The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a fun summer and fall festival where every year, in Ashland, Oregon, people come from all over to see a series of classic and contemporary plays. This OSF’s season began on March 19, 2024, and will end on October 12, 2024. The GBHS theater department has attended for four years in a row. And this year, I have had the pleasure of being able to experience it myself and see six of this year’s shows. 

Lizard Boy

   Written by Justin Huertas and directed by Brandon Ivie, “Lizard Boy” tells the story of a boy named Trevor who was attacked by a dragon when he was young, bestowing him with scales and making him an outcast member of society. He goes on a date with a squeamish guy named Cary during a one-night festival, the only time he can be himself without judgment because everybody else is in costume. During the date he is lured away by a rockstar called “The Siren”. After a little while the siren realizes Trevor is the last of the six kids who were attacked by a dragon with her. She tells Trevor he can help her to save them all from the dragons using his superpower, however Trevor states that he doesn’t have a superpower. Trevor manages to escape the Siren’s grasp but the Siren then takes Cary and uses him against Trevor. Trevor fights back discovering he also has a siren song. Trevor and the Siren fight using their songs until eventually, Trevor is weakened and dies. Shortly following, Cary and The Siren hear the roars of dragons and Trevor rises, now with wings. He tames the dragon, bringing a happy ending to the show.

   Overall I would rate this show a 2/5 stars. This show has not been around very long. I didn’t like the way this musical was written. It was a little hard to follow and I felt several times that we went back some steps. It jumped around a lot with the perspectives, at some points it was just Trevor’s perspective, sometimes it showed the perspective of only two people, and sometimes it showed all three perspectives. I liked the moral of the story but the execution could have been better in terms of writing. Aside from this, the music of the show was very fitting for each of their vocal ranges and I felt they all made some amusing character choices with their acting. I was disappointed with how little they embraced Trevor’s scales. I feel like hair, makeup, and costuming could have done better with making his face look more scaly. The makeup they did was very minimal for such a bright and upbeat show. If they had done more makeup than what he had on it would bring this show up to a 3/5 stars. 

Coriolanus

   Written by Shakespeare and directed by Rosa Joshi, “Coriolanus” tells the story of Roman citizens protesting against aristocracy. However, the uprising is suppressed when news breaks that two sympathizers have been granted power within the government: tribunes from their ranks are to join the senate. Martius, a soldier, returns to battle upon learning that enemies have invaded Roman territory. Martius’s soldiers retreat out of fear, but he almost single-handedly defeats the enemy’s army. Upon his return, he is honored with the name Coriolanus. Persuaded to pursue a governmental position that requires him to secure votes from the citizens of Rome, whom he openly despises, his contempt towards them backfires as they plot against him. Accused of treason, he is ejected from the city. Seeking refuge in the camp of his enemies to exact revenge on the Romans, he nearly captures Rome despite the populace’s pleas for mercy. However, when his mother intervenes, he finally relents, unable to witness his mother, wife, and son in such distress. The enemy, Afidius, is infuriated and compels his troops to turn against Coriolanus, resulting in his demise. This story is given a grand finale.

   Overall, this show is 4/5 stars. I loved how they used repetition with the movement of Coriolanus fighting or training. The actors all showed big emotions the entire time, which is good during a play because the audience needs to see the actors’ reactions to their surroundings. During the stage fight the actors were choreographed very well. They used their surroundings to create an extremely realistic fight scene. The only thing I disliked about this show was the feeling of the cast trying to make the Shakespearean humor more modern. It was almost like they tried to make it half Gen Z half Shakespeare. Some lines sounded like Shakespeare but were emphasized with modern sarcasm. Otherwise, this story was told beautifully.

Born With Teeth

   Written by Liz Duffy Adams, “Born With Teeth” only features two characters.  “Will” or William Shakespeare, and “Kit” or Christopher Marlowe. It is a modernized reenactment showing the Playwrights’ perspective on the potential events of Shakespeare and Marlowe’s collaboration on the Henry VI plays. The show covers the two talking about many things such as their family life or Marlowe’s double life as a spy, warning Shakespeare several times that he has strong connections with other, more vicious spies. The narrative follows the two through the entire process of writing the three plays until after the final play is written Marlowe reminds Shakespeare he was planning on telling the person he works for that Shakespeare should be a target. Shakespeare counters that he had already told those people that Marlowe was a traitor to them. The play ends with Marlowe walking away to his fate of assassination.

