Portland observer., September 21, 2016, Page Page 10, Image 10

Page 10
September 21, 2016
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
First-Rate Plays Round Out Ashland Season
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Two excellent productions
round out the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival’s 11-play repertory for
2016, both Shakespeare plays that
you will rarely have the opportu-
nity to see, and provide contrast-
ing takes on human vanity. You
won’t see Shakespeare done better
than at OSF, and these two first-
rate and imaginative productions
feel especially definitive.
“Richard II” begins a series of
Shakespeare’s histories (the next
in the series, Henry IV, Parts I and
II, will be performed at OSF next
season) that can feel dense and
hard to follow. A strength of this
dazzling production is that Bill
Rauch’s direction, as well as the
design and uniformly strong per-
formances, beautifully reinforce
themes that make the play feel
more intuitively accessible. What
emerges is a sense of a family dra-
Photo by J eNNy g raham , o regoN s haKesPeare f estival
ma, and of power being donned Richard (Christopher Liam Moore, left) isn’t quite ready to relinquish his crown to Henry Bullingbrook
and performed without the neces- (Jeffrey King, right).
Photo by J eNNy g raham , o regoN s haKesPeare f estival
Apemantus (Vilma Silva, center) scorns the flattery that Timon (Anthony Heald, right) receives from
supposed friends like the painter (Sarah J. Brizek) and poet (Daniel T. Parker) who hope to entice him
with their art.
sary grounding in true authority.
The central character became a
king in childhood, and has spent
his life surrounded by family
members and officers who have,
quite necessarily, propped him
up. There is a scale to the produc-
tion’s design that conveys a sense
of massive infrastructure around
this king; at one point he appears
wearing a cape that literally fills
the room, and the richness and
color of everything in sight feels
intent on elevating this king to a
stature beyond question. He is
ruler by divine right, according
to convention -- something he
appears to have formed a habit of
clinging to -- yet clearly a lot of
human effort has been expended
to emphasize the point.
The contradiction there, along
with the stakes of this particular
family’s drama, infects every-
thing. Christopher Moore as Rich-
ard exudes a sense of entitlement
that he believes because he must;
it has literally been thrust upon
him. Yet none of the considerable
energy expended to support his
reign has included the cultivation
of inner authority, of any purpose
deserving of designation as divine.
The play’s action involves a
murder plot and ensuing political
intrigue that is eventually his un-
doing, but most interesting in this
production is the sense that the
tragedy is really a systemic one,
that Richard, for all his flaws and
self-absorption, was essentially
set up for the failure that dooms
him and that contains the seeds
for conflicts that will trouble the
generations that follow. In that
c oNtiNued oN P age 14
Upholster y C le aning • S ofa / L oves e at • Pet St ai ns • F l o o d R estor at i ons
5 0 3 - 7 0 5 - 2 5 8 7
2 Rooms + Hall
$
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Complete House
$
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