When I stumbled onto a Shakespeare course at the University of California, Santa Barbara, I had no idea what I was in for. People said the course was an “easy A,” but they were deluded. Under the rigorous tutelage of Professor Homer (Murph) Swander (who also ran OSF’s Education department for years), we dissected every word and acted out scenes to better plumb emotional connections. It opened up the whole world for me. I learned that anything I wanted to know about ambition, jealousy, love, leadership, acting, parenting and countless other subjects could be found in Shakespeare’s works. Decades later, the love for Shakespeare that started in that class led me to work at OSF.
In honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death—the last big Shakespeare milestone in our lifetimes—OSF is presenting five Shakespeare plays in 2016, four in this summer season. One of the things that struck me about them is not the big scenery-chewing emotions, although they have plenty. Rather, they share a quieter feeling: friendship—its depth, complexity and fragility. In The Winter’s Tale, the strong friendship between King Leontes and his childhood friend Polixenes is suddenly shattered when Leontes mistakenly suspects him of adultery with his beloved wife. His false notion leads to a cascade of disasters. Hamlet’s friends Rosenkrantz, Guildenstern and Ophelia are collateral damage in his overwhelming need to avenge his father’s murder. In Timon of Athens, Timon's friends seem legion—until his fortunes fall and he sees what they’re made of. His bitterness at this discovery sends him into exile. But he’s not totally alone: Timon’s steward seeks him out in his misfortune. And in Richard II, a touching moment happens when Richard’s groom visits him in prison. In these last two cases, poignantly, the men are cared for by friends they never bothered to recognize—servants. On a happier note, in Twelfth Night, which opened in spring, the relationships among that trio of buddies-in-mayhem, Maria, Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek, are always delicious.
But Shakespeare is not the only playwright who values friendship at OSF this season. In William F. Brown and Charlie Smalls’ The Wiz, our one non-Shakespeare summer show, Dorothy’s friends who accompany her on her journey to Oz turn out to be much dearer and more faithful than Timon’s, and she fiercely defends them when they are threatened.
Part of a good friendship is appreciation and praise, and to that end, Prologue is introducing a new occasional feature, LoveFest, a collection of the warm words people have said or written about our plays, our service and the joys of working here. We hope you’ll enjoy it. Welcome to our summer season!
U.S. Bank, proud sponsor of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival since 1978