“Feast here awhile”: Shakespeare for a Portland Autumn

Dear readers:

According to American Theatre magazine, “Shakespeare remains the most-produced playwright in the country, with 108 productions (including various adaptations). And this year his most-produced play will be Twelfth Night with 9 productions.” In fact, Shakespeare in Love was the most produced play of the year, with 15 full-scale professional productions nation-wide. This does not take into account all of the Shakespeare-ish works making the rounds to be excited for, including the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged) and Emma Whipday’s Shakespeare’s Sister. If you are in the Portland area this fall, there are a couple of exciting productions to keep your eyes peeled for.

Pericles Wet

This December, Portland Shakespeare Project will be producing a full-scale run of my colleague, Ellen Margolis’ adaptation of Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Based on the act printed in a recent issue of Proscenium and a reading I saw last year, this is likely to prove special. This re-magining refocuses on the assault of Princess Hesperides and the framing device of Gower.

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July Blogroll: PNW Shakes Fests

Dear readers:

Early last fall, when I had just moved into the Portland area, one of the first things on my list was to figure out where the Shakespeare was. In September, I posted a September blogroll of PDX Shakes Fests beyond that of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a bit southward in beautiful Ashland. That list included the Portland Actors Ensemble, my now home troupe the Original Practice Shakespeare Festival, and the Portland Shakespeare Project (housed by Artist Repertory Theatre). As I get a better lay of the theatre landscape here in the cool northern woods, I give you the start of a group list of additional companies in the area with commitments to pre-modern and Shakespearean drama.

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