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Reviewers Attempt Assessment oif 5L95S
Shakespearean Festival Seen as Whole
Generally Favorable
Verdict Pronounced
By Tribune Writers
, .(Editor's not: The Mail Tribune this year revives a cui-
torn It hat followed at the and of previous Shakespearean
Festivals, and publishes a "year-end" review of the festival
as whole. Contributing to these reviews, which attempt
to assess various phases of the event in retrospect, are two
staff members and on contributor, each of whom .has seen
all fiv plays offered this season.)
Prediction Impossible
For Successful Plays
Recent festhl seasons have
proven one fact it is useless to
predict which plays will be sue
cessful and which won't. Pro
ductions o"The Winter's Tale"
in 1952 an "All's 'Well That
Ends Well" this season, about
which the directors were most
dubious, turned out to be two
of the most popular. Perhaps
this is partly due to the fact that
directors and cast rise to the
challenge, put forth extra effort
and overcome the handicaps of
weak plots and invalued play
structures.
The best acting of tte year
sometimes turns up in a weak
play, too. "Henry VI Part
Three" is a disorganized dra
matic work with unrelieved
brutal action, tending to make
it tiresome on the one hand and
revolting to some playgoers on
th' other. But this year it proved
the vehicle for some of the sea
. son's best acting, o
Picks Best Scan
This reviewer selectthe Tow
er death scene where William
Oyler, playing Richard of Glou-c
cester, stabs to death King
Henry (Paul Kliss) as the most
effective scene of the year, and
Oyler's playing of Rfthard as
the most outstanding work
amon. the men actors.
Oyler's violent Richard, op
posed to the restrained, almost
sad, portrayal of the king by
Kliss, heightened the dramatic
intensity of the action, and the
plot comes to a climax wjh
Henry's death. Previous death
scenes in the play are bloody,
violent and played center stage
with all stops out. In contrast,
Kliss, as King Henry,, merely
curls up against the wall fnd
dies Quietly, as he had lived.
The combination of these two
fine actors plus the inspiration
of Director James Sandoe made
this an outstanding scene. Kliss
directed Macbeth this year, as
well as playing two deading
roles, proving as he did last
year that his theatrical "know
how" is not confined xe acting,
Company Praised
The company this yejr as a
For All
WIS
gAXL WUM
whole was good. Not only was
there excellent new talent among
both the men and women, but
there was no one who turned
out to be so bad that his acting
was conspicuous, as has been the
case in some past years.
On the other hand, the com
pany was smaller than it should
be. Festival fans who had com
plaints this year about the cast
ing probably do not realize that
no one director is able to cast
a play exactly as he would like
to, due to the demands of other
directors and other plays. Joan
Kugell would have made a fine
Puck, but she was needed more
in other roles and there is a
limit to what one player can do
during a season.
The new talent this year in
cluded such excellent players as
Robert Stattel from Floral Park,
Naw York; Donald Soule, Nor
walk, Conn.; Tom Luce, Palo
Alto, Calif.; Michael Kasdan,
New York City; Joan Kugell,
Natick, Mass., and Marjorie
Schaffer of Milwaukee, Wise.
Robert Loper of Stanford uni
versity, was another outstanding
first-timer. Loper not only di
rected "Timon" and "All's Well"
(the latter broke box office
records) in a creditable fashion,
but played the coveted title role
in Macbeth. We hope Lcfper re
turns another year to prove our
belief that he is capable of better
acting than we saw in Macbeth'
this season.
Woman Players
Marjorie Schaffer and Joan
Kugell were outstanding among
the women players. Both car
ried heavy acting loads aYid came
up with excellent performances
in every role. Miss Schaffer
has a pleasing stage personality
and appearance, and her roles
showed the smoothness which
experience, talent and intelli
gence produce. Miss Kugell
brings an eagerness and vitality
to the stage which is extremely
appealing.
Agnes David surprised many
with her engaging portrayal of
Helena in "Midsummer Night's
Dream." Miss David had been
in the festival company for two
years past but only in the cos
tuming department, and some
have been wondering why her
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ability as an actress had not been
brought to light before.
Brad Curtis deserves special
end-of-the-year mention, too.
Curtis, a sort of jack-of-all-trades,
is improving as an actor
and his light-hearted singing of
old English songs is one of the
bright spots of the festival en
tertainment features.
