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NEWS REVIEW
Voi. 16 No. 22
Shakeipearean Festival Section —Ashland Southern Oregon N ew s Review
Thursday, August 4. 1949
Formerly the
Southern Oregc
Miner
10c per Copy
1949 Shakespearean Festival Dates Aug. 2*24
5
Ashland Theatre
Only One of Its
Kind in the World
Wardrobe of English Actor Added to
Shakespearean Dressing Rooms Here
One of the most tangible proofs
of the widespread fam e of the incident. There is no record of
Oregon Shakespearean Festival the parts he played in the fol­
It William Shakespeare could
is the m any letters received from lowing years, but he visited the
retu rn to life this m onth and
all parts of the country about the United States, appearing in Old
visit the Souhem Oregon town of
program , some m erely express­ English comedies, chiefly in the
Ashland, the chances are th at he
ing
interest, and approval, others eastern cities.
would feel as completely at home
expressing a desire to offer more Plays Rip van Winkle
as if he was nt Stratford-on-the
substantial encouragem ent to the
A t the age of fifty he was
Avon some 350 years ago.
venture.
starred
as Rip van W inkle, using
For, in Ashland, he would find
Early this year, Angus Bowmer. Mr. Jefferson’s script, and Mr.
one of the few truly Elizabethan
production director of the Fes­ Jefferson’s clothes which were
theaters in the w orld—so true a
tival, received this letter from given him by a friend of that
reproduction th at it m ight well
Grosse Point Farms. Michigan:
great actor who also adm ire
be the Old Globe th eater of his
him. U nfortunately these tre a s­
"Dear Sir,
day.
ures were destroyed in a G erm an
This
letter
is
w
ritten
in
all
The new Elizabethan theater in
blitz.
good
will.
Some
tim
e
ago
I
Ashland is the realization of a
read an article in the New
Goes To H aym arket
dream of Angus Bowmer, a
Then followed three years at
York
Times
about
the
re
­
Southern Oregon College profes­
m arkable theatre in Ashland,
His Majestys th ea tre w ith H er­
sor and student of Shakespeare.
Oregon.
bert Beerholm Tree, after which
The th ea ter has been rebuilt d u r­
My
father
was
an
actor
and
he joined C y n i M aude a t the
ing the past th ree years in prep­
the H aym arket theatre. A tour
I have in my possession sev­
aration for a yearly festival of
through
A ustralia came next
eral
wigs
and
o
ther
useful
Shakespeare’s works, as great as
playing
repertoire.
On returning
things
th
a
t
rt
would
please
any ever presented during his
hom e he accepted an offer from
me to donate to your w ard ­
lifetime.
F rank Robertson . . . and then
robe departm ent should you
The Oregon
Shakespearean
cam e with him to Am erica in
care to receive them.
Festival, which was started in
1909. Here he rem ained until his
Sincerely yours,,
1935 as a p a rt of A shland's
death, appearing w ith Mr. Man-
Lenora Thom as”
Fourth of Ju ly celebration is
Mr. Bowmer replied th a t the tell, Olga Nethersole, M argaret
taking place for th e th ird tim e
th
eatre
would be most grateful Aiglin and m any others.
since the w ar, this August. It
for the costum e gift, and asked Played Polonius
was revived in 1947, following
In 1919 he became a m em ber
The
Oregon
Shakespearean
Festival's
new
ensigne,
completed
Miss Thomas for inform ation on
six years of w artim e activity. The
of Mr. W alter H am pden’s com­
her
fathers
work
as
an
actor.
Hei
this
year,
is
based
on
Shakespeare’s
coat-of-arms,
which
he
in­
town of Ashland has been buz­
answ ering letter is quoted below pany and m ade a delghtful Po­
herited from his mother’s family the Ardens. To this crest
zing w ith activity for months, in
“Allen Thomas was English: lonius, a very drunken Porter, a
was appropriately added a spray o f mountain ash sent by Mrs.
preparation for the festival which
he
was born in the seaport city proud Brabantio, and a most
this year is gaining an in tern at­
Rose Robinett, a member of the Board of Directors of the Festival
of
Bristol.
At the age of ten he garrulous grave-digger.
ional scope
Association.
Fifty-three years in the pro­
was sent to boarding school at
Five Plays Slated
Clifton b u t being adventuresom e fession fo und'him still eager for
The arrangement o f the design was suggested by Edwin Farmer,
Five of S hakespeare’s plays
he ran aw ay to sea a year la­ parts; two weeks before his
professor o f the art department at Stanford University, and it
will be presented in their origin­
ter, as cabin-boy on a sailing death he w rote: ‘I hope soon to
was executed in a linoleum cut by Standish Mitchell of Palo Alto.
al form, starting August 2 w ith
ship
bound for A ustralia. He play F riar Laurence; the lines
The ensigne will be used on programs, and on various souvenir
"Romeo and Ju lie t.’’
O ther
spent
four years before the mast are most beautiful. I shall enjoy
articles such as envelope seals stickers, etc. to be handled largely
plays to be given include “Rich­
before his distressed fam ily were him .’ ”
by local merchants. These souvenirs are expected to be popular
"Allen Thomas Room"
ard II,’’ “M idsum mer N ight’s
able to get him home.
remembrances o f the conjunction of Shakespeare and Ashland.
S tarting this year, the th ea tre ’s
D ream ,” "O thello” and the well
Becomes Actor
known “Tam ing of the Shrew .”
Being quite unfit now for costum e room w ill be know n as
(Continued on page 2)
In all each play will be present­
school or college, he was appren­
ed several tim es w ith the final perform ance concluding the fest­
ticed
to
a
local
photographer,
but
ival on Aug. 24.
was not content to follow that
A n unusual sidelight to the
calling. A chance m eeting with
festival is th e fact th a t w ith the
Mr. Jam es Jacready Chute, m an­
Elizabethan theater, the plays
ager of the P rince’e Theatre, led
m ay be presented as Shakespeare
to his being engaged for ‘gen­
originally w rote them . Bowmer
eral u tility ’ w ith the stock com­
points out th a t through the years
pany, a sm all beginning to a long
Shakespeare's plays have been
career. For here young Allen
rew ritten m any tim es to m eet the
received a thorough grounding
m any changes in th ea ter designs,
in the legitim ate theatre and
u ntil the present day versions
gradually rose to the position of
are a far cry from the originals,
Juvenile lead. He also discovered
a t least as far as the actual stag ­
th a t he possessed a good baritone
ing is concerned.
voice and a fine sense of com­
Idea B om In '35
edy.
The idea for this S hakespear­
Joins Opera
ean Festival was horn in the m id­
A tour of English opera on the
thirties. w hen Angus Bowmer
C ontinent occupied him next, and
first glim psed the alm ost forgot­
on his re tu rn he was chosen bn
ten rem nants of the old Chau-
play Touchstone at the form al op­
taqua building standing near the
ening of the then new Shaftes-
entrance to A shland's Lithia
bry theatre, friend Robert Man-
Park.
tell being th e Orlando. On the
CAROL ELLER
In years gone by, the C hauta­
first n ight the new ly fashioned
DR. MARGERY BAILEY
ANGUS
BOWMER
uqua building, in rea lty a cem ent
curtain being used refused to go In charge of special dancing d u r­
Of Stanford University, who is a w all encompassing nearly an acre, D irector of the Shakespearean up, but the production had a ing the Festival, Miss Eller comes
(Continued on page 3)
member of the Festival faculty.
Festival
m ost successful ru n despite the to Ashland from San Francisco.
By Doyle D. Seely
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