To Be or Not To Be, There was no question
This weekend Lydanta, Wolfcat, Gambit and I headed down south to Ashlan Or. "What is in Ashlan,Or" I hear you say.
Well there is the Southern Oregon University, some great shops, and good restaurants.
Oh did I mention the Oregon Shakespeare Festival?
This year they are running 11 plays on a rotating schedule in three different theater. One of the theater is based on a Elizabethan theater, similar to the one that Shakespeare would have used.
The trip started Friday night. We all got together at about 9PM and had dinner at a Mexican place in Tacoma. Once dinner was over we all loaded into Wolfcats van and headed down the road. Gambit drove the first part for the first several hours and then turned the wheel over to me. Because I didn't work that day I was able to sleep late and rest most of the day, so that I was ready to go late into the morning.
It's nice driving on the freeway in the middle of no where at 3 AM. There is practically no traffic. Even many of the trucks have pulled off to the side of the road for some sleep.
At about 4 AM I pulled into the rest area just before the exit to Ashlan and stopped to sleep for a couple of hours.
After a couple of hours we all woke up and finished the trip. We took a turn around the town and found a place to have breakfast. Unfortunately the breakfast was at a greasy spoon and it lived up to its name.
After breakfast we went to the OSF backstage tour. Unfortunately they were reworking the seating at the new theater and we were not able to see it. but We did get back stage on the other two stages. Including the underground parts.
The tour started a room in the back of the Elizabethan stage that had representations of all the different triads needed to run a play. and it also showed a video of the switchover between two different plays. A complete switch took several hours and the video showed it in about 5 min. After that we moved on to the seating area.
Here our guide told us about the theater and how it was based on Elizabethan ones. This is the only time you can take pictures inside any of the theaters. so I took a few. They were in the process of switching from Don Quizote to Much ado.
Next we headed into the Angus Bowmer Theater. They were in the process of setting up for the next show. They were setting up for MacBeth. It was a really neat set. The amazing thing was that once MacBeth was over the theater would be changed again for the Music Man.
We then went below the theater to the green room. That is where the performers rest when they are not on stage.
We then went up to the back stage of the Elizabethan theater and has some closing remarks and were sent on our way.
After the tour was over we had some time to kill before we could get into our rooms. so we wandered around the town park.
When we checked into our rooms, rested for a couple of hours then got dressed for that nights performance.
The first place we went was the Black Swan. It is kind of a secondary gathering place/performance area. It was there that we saw the Preface for Much ado. There was a lot of interesting information and back ground on the performance. The prefaces are only given for the shows in the Elizabethan theater and are only offered during the summer. I highly recommend going to the preface if offered. It is only $5 and well worth it.
We then headed for the theater. The setting was an Italian town just after WW2 and starts with the return of a group of resistance fighter. Although the set and costuming were set as WW2, the spoken lines were classic Shakespeare. Just before the end of the first act they had Benedict fall into the town fountain to escape from being seen. There was real water in the fountain and it splashed all over the front of the stage and even hit some of the audience.
The play ended 10:30 - 11:00 and we went back to our hotel. it had been a long night and day and we were tired. I slept very well except at 3:30 when some prankster had left the alarm clock to go off then.
The next morning we had the hotels continental breakfast and headed out for the town. We where there about 9:30 and most of the shops opened around 10 or 11. so we wandered the town and window shopped.
After a few hours we stopped at a tavern, had lunch and continued on. Around 4 or so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the play that night. We had dinner at an English pub. Three of us had the roast beef but Lydanta had to be different:)
The Preface for Henry VIII was very informative. The speaker noted a few things like how everyone was happy with Henry, even those he had executed. As he pointed out this was written only a few years after the death of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth. Not a good thing to talk about how horrible the man really was.
After the play was over we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next morning we packed up and headed home. The trip was uneventful and we took some time to stop at a friends house. Unfortunately Maggy (My GPS map) had a few of here usual glitches. First she tried to direct us to Pocattelo Idaho, then to Reno Nevada (she seems to have an obsession with Reno). Finally she decided the best way to get there was to drive 10 miles past the exit, turn around and drive 10 miles back. sigh.
After visiting with our friend and getting the tour of her almost 60 achier home, we headed north. We stopped for dinner in Centralia and got home about 9.