Music Improving
Most festival fans believe that
the music is slowly improving,
although perhaps it is not ex
actly what Tom B. Cooke ex
pected when he offered to under
write this part of the festival
program. This year Bernard
Windt, music director, is especially-
pleased with success of
the Sunday afternoon concerts.
Director Windt thought they
might draw two or three dozen
music lovers instead 200 to 300
or more persons turned out each
Sunday.
An innovation was recording
of all incidental music and sound
effects for the plays with the
exception of some of the drum
work. Use of the tympani in
"Macbeth," suggested by Direct
or Kliss and worked put by
Windt, who did the actual play
ing, was one of the most dra
matic bits of atmosphere pro
duced this year.
Two Questions -
Looking back over the season
two big questions come to mind.
One should the festival con
tinue to produce five plays, with
the fifth s a two-night attempt?
There is no doubt that "Timon"
would have been a better pro
duction this year if it had not
been rehearsed in the middle of
the night after actors, directors
and technicians were already ex
hausted from their efforts for
the major plays.
The other big question is this
are the festival plays coming
up to the standards which they
themselves . are setting? ' Year
by year the festival is creating
an audience which is growing
more and more familiar with
Shakespeare, more and more ap
preciative, and by the same
token, more and more demand
ing. Can the festival directors
and actors live up to this? O.S.
Costuming Department
Cited for Development .
Costuming for the festival has
developed a great deal since the
revival in 1947. The department
has been expanded to include
two full-time assistants, where
only volunteer help from local
people was available. Although
most .of the materials used are
bought outside the valley, local
donations are still appreciated.
Costuming techniques have im
proved greatly as a result of
the costumier's several trips
abroad to study in Europe and
England.
One minor element of the
Go To
TEENS
costumes which were new this
summer were rather distracting.
The peaked hats worn by Rich
ard and several minor charac
ters in "Henry" give a dashing
appearance which we feel is not
completely harmonious with the
rest of the costumes and the
characters themselves. For the
most part the costuming was ex
cellent. Appearanc Altered
With the expansion of the fes
tival the appearance of the stage
itself and the scenery used have
been altered.
The brown trim on the gray
walls of the stage has been made
more ornate, and the use of
scenery in the "inner below"
has been increased. The assort
ment of stage furniture has been
added to very little, but one ad
dition which we feel is not in
keeping with' the Elizabethan
atmosphere is the use of camp
stools, such as are sold by Army
surplus stores, in "Henry" and
"All's Well." An improvement
in curtains has been made with
the use of a different set for each
play, but with the ' removal of
main stage curtains in all plays
but All's Well, we feel that the
smooth flow of the shows has
been somewhat retarded.
Likes Queen 'Touch' -
One practice which has been
discontinued by the festival, and
which we would like to see re
stored, is that of choosing a
Queen Elizabeth for opening
night ceremonies, either from
the cast or from the people of
Ashland. The presence of the
queen lends a touch to opening
night which makes it seem a
little less like a Chamber of
Commerce meeting.
In our, opinion Joan Kugell
is the best of the actresses this
season. With only two years of
training at Carnegie Tech, she
has done an excellent job of each
of the . varied roles assigned to
her. Many actresses who could
perform Hermia with no trouble
would be lacking in the ability
to interpret the Prince of Wales
in Henry ' or an old man in
"Timon" without provoking
laughter in the audience. In ad
dition to these parts she has also
been seen as a witch in Macbeth
and Helena in "All's Well," two
diametrically opposed parts
which would tax any performer
asked to do them at the same
time. Her diction is clear and
her stage presence makes the
audience forget her small stat
ure. Welcome Addition
Popular with both . cast and
audience, Richard T. Jones is a
welcome addition to the festival.
His stage presence is good, and
his diction clear enough to over
come the partial loss of voice
which aroused the sympathy of
the audience the opening night
of Timon. We do not know how
much experience With Shake-
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possible that this is his first.
There is something almost mod
ern in his reading of lines which
prompts us to suggest that he
would be excellent in a periorm
ance of Christopher Fry's "The
Lady's Not For Burning." This
play is written in the Elizabethan
style and yet has a distinctly
modern flavor.
One thing which has become
apparent to many members of
the festival audience is that
some actors can double, that is,
perform two different roles in
one play, and some can't. Jack
Swanson and Jack Colvin are
two who can. Both- have im
proved greatly since last season,:
and both are able to disguise
their voices and appearance so
that the audience isn't disturbed
when an actor who died on stage
five minutes ago comes in as a
messenger bringing tidmgs of his
own death. Such an actor must
indeed be welcome to a director
who finds that he has more parts
to assign than actors.