   I liked this show and would give it a 5/5 rating overall. The show was very humorous and I loved the choices by the actors. The costumes chosen for both characters represented the way the two acted. For example, Kit’s costume was emerald green, and throughout the show, he was very bubbly and excited. Where Shakespeare’s costume was duller and he was the calmer one of the two. I adored the huge emotions for each character in their own way. Shakespeare being really frustrated and just wanting to work and Kit being over the top the entire time. I loved the lighting changes in the background being used to represent the safety of the situation they were in. The lights started bright and blue in the first play they wrote together. The second one the lights were orange and dimmer. And then finally in the last scene, the lights were deep orange and very very dim. 

Much Ado About Nothing

   Written by William Shakespeare and directed by Miriam A. Laube, “Much Ado About Nothing” is a beautifully written romance that follows several different characters. The show kicks off by saying that Benedick and Beatrice despise each other. Benedick, who never wishes to marry, and Beatrice, who thinks Benedick is full of himself and has too large of an ego. Their friends conspire against them and manage to convince the two that the other is in love with them. They each try to gather the other’s attention going back and forth in a playful banter. At the same time, Two of their friends are set to get married. But as the wedding begins it is urgently stopped, due to false accusations that Hero, a friend of Beatrice, has been unfaithful to Claudio, a friend of Benedick. Claudio says no at the altar and explains the alleged allegations. This brings Hero down so much that she falls ill. Benedick sees an opportunity to tell Beatrice how he feels. But when he does Beatrice is too distraught about the betrayal Claudio committed at the alter. She tells Benedick that if he truly loves her, he will challenge Claudio to a duel. Benedick agrees but a few hours before the duel takes place the people who started the accusations are rightfully prosecuted. 

   This play was stunning and was another 5/5 stars. The set was so beautiful along with the lighting and it felt so peaceful. The music was live, with an orchestra above all of the actors on the top of the stairwell. The characters had great chemistry with each other and made very comedic choices. The costumes were so original and made them all stand out. The blocking and choreography were outstanding and made several scenes very intense. 

Macbeth

   Written by Shakespeare and directed by Evren Odickin, “Macbeth” is one of Shakespeare’s more famous shows and is also known as the Scottish play. The story is that two Scottish generals emerge from a conflict with the king of Norway. On the way back they encounter three witches who give them a prophecy. They tell them that Macbeth will become king and Banquo will be a father to many kings. Later that night, after being showered with honors from the current king Duncan, who spends the night in Macbeth’s home Macbeth and his wife conspire to murder King Duncan so that Macbeth can become king sooner. But the events start to go sour quickly for Macbeth as paranoia strikes him he begins to kill many others within his circle. Eventually, the people left begin to see the connection and put Macbeth to death.

   Overall, this show was 4/5 stars. The actors all did well with each other but I found when it came down to Macbeth alone he didn’t show much emotion and was kind of just yelling without any direction. However, whenever he had scenes with another character he showed a lot of emotion, almost like he was basing his emotion around the way others were reacting. The witches had gorgeous harmonies and every time someone died it got louder and it put emphasis on how serious the situation was in the moment. The costumes were very dull but that made room for the show to be the best that it could be without distracting the audience. 

Jane Eyre 

   Written as an autobiography by Charlotte Bronté and adapted into a play by Elizebeth Williamson directed at Oregon Shakespeare Festival by Dawn Monique Williams, “Jane Eyre” is a tale of a young woman who finds work as a governess(nanny) for a young girl named Adele on an estate. Jane and Mr. Rochester, the girl’s father, fall in love and are about to get married but the wedding is interrupted and it is revealed that Mr. Rochester is already married. He explains that the girl he is married to is not mentally well and she needs to be under constant care of a nurse. He tells Jane he still wants to marry her but she refuses and runs away,  seeking shelter in a home far away from Mr. Rochesters’ estate. She finds refuge with two people who she later finds out are her cousins and she has a large inheritance from a relative. She shares the inheritance with them. Until one day they part ways and she returns to the estate only to find it abandoned. A servant comes by and tells Jane that a few months back Mr. Rochester’s wife lit the house on fire and then jumped off the roof, leaving Mr. Rochester blind with only one arm. Jane goes to see him and they end up getting married. 

   Overall, I would rate this show a 4/5 stars. I loved the choices made by the actors alone but felt the chemistry could be better between characters that weren’t the main two, Jane and Mr. Rochester. For example, when Mr. Rochester had company, the ladies who played his visitors didn’t interact with each other in any noticeable way. They hardly even noticed anyone else was there. I also thought that Jane could have projected her voice more because, for about half of the show, she was hard to hear from my seat, which was pretty far back. The set was, yet again, beautiful and so were the costumes.