It was a good trip and I am hoping to do it again next year.
Well there is the Southern Oregon University, some great shops, and good restaurants.
Oh did I mention the Oregon Shakespeare Festival?
This year they are running 11 plays on a rotating schedule in three different theater. One of the theater is based on a Elizabethan theater, similar to the one that Shakespeare would have used.
The trip started Friday night. We all got together at about 9PM and had dinner at a Mexican place in Tacoma. Once dinner was over we all loaded into Wolfcats van and headed down the road. Gambit drove the first part for the first several hours and then turned the wheel over to me. Because I didn't work that day I was able to sleep late and rest most of the day, so that I was ready to go late into the morning.
It's nice driving on the freeway in the middle of no where at 3 AM. There is practically no traffic. Even many of the trucks have pulled off to the side of the road for some sleep.
At about 4 AM I pulled into the rest area just before the exit to Ashlan and stopped to sleep for a couple of hours.
After a couple of hours we all woke up and finished the trip. We took a turn around the town and found a place to have breakfast. Unfortunately the breakfast was at a greasy spoon and it lived up to its name.
After breakfast we went to the OSF backstage tour. Unfortunately they were reworking the seating at the new theater and we were not able to see it. but We did get back stage on the other two stages. Including the underground parts.
The tour started a room in the back of the Elizabethan stage that had representations of all the different triads needed to run a play. and it also showed a video of the switchover between two different plays. A complete switch took several hours and the video showed it in about 5 min. After that we moved on to the seating area.
Here our guide told us about the theater and how it was based on Elizabethan ones. This is the only time you can take pictures inside any of the theaters. so I took a few. They were in the process of switching from Don Quizote to Much ado.
Next we headed into the Angus Bowmer Theater. They were in the process of setting up for the next show. They were setting up for MacBeth. It was a really neat set. The amazing thing was that once MacBeth was over the theater would be changed again for the Music Man.
We then went below the theater to the green room. That is where the performers rest when they are not on stage.
We then went up to the back stage of the Elizabethan theater and has some closing remarks and were sent on our way.
After the tour was over we had some time to kill before we could get into our rooms. so we wandered around the town park.
When we checked into our rooms, rested for a couple of hours then got dressed for that nights performance.
The first place we went was the Black Swan. It is kind of a secondary gathering place/performance area. It was there that we saw the Preface for Much ado. There was a lot of interesting information and back ground on the performance. The prefaces are only given for the shows in the Elizabethan theater and are only offered during the summer. I highly recommend going to the preface if offered. It is only $5 and well worth it.
We then headed for the theater. The setting was an Italian town just after WW2 and starts with the return of a group of resistance fighter. Although the set and costuming were set as WW2, the spoken lines were classic Shakespeare. Just before the end of the first act they had Benedict fall into the town fountain to escape from being seen. There was real water in the fountain and it splashed all over the front of the stage and even hit some of the audience.
The play ended 10:30 - 11:00 and we went back to our hotel. it had been a long night and day and we were tired. I slept very well except at 3:30 when some prankster had left the alarm clock to go off then.
The next morning we had the hotels continental breakfast and headed out for the town. We where there about 9:30 and most of the shops opened around 10 or 11. so we wandered the town and window shopped.
After a few hours we stopped at a tavern, had lunch and continued on. Around 4 or so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the play that night. We had dinner at an English pub. Three of us had the roast beef but Lydanta had to be different:)
The Preface for Henry VIII was very informative. The speaker noted a few things like how everyone was happy with Henry, even those he had executed. As he pointed out this was written only a few years after the death of his daughter, Queen Elizabeth. Not a good thing to talk about how horrible the man really was.
After the play was over we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next morning we packed up and headed home. The trip was uneventful and we took some time to stop at a friends house. Unfortunately Maggy (My GPS map) had a few of here usual glitches. First she tried to direct us to Pocattelo Idaho, then to Reno Nevada (she seems to have an obsession with Reno). Finally she decided the best way to get there was to drive 10 miles past the exit, turn around and drive 10 miles back. sigh.
After visiting with our friend and getting the tour of her almost 60 achier home, we headed north. We stopped for dinner in Centralia and got home about 9.
It was a good trip and I am hoping to do it again next year.