The `Speare Bearer: One-Man Street Shakespeare

28 Jun

The `Speare Bearer’s Ride: Epic Theater Time at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR, 06/12-06/16, Pt. 2

So after after the Romeo and Juliet matinee, and getting to meet Dan, I grab some food and begin to prep for my big Green Shw pre-show, which I am super excited about. The crowd for these green shows are enormous, weather permitting each evening, and this night was no different. People come out unto to the lawn and begint o picnic and claim their spots for the Green show more than an hr before the show starts. By the time it was time for me to go on, half an hr before the proper Green Show it was probably one of the biggest audiences I’d ever performed for.

The crowd was fun, and really gracious, but to be honest I had a hard time because acts on that stage nee to be mic-ed, and I was trying to do my scenes with just a microphone in front of the stage. I’m sure it made it hard to hear me, but I gave it my all, and everyone was very nice. All the OSF tech staff were super helpful and accommodating to me, such kind folks. I actually met a fella there after the show named Mark who somehow had also seen me perfrm in Vegas, and was now in Ashland at the same time I was. We had an awesome conversation, and he told me he was getting ready to launch an incredible website building service, called RENNDER. Really cool, soulful guy. Please look him up, I will likely blog his web site soon.

It turned out that I needed to stay an extra night in order to see Henry V, and ML had her daughter coming into town and could have me another night unfortunately, but luckily that kind couple I met, Kate and Lew, who continued to check up on me during my time in Ashland had said if I needed a back up place to to let them know. And so I did and they agreed to let me stay with them my last night in town.

This night I went to see As You Like It. What a terrific production. The actor who played Orlando proved to me how interesting, and fun to watch that role could be. Barrett’s wife Erica as Rosiland was a revelation. Such depth and full realization of each moment, and such deft comic timing. So so fun to watch, and so easy to believe and invest in. A great show full of great performances. There’s also another actor in the company who is hearing impaired and signs all his lines, and has them interprested by another actor. SUCH a joy to watch him. Beautiful production, funny, heartfelt, well paced, great performances. To me this play has always seemed a bit boring, and a bit like a mess on the page, but this production really showed my the brilliant potential that play has.

The next day I packed up and went off the Kate and Lew’s early in the day. They recieved me with open arms. I went out strolling about time, trying in vaid to meet some OSF staff, including the artisitic director, Bill Rauch, but as artistic directors are meant to be, I’m sure he was incredibly busy. BUT while I was out, I was sitting on a bench, on the phone, and another fella, from the OSF staff, whose name I don’t even know, handed me ANOTHER Henry V ticket! Mind you, these are opening night tickets! I will forever speak praises of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival because no other theater entity has recieved me, poor, dirty, mangy thesp on a