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Thursday, September 29, 2022
Oregon Shakespeare Festival focuses on expansion – but is not without its critics
NPR: After two years of pandemic closures, audiences are back at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Founded in 1935, it is one of the oldest and largest non-profit theaters in the country.
But things aren't the same as they were during the pre-pandemic 2019 season.
I'm glad to see that large cornerstones of the theatre industry, such as the OSF, are making the necessary changes to create and foster a more diverse and equitable environment and community. I can understand some of the criticisms of it, but these changes are extremely necessary for the long term, even if some individuals might be resistant to them now. Even beyond the obvious benefits of expanding diversity and equity, isn't expanding one's horizons a good thing? Is that not what we should strive to constantly do, both as people and as theatre artists? Why put on the same old Shakespearean place forever and ever ad infinitum? Play with the formula a little! There is zero reason, especially in this day and age, to exclusively put on straight-laced, all-white, centuries-old versions of these plays when we have so much more to draw on now. Sure, we can look back at them, learn from them, and more, but we need to grow beyond them as time progresses.
I’ve heard a lot about OSF but have sadly never been. Nataki Garret sounds like a great artistic director, and I love the steps she is taking to expand the horizons of OSF and create a better working environment. The article talks about the criticism she is getting, and I’ll be honest, it sounds like old white people who are unhappy with a Black woman bringing new, diverse stories to the stage. She is getting death threats for crying out loud! That is insane. I went and looked at one of the columns mentioned in this article… Rothschild literally ends it with lines from Shakespeare. Yes, OSF was founded to perform Shakespeare. But: that is not the only playwright! Not the only voice! “Inferior contemporary plays” offer new insights, new perspectives, open doors, and tell stories. It frustrates me that people will cling to things that are much better off adapting: the world has to adapt and change. Maybe it’s my general dislike of Shakespeare showing a little bit, but that aside I still stand by my opinions.
It’s great that Oregon Shakespeare Festival is pushing the boundaries of a repertory theater and exploring new work. Theater should be accessible to all people, and everyone should be able to see themselves on stage. This notion that OSF needs to focus on their target audience of the people of Ashland, Oregon is short-sighted. Perhaps when it was first started, it might have made sense to focus on getting the people nearby, since it would have been unreasonable to expect people from around the world to come see a bunch of Shakespeare, but at this point of time, OSF has established itself as a destination festival that can get people to come see shows, and if they focus on catering to the 91% white population of Ashland, then they will miss out on potential revenue from all types of folks. The critic, Herbert Rothschild, claims that a drop in Shakespeare plays produce means the festival no longer trusts in Shakespeare to draw audiences. I think that assessment is correct and valid. Younger audiences are not as excited by traditional productions of Shakespeare and won’t go to see a play unless there is a new and compelling take that is doing something different. A shift towards new work is not going to run the festival to the ground. It is going to help it thrive.
This is a little bit of an odd article. They quoted two people who criticized the “new direction” that the company is going - but some of the quotes from the Rothschild column are strange and not useful. First of all, the Rothschilds are famous for being unreasonably wealthy so I’m not sure why that means they get to have a quoted opinion on theater. But the quote about admiring the diversity efforts but seeing a drop in Shakespeare shows means that they don’t trust Shakespeare is obvious. No one trusts Shakespeare as an exclusive playwright because we’ve done those plays. There’s always enough Shakespeare to go round. But saying that Ashland is white so therefore we can’t do as many plays about persons of color is wildly problematic. If people of color have to grow up watching whitewashed Disney movies, then why can’t some old white people watch some shows about people of color?
Going to a high school in Seattle, I was very fortunate to attend the last OSF that was before the pandemic. I have truly learned a lot from the OSF that year and have expanded my vision as an artist during a relatively early time of my theatrical exploration and development. One of the biggest changes that I see in between these two years of not having any production is more inclusiveness and more diversity. During the year that I went, there is relatively less diversity and seeing that there is production put on stage focusing on women and non-binary theatrical artist makes me feel hopeful. It is sad that there has been death treats sent out towards Garrett and this makes me worry about how future artists would express their feelings and perspective on a certain topic when they are in a dangerous situation where they can be killed and threaten.
