I just returned from a fast trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon with a very dear friend. I have discovered that some folks here in Portland don’t know about OSF. It is the “Disneyland” of Theatre and well worth the trip to experience theatre productions at a very high level of excellence. And, it’s in Oregon!!! It’s about a 4.5-5 hour drive but you can fly from PDX to MED in about 45 minutes, rent a car, and enjoy.

The four shows I saw on this trip in order: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World by Keiko Green, The Taming of the Shrew & A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, and Come From Away book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein.

Let’s get into it!

You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World directed by Zi Alikhan and presented in the Thomas Theatre. This was a strong beginning to my trip. I was suffering from a bit of piriformis syndrome, so after driving almost 5 hours I had to stand for the show. And, I still enjoyed it! It’s a magical play. The design is very cleaver and I don’t want to give too much away but there is a definite connection between our imaginative world and the reality of the what is happening to the earth at the hands of man. The play really follows two story lines that of a youngish father “Greg”who is diagnosed with Cancer and his child “M” who is a drag artist- the story is told through the lens of “M”.

There are many moments of awkwardness and missed connections but ultimately, as Zi Alikhan says, “the play is about the power of people, especially when we come together, and our capacity to antidote our fear and our isolation by expanding our hearts and minds ti all the love that exists around us, to choose community and celebrate one another.”

Strong acting, though I felt some of the work presented intimate moments rather than living the moments with naked truth. I think it could have benefited from some deeper work. I also couldn’t help but think how powerful this show might present in one of the more intimate spaces here in portland.

Standouts for me were Winter Olamina and Rafael V. Goldstein who play M and Will, M’s boyfriend. The magical characters, light and visual design and the creative set design.

The Taming of the Shrew directed by Shana Cooper and presented in the Elizabethan Theatre. I thought this was a fantastic production. I have seen Shrew many times and worked on it in several different forms. This was so good.

The director is the decider in so many ways and Ms. Cooper made all the right decisions. Engaging from the start. It’s as if it flew by. Such great comic acting and the moments that needed to resinate for the show to work today did what they needed to do. It’s a problematic final monologue for Kate but I felt that was navigated quite well but more than that I believed the relationship between Kate and Petruchio from top to bottom. both the actors, Erica Sullivan and Daniel José Molina were spot on! Always great to see David Kelly-who is brilliant. Everybody int he cast had their moments and Joseph J. Parks is all over this production and just amazing. He has one of the funniest comic bits in the play with a straw! He is crazy good.

Love the simplicity of the set, the lighting, great sound design and a brilliant addition of music and song. Cleaver, cleaver costume design. Though if I had to point out one thing that I might have changed was Kate’s final look. It just didn’t work for me. I understand the idea behind it but I felt it was poorly executed.

I hope OSF is super proud of this one. If you have an aversion to Shakespeare this one will make you a lover!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Marcela Lorca and presented in the Bowmer Theatre. There was nothing particularly wrong with this production. It was pleasant to look at, beautiful set, the lighting is lovely, the music and sound design are fun. Sometimes I liked the costumes and some sort of missed the mark. I liked what was going on with pallets of color but then I thought it got lost somewhere.

I felt is was a bit sloppy even lazy in the direction. It lacked a sense of scrappiness and immediacy in the direction and acting. I felt the mechanicals were a missed opportunity. For them to work well they really want to be strong comic actors, comedians, physical and vocal “acrobats” and those scene want to move- they didn’t do enough for me. Wall, should be a hit and they were fun and received their applause for their turn. but, the play within the play bored me a bit as well. It was pleasant enough but lacked a certain spark.

For me the standouts were Rhea Bradley and Johnathan Luke Stevens as Helena and Demetrius. Justin Huertas did some nice work too as Puck. Nothing was bad but it did not lift me as much a Shrew did. Though I loved the number of young audience members, that was an inspiration to see and this may be the first show many of these students have ever seen so Kudos for filling those seats with students!!!!

If you have never seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream, see it, because there is a lot to admire about it but if you have seen it more than a few times or have been in it or connected to a production you loved you might consider another show or a great night out at one of the really fine restaurants in Ashland.

Come From Away directed by Laurie Woolery, Choreographed by Sunny Min-Sook Hitt and Musical Direction by Angie Benson and presented in the Bowmer Theatre.

For those of you who don’t know, the story takes place in Newfoundland on September 11, 2001 when 38 planes and the 7000 people on them find themselves grounded with little or no knowledge of the events of the day, at first. It explores grief, fear and anger and also joy and resilience and grace.

There is so much in this story. This story reveals the good in our fellow man, and yes there still is some. It’s in moments like this that we begin to see one another’s true colors, we discover truths about ourselves, for better or worse, and those revelations have consequences.

Excellence!!! I am late getting tot his party. This is the first production I’ve seen of Come From Away and I’m thrilled it was my first. It rounded out a fantastic weekend of shows. This is what theatre is supposed to be and do. Not one misstep. Across the board A+s. The cast was so uniformly excellent I was going to do a special shout out to a few but as I was thinking through they are all fantastic and everybody has their moment and strong story lines. Kudos to the direction!!! I was riveted from the very first moment.

The musicians, Bam!!! again, excellent! I cannot say enough about this production. GO SEE IT!!! If you can see only one show make this it.

One last thing to say Kudos and a big shout out to Mr. Tim Bond for his artistic vision. I feel as if he and his teams are giving us a reason to return to the theatre. There is a good vibe in Ashland again. Every show I saw was sold out!

I will be returning in July to see Henry IV, I and A Raisin in the Sun.