Tab BLEED cover - Oregon Shakespeare Festival

OSF’s’s ‘‘Antony
OSF’
Ant
A on
o y and CCleopatra’
l p tra’ ha
leopa
hhave
ve an aff
affair
fair ttoo rem
remember
member
Betiti Webb
Be
Webb Trauth
Trauth
FFor
o r tthe
h e TTimes-Standard
imes-Standard
TThe
he llegendary
egendary play
play by
by The
The
Bard
opens
and
B
ard tthat
hat o
pens a
nd iignites
gnit es
Oregon
tthe
he O
re g o n Shakespeare
S h a ke s p e a r e
2015
80th)
FFestival’s
estival’s 2
015 ((and
and 8
0t h)
O
utdoor SSeason
eason iinn tthe
he A
llen
Outdoor
Allen
Elizabethan
Elizabe
than Theatre
Theatre is the
the fifidrama,
eery,
ry, rromantic,
omantic, hhistory
istory d
rama,
and
Cleopatra.”
““Antony
Antony a
nd C
leopatra.”
Directed
D
irected by
by OSF’s
OSF’s artistic
ar tis tic
director,
d
irector, Bill
Bill Rauch,
Rauch, he
he conconssiders
iders iitt SShakespeare’s
hakespeare’s ““most
most
creation.
Accordcinematic” cr
eation. A
ccordiingly,
ngly, Rauch
Rauch has
has chosen
chosen an
an
approach
a
pproach tto
o the
t he action
action (in
(in
play’s
tthe
he p
lay’s many
many “exotic
“exotic llocaocattions”)
ions”) that’s
that’s inspired
inspired by
by the
t he
playwright’s
p
laywright’s original
original ““anachanachrronistic”
o n i s t i c ” style
s t y l e of
o f bending
bending
accuracy
hhistorical
istorical a
ccuracy tto
o ssuit
uit hhis
is
artistic
a
rtistic purpose.
purpose.
OSF
audiences
TTherefore,
herefore, O
SF a
udiences
ccan
an expect
expect to
to see
see unexpectunexpecteed,
d, iinterwoven
nterwoven mixtures
mixtures of
of dedessign
ign elements
elements that
that the
the director
director
describes
ass ““contemporary
d
escr ibes a
contemporar y
own
and
tto
o our
our o
wn eera
ra a
nd ttimelessly
imelessly
iiconic.”
conic.”
However,
H
oweve r, tthe
h e eendlessly
ndlessly
ccharismatic,
harismatic, heedlessly
heedlessly paspasssionate
ionate couple
couple at
at the
the center
cent er
off tthe
personal
and
political
o
he p
ersonal a
nd p
olitical
about
sstorms
torms tthat
hat sswirl
wirl a
bout tthem,
hem,
power
sstill
till hhave
ave tthe
he p
ower tto
o ffasciasci doomed
nnate
ate us
us all
all with
with their
their d
oomed
llove
ove affair.
affair.
And
will
A
nd nnever
eve r w
ill yyou
ou eever
ve r
eexperience
xperience such
such a sensually
sensuall y
graphic
off tthe
g
raphic introduction
i n t ro d u c t i o n o
he
one
iinfamous
nfamous pair
pair as
as tthe
he o
ne tthat
hat
PHOTO
PHO
TO BBYY JENNY GRAHAM CCOURTESY
OURTESY OOFF OREGON SSHAKESPEARE
HAKESPEARE FFESTIVAL
ESTIVAL
Antony
A
ntony ((Derrick
Derrick Lee
Lee Weeden)
Weeden) seeks
seeks rrefuge
efuge iin
nC
Cleopatra’s
leopatra’s ((Mirian
Mirian A
A.. LLaube)
aube) m
monument.
onument.
visually
producvisually opens
opens tthis
his p
ro d u c tion,
writhing
tion, w
rit hing ttogether
oget her (ini( i n itially
but
definitely
tially uunseen,
nseen, b
ut d
ef initely
heard)
heard) uunder
nder tthe
he ssheets
heets in
in
Cleopatra’s
Cleopatra’s oornate,
rnate, EEgyptian
gyptian
bedchamber.
bedchamber.
