Starting with one of the most famous love stories of all from our namesake playwright, Romeo and Juliet kicked off this year’s exciting lineup. I was first introduced to William Shakespeare through this story, and since then I have seen and produced more productions of it than I can count. I have seen every movie version and many adaptations. I couldn’t wait to delve into my first-ever Shakespeare production—and at my home theatre, the famed Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
And in keeping with the spirit of our namesake, we present to you Twelfth Night, another Shakespeare favorite, that focuses on the complexity and all-consuming pain of unrequited love. Directed by Dawn Monique Williams, performed on our Allen Elizabethan stage, and inspired by early Blues and Jazz greats like Bessie Smith, this production of Twelfth Night takes audiences through a journey of humor, heartbreak, and suspense—where nobody is quite what they seem.
I hope you return to OSF throughout the season and enjoy our lineup of amazing performances. The wildly popular and deeply moving Rent, whose “Seasons of Love” has become an anthem for humanity. The Three Musketeers, which centers on the love and commitment between comrades. And Where We Belong, about a Mohegan woman who loves her language and also loves the language used to replace her own.
Our O! Digital Stage also continues to thrive and bring our beloved OSF into new possibilities. Get ready for Quills Fest, our public agora at the intersection between live theatre and Immersive technology; experience our rep season from home with Theatre on Film; and witness the Visual Sovereignty Project, a digital commissioning project that recognizes Indigenous people have a story to tell, “for us, by us, now us.”
This season is our love letter to love. It’s our love letter to our incredible artists and the work they create and it’s our love letter to you, our beloved audience, both new and traditional, young and old, from across the country and around the world. We love that you are here.
—Nataki Garrett