This article was interesting - and I’m excited about OSF’s expansion and changes. I lived in Oregon for my whole life and I’ve been to OSF three times, most recently this year - I saw Revenge Song, The Tempest (one of the shows mentioned in the article), and How I Learned What I Learned. Each show was excellent - all really, really cool places of theater. Seeing diverse casts rock both old classics and new musicals and plays was really inspiring and quite frankly, some of the best theater I have ever seen. OSF has always been somewhere I’ve aspired to work and these changes cement that want. Garrett is working to make it a more equitable, healthier theater company that shows more diverse shows, and I think that’s so important. There is no point staying in the past in theater - pushing it towards more accessibility and appeal to all and towards a better future will make OSF a more sustainable company and will attract more people to work there and watch their shows.
This article was a good read, I’m excited to for the changes that OSF is implementing, and the hope that they can be a flagship for the necessary changes for the industry. I especially appreciated how Nataki Garrett looked at how the pandemic affected OSF: “I thought the pandemic was hard work for maybe 15 minutes … [but] the task is actually greater … it’s about recovery and thriving.” It shows that she and OSF took the time to not only survive the pandemic, but to find ways to improve OSF as a whole. I’m not remotely surprised that there are critics saying that OSF will fail with the new changes, but for Garrett to receive death threats, that’s just too much. People are always afraid of change, and for an institution that has been around as long as OSF, any change can be considered drastic. But there was a reason Nataki Garrett was hired, and it was because she had a vision and the means to implement the changes that were thought to be needed for OSF to survive and thrive.
I think that Oregon Shakespeare Festival is making steps to make our industry better and I am proud of them for it. If we don’t start making these changes then I’m not sure how long the theatre industry is going to survive. There is a lot of work to do but I think that Nataki Garrett is making strides and is someone that I look up to to keep the industry moving forward. Anyone taking the effort to make a death threat is ridiculous and I am sorry that is happening. I am glad that they are making their season more accessible. As well as including content that is apparently challenging their audiences as well as creating a more equitable work environment. It is apparent that changes in the industry are possible and good theatre can be made. The ideas that OSF is coming up with is intriguing and makes me want to be a patron for their company.
8 comments:
I'm glad to see that large cornerstones of the theatre industry, such as the OSF, are making the necessary changes to create and foster a more diverse and equitable environment and community. I can understand some of the criticisms of it, but these changes are extremely necessary for the long term, even if some individuals might be resistant to them now. Even beyond the obvious benefits of expanding diversity and equity, isn't expanding one's horizons a good thing? Is that not what we should strive to constantly do, both as people and as theatre artists? Why put on the same old Shakespearean place forever and ever ad infinitum? Play with the formula a little! There is zero reason, especially in this day and age, to exclusively put on straight-laced, all-white, centuries-old versions of these plays when we have so much more to draw on now. Sure, we can look back at them, learn from them, and more, but we need to grow beyond them as time progresses.
I’ve heard a lot about OSF but have sadly never been. Nataki Garret sounds like a great artistic director, and I love the steps she is taking to expand the horizons of OSF and create a better working environment. The article talks about the criticism she is getting, and I’ll be honest, it sounds like old white people who are unhappy with a Black woman bringing new, diverse stories to the stage. She is getting death threats for crying out loud! That is insane. I went and looked at one of the columns mentioned in this article… Rothschild literally ends it with lines from Shakespeare. Yes, OSF was founded to perform Shakespeare. But: that is not the only playwright! Not the only voice! “Inferior contemporary plays” offer new insights, new perspectives, open doors, and tell stories. It frustrates me that people will cling to things that are much better off adapting: the world has to adapt and change. Maybe it’s my general dislike of Shakespeare showing a little bit, but that aside I still stand by my opinions.