Newcomer Praised
Among the newcomers this
season is Jack MacPhee, who
has a voice which will, with
training, produce the type of
deep velvety tones which make
John Hume stand out in the
memories of festival audiences
who saw his performance of
Othello in 1948. We feel that
young . MacPhee will improve
with further training and if he
returns, will be .an asset to the
festival.
Another impressive newcomer
is Irene Baird of Carnegie Tech.
Her performances, that of Mar
garet in Henry in particular,
have been outstanding.
We feel that Hubert Whitfield,
although his stage presence is
good, has an artificial, unpleas
ant quality in his voice which
has made him less popular with
the audience than his acting war
rants. His is a voice which might
possibly have been adopted by
an 18th century London fop. It
seems to be unnaturally high,
and because the actor is not ac
customed to the Ashland stage,
overly loud and harsh. We hope
that with further acting exper
ience his voice will improve, be-
see what a difference CH makes
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Festival Veteran
We would like to commend
Richard Graham for his excel
lent interpretation of the drunk
en porter in Macbeth. This actor
has been in the company since
1948, and has performed many
parts in that time. Not many
actors, who could portray the
part of King Lear as well, as
Richard Graham, would be able
to perform a small comedy role
and make it stick in the minds
of the audience. Richard Graham
is one of the "backbones" of the
festival, and we feel that his
loyalty, to the Ashland enter
prise is as commendable as his
versatile, high-quality acting.
Frank Pinnock, although his
experience with the festival has
been only three seasons, is an
other "backbone." "His acting is
consistently good, . if not bril
liant, and he has also contributed
greatly to the festival through
his fencing ability. .
Best Performance '
For best performance of the
season we nominate that of Wil
liam Oyler as Richard in
"Henry." This actor, so mild and
retiring off stage, has come into
his own as the deformed, vicious
Richard. We therefore name the
scene which ends Act HI, scene
2, of Henry, in which Richard
declares his intention of getting
the English crown, as the most
exciting of the season. It is our
sincere hope that he be asked to
continue the part as Richard III
in 1956. R.S. -
Company's Efforts Not
Soon To Be Forgotten
Oregon Shakespearean Festi
val's 1955 season will close to
night with the production of "A
Midsummer Night's Dream" un
der an almost full moon.
Players soon will return to
some 15 states from which they
came and resume educations,
teachings, directing and: other
positions. We are looking for
ward to seeing some of. them
back another year.
But their determined effort to
make the Ashland productions a
success will not be forgotten, and
this reviewer will anxiously wait
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Excitingly EataclaiiiiNf
Looking back over this year's
five productions, each has been
excitingly entertaining. It was
this reviewer's first festival sea
son, which perhaps has resulted
in favorable bias caused, prob
ably, by attending productions
which fail to maintain audience
attention, staged by other organ
izations. Among items which has made
this year's plays successful are
varsatility of players, director
ship, lighting, costuming and the
Elizabethan playhouse atmos
phere. Player versatility was witnes-.
sed in Richard T. Jones, who
aptly played Bottom in "A Mid
summer Night's Dream," and
played Timon as well. Jones'
somewhat hoarse voice added to
Timon's plight after he lost his
wealth.
Oyler Versatile
William Oyler provided diver
sified entertainment in the char
acters of Banquo, Richard, and
Parolles, all with personalities
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in Timon, Oyler seemed to fit
characters which he portrayed.
Versatility of playing also wa .
dominant in characters played by .
Donald E. Soule. Among the bet
ter ones were the doctor in Mac
beth, the Philosopher in Timon,
Theseus and King Edward IV,
but he also played well the parte .
of Donalbain in Macbeth and
Bertram in "All's Well That Ends
Well." ". '
Joan Kugell effectively por
trayed both male and female
parts, and Marjorie Schaffer act.
ed with dignity the parts of Lady
Macbeth, Countess Rousillon and
Lady Gray. Irene G. Baird as
Hippolyta and Queen Margaret
characterized the parts aptly.
Not All Acting
But producing successful playi
whether Shakespeare's . or an
other playright's, is not all in
acting. Credit should be extend
ed to Director James Sandoe
for "A Midsummer Night's
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