The Shakespeare Road Trip, Part 1

It's time to start planning that summer Shakespeare road trip.  If you have never made the pilgrimage to beautiful Ashland, Oregon to the great Oregon Shakespeare Festival, perhaps this summer's offerings will tempt you.

Speaking strictly Shakespeare, playing in rep this summer will be Macbeth (which has already started its run! 2/13 - 11/1):

"Black magic. Murder. Ghosts. Madness. Death. Shakespeare's brooding tragedy digs into the dark territory of a man's shocking choices..."

in the Angus Bowmer Theatre;

All's Well That Ends Well (6/30 - 11/1):

"The path to bliss is uncertain when you try to make somebody love you. Helena wants Bertram, but Bertram isn't interested in her. Can Helena's determination and clever trickery lead to a happily-ever-after?.."

in the New Theatre;

Henry VIII (6/2 - 10/9):

"The queen has not produced an heir, and the Tudor line is in jeopardy. Obsessed, Henry sets his eye on the fetching young Anne Bullen (Boleyn). Urged on by the Machiavellian Cardinal Wolsey, the king reshapes the world to suit his needs: divorcing the queen, eliminating rivals, flouting papal law, and forever changing the face of religion in England—and beyond..."

and, Much Ado About Nothing (6/4 - 10/11):

"When WWII Italian resistance soldiers stop to rest at Leonato's villa, there's courtship of all kinds. While Beatrice and Benedick hide their infatuation beneath witty barbs, Hero and Claudio race to the altar. Enter the malcontent Don John, bent on ruining the wedding. He nearly succeeds, but not before Beatrice and Benedick finally tell each other how they really feel..."

both on the outdoor Elizabethan Stage.  

In a Jacobean-related world premiere, Equivocation (4/15 - 10/31):

"What if the government commissioned you to write the definitive history (make that a self-serving lie) of a national crisis? What story would you tell? Welcome to London, 1605, and the world of King James, the Gunpowder Plot, and the Tower dungeons, as William Shakespeare and his theatre company struggle to create a play to please the king and not lose their hearts, souls, or heads in the process..."

will also be at the Bowmer.  And there's more, lot's more.  OSF productions are always outstanding, and the venue is delightful.  I'll see you there.