to Dionysus as an apology. There is so much good about this production that I have to start the kudos with Mark Rucker, a new director to the Festival. He is absolutely fearless in the chances he takes, embracing them rapturously rather than mincing them for fear of rejection.