It’s great that Oregon Shakespeare Festival is pushing the boundaries of a repertory theater and exploring new work. Theater should be accessible to all people, and everyone should be able to see themselves on stage. This notion that OSF needs to focus on their target audience of the people of Ashland, Oregon is short-sighted. Perhaps when it was first started, it might have made sense to focus on getting the people nearby, since it would have been unreasonable to expect people from around the world to come see a bunch of Shakespeare, but at this point of time, OSF has established itself as a destination festival that can get people to come see shows, and if they focus on catering to the 91% white population of Ashland, then they will miss out on potential revenue from all types of folks. The critic, Herbert Rothschild, claims that a drop in Shakespeare plays produce means the festival no longer trusts in Shakespeare to draw audiences. I think that assessment is correct and valid. Younger audiences are not as excited by traditional productions of Shakespeare and won’t go to see a play unless there is a new and compelling take that is doing something different. A shift towards new work is not going to run the festival to the ground. It is going to help it thrive.
This is a little bit of an odd article. They quoted two people who criticized the “new direction” that the company is going - but some of the quotes from the Rothschild column are strange and not useful. First of all, the Rothschilds are famous for being unreasonably wealthy so I’m not sure why that means they get to have a quoted opinion on theater. But the quote about admiring the diversity efforts but seeing a drop in Shakespeare shows means that they don’t trust Shakespeare is obvious. No one trusts Shakespeare as an exclusive playwright because we’ve done those plays. There’s always enough Shakespeare to go round. But saying that Ashland is white so therefore we can’t do as many plays about persons of color is wildly problematic. If people of color have to grow up watching whitewashed Disney movies, then why can’t some old white people watch some shows about people of color?
Going to a high school in Seattle, I was very fortunate to attend the last OSF that was before the pandemic. I have truly learned a lot from the OSF that year and have expanded my vision as an artist during a relatively early time of my theatrical exploration and development. One of the biggest changes that I see in between these two years of not having any production is more inclusiveness and more diversity. During the year that I went, there is relatively less diversity and seeing that there is production put on stage focusing on women and non-binary theatrical artist makes me feel hopeful. It is sad that there has been death treats sent out towards Garrett and this makes me worry about how future artists would express their feelings and perspective on a certain topic when they are in a dangerous situation where they can be killed and threaten.
This article was interesting - and I’m excited about OSF’s expansion and changes. I lived in Oregon for my whole life and I’ve been to OSF three times, most recently this year - I saw Revenge Song, The Tempest (one of the shows mentioned in the article), and How I Learned What I Learned. Each show was excellent - all really, really cool places of theater. Seeing diverse casts rock both old classics and new musicals and plays was really inspiring and quite frankly, some of the best theater I have ever seen. OSF has always been somewhere I’ve aspired to work and these changes cement that want. Garrett is working to make it a more equitable, healthier theater company that shows more diverse shows, and I think that’s so important. There is no point staying in the past in theater - pushing it towards more accessibility and appeal to all and towards a better future will make OSF a more sustainable company and will attract more people to work there and watch their shows.
This article was a good read, I’m excited to for the changes that OSF is implementing, and the hope that they can be a flagship for the necessary changes for the industry. I especially appreciated how Nataki Garrett looked at how the pandemic affected OSF: “I thought the pandemic was hard work for maybe 15 minutes … [but] the task is actually greater … it’s about recovery and thriving.” It shows that she and OSF took the time to not only survive the pandemic, but to find ways to improve OSF as a whole. I’m not remotely surprised that there are critics saying that OSF will fail with the new changes, but for Garrett to receive death threats, that’s just too much. People are always afraid of change, and for an institution that has been around as long as OSF, any change can be considered drastic. But there was a reason Nataki Garrett was hired, and it was because she had a vision and the means to implement the changes that were thought to be needed for OSF to survive and thrive.
I think that Oregon Shakespeare Festival is making steps to make our industry better and I am proud of them for it. If we don’t start making these changes then I’m not sure how long the theatre industry is going to survive. There is a lot of work to do but I think that Nataki Garrett is making strides and is someone that I look up to to keep the industry moving forward. Anyone taking the effort to make a death threat is ridiculous and I am sorry that is happening. I am glad that they are making their season more accessible. As well as including content that is apparently challenging their audiences as well as creating a more equitable work environment. It is apparent that changes in the industry are possible and good theatre can be made. The ideas that OSF is coming up with is intriguing and makes me want to be a patron for their company.
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