When
W h e n tthey
h ey lliterally
i t e ra l l y exex plode
beneath
plode iinto
nto vview
iew ffrom
rom b
eneath
the
doubt
the ccovers,
overs, there’s
there’s nno
od
oubt
that
mutually-trapped
that they
they are
are m
utually-trapped
in
obsessive,
in an
an o
bsessive, iinsatiable
nsatiable
sexual
sexual relationship
relationship that
t hat nno
o
logic
Although
logic can
can ever
ever ssever.
ever. A
lthough
Miriam
Miriam Loeb’s
Loeb’s brazenly
brazenly brash
brash
queen
q ueen obviously
obviously (if
(if nnot
ot to
to
lover,
Weeden’s
lover, Derrick
Derrick Lee W
eeden’s
hopelessly
hopelessly enamored
enamored Mark
Mar k
Antony)
Antony) has
has the
the “upper
“upper hand”
hand”
overall,
give
and
overall, tthe
he g
ive a
nd ttake
ake bebetween
tween tthe
he ttwo
wo ccontinues
ontinues uuntil
ntil
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14
tthe
he ttragic,
ragic, fifinal
nal ccurtain
urtain ffalls.
alls.
Off ccourse,
more
O
ourse, tthere’s
here’s m
ore tto
o
iitt tthan
han tthe
he ““romantic”
romantic” ccononpower
nnection.
e c t i o n . TThere’s
h e r e ’s p
owe r tto
o
bee hhad
and
b
ad a
nd tterritories
erritories to
to be
be
rruled
uled ttogether
ogether — an
an increasincreasiingly
n g l y dangerous
d a n g e r o u s “game”
“game”
playing
with
Antony’s
tthey’re
hey’re p
laying w
ith A
ntony’s
ccommander-in-chief.
ommander-in-chief.
would
bee yyoung,
deTThat
hat w
ould b
oung, d
ettermined
ermined Octavius
Octavius (Raffi
(Raffi BarBarssoumian),
oumian), hhead
ead of
of RRome’s
o m e ’s
TTrimverate
rimverate — who
who will
will eventueventually
a
lly cconvert
onvert tthe
he rrepublic
epublic iinto
nto
ann eempire
ass iits
a
mpire a
ts fifirst
rst eemperor,
mperor,
Agustus
A
gustus Caesar.
Caesar.
Although
middleA
lthough the
the now
now m
iddleaged
a
g ed Antony
Antony was
was revered
reve re d
after
a
f ter his
his stirring
stirring speech
speech imi mmediately
m
ediately following
following the
the asa soff JJulius
ssassination
assination o
ulius Caesar
Caesar
and
—a
nd hhad
ad gone
gone on
on to
to earn
ear n
praise
admiration
p
ra
aise and
and a
dmiration ffrom
rom
both
both soldiers
soldiers and
and citizens
citizens of
of
RomeRome- — his
his shameless,
shameless, aduladulterous
terous affair
af fair with
with Cleopatra
Cleopatra
went
onn a
and
went o
nd on,
on, during
during his
his
existing
marriage
after
existing m
arriage and
and a
f t er
his
wife’s
his w
ife’s death.
death.
Even
when
E ve n w
hen hhee ““agreed”
a g re e d ”
for
political
for p
olitical rreasons
easons tto
o rere marry
Octavius’
mar r y O
ctavius’ lovely,
lovely, widwid owed
sister,
owed
e sis
ter, Octavia
Octavia (Jennie
Greenberry),
Greenberr y), the
the llure
ure to
to rere turn
arms
off
turn tto
o EEgypt
gypt and
and tthe
he a
rms o
its
mesmerizing
queen
its m
esmer izing q
ueen was
wa s
completely
completely irresistible
irresistible — and
and
doomed
doomed tto
o ffail,
ail, just
just like
like his
his
reputation
reputation and
and career.
career.
Without
Without going
going into
into the
the ini ntricacies
off tthe
tricacies o
he iinterwoven
nterwoven seseries
off iinevitable,
ries o
nevitable, tragic
tragic events
events
that
ann
that eensnared
nsnared tthe
he llovers
overs iinn a
inescapable
web
with
inescapable sspider
pider w
eb w
ith
no
way
out
but
ann eendgame
no w
ay o
ut b
ut a
ndgame
of
despair
of d
e s p a i r and
a n d death
d e a t h ffor
or
urge.local tv listings_local music and venue listings_local theatre and cast info_local events to enliven your weekend
both,
most
both, llet’s
et’s just
just say
say tthat
hat m
ost
off you
what
you already
already know
know w
hat
to expect
expect w
when
hen yyou
ou ssee
ee tthis
his
overall
verall intriguing
intriguing production.
production.
A
long with
with the
the vivid,
vivid, bebe Along
lievable
eva b l e p
portrayals
o r t r a ya l s b
byy a
allll
off tthe
actors
and
he a
ctors iinn tthe
he ttitle
itle a
nd
featured
atured roles,
roles, there
there are
are also
also
many
performances
any sstrong
trong p
er for mances
given
ven by ssupporting
uppor ting ccharh a racters
cters throughout
throughout the
the prop ro duction,
uction, p
particularly
a r t i c u l a r l y one
one
delivered
e l i ve re d b
byy JJeffrey
e f f r ey K
King
ing
ass A
Antony’s
ntony’s loyal
loyal follower,
follower,
Domititus
omititus EEnobarbus.
nobarbus.
FFurther
ur t her p
praise
ra i s e ((in
i n vvariarious,
us, w
well-drawn
ell-drawn rroles)
oles) g
goes
oes
Christina Clark,
Clark , Brooke
Brooke
to Christina
arks,, RRex
ex Y
oung, JJoseph
oseph
Parks,,
Young,
nthony Foronda,
Foronda, Michael
Mic hael
Anthony
ume, SSara
a ra B
r uner, JJohn
ohn
Hume,
Bruner,
ufts, a
nd W
ayne TT.. Carr.
Carr.
Tufts,
and
Wayne
TThe
he rremaining,
emaining, eeffective
f fective
n s e m b l e iiss m
a d e uup
p o
ensemble
made
off
r mando M
cClain, C
edr ic
Armando
McClain,
Cedric
amar, A
llison B
uck , Erica
Er ica
Lamar,
Allison
Buck,
u l l i va n , W
ill D
a o , SScott
cott
Sullivan,
Will
Dao,
Ripley,
pley, LLeo
eo D
Decker,
ec ker, Z
Zlato
lato
Rizziolli,
zziolli, and
and Brent
Brent Hinkley
Hinkley
otherwise
((whose
whose o
therwise ssolid
olid ccharharacters’
a
cters’ portrayal
portrayal is
is definitely
definitely
ttoo
oo over-the-top
over-the-top and
and out-ofout-ofplace
p
lace a
ass the
the “dumb
“dumb rrustic”
us tic”
d
elivering the
the deadly
deadly snake
snake
delivering
b
asket to
to Cleopatra).
Cleopatra).
basket
basically
TThe
he b
asically ssimple
imple scenic
scenic
d
esign ((with
with ssome
ome sstunning
tunning
design
accent
a
ccent p
pieces)
ieces) iiss b
byy RRichard
ichard
design
LL.. Hay;
Hay; llighting
ighting d
esign by
by
Cox;
music
and
JJane
ane C
ox; m
usic a
nd ssound
ound
design
d
esign by
by PPaul
aul JJames
ames PPrenderrendergast;
g
ast; and
and colorful,
colorful, decidedly
decidedly
anachronistic
a
nachronistic ccostume
ostume design
design
byy D
David
b
avid C.
C. Woolard.
Woolard.
Although
OSF’s
Alt hough O
SF’s ““Antony
Antony
and
a
nd C
Cleopatra”
l e o p a t ra ” starts
star ts o
out
ut
much
m
uch sstronger
tronger than
t han itit ends
ends
a
ar as
as really
really nailing
nailing all
all asasass ffar
pects
p
ects o
off tthe
he eemotional
motional chalc hal llenges
enges itit faces,
faces, the
the show
show is
is
sstill
till w
well
ell w
worth
orth sseeing
eeing b
before
efore
iitt ends
ends iits
ts rrun
un o
onn Oct.
Oct. 9.
9.
FFor
or iinformation
nformation a
and
nd rresereservvations,
ations, ccall
all ((800)
800) 2
219-8161;
19-8161;
orr g
go
osfashland.org
o
o tto
oo
sfashland.org
June 25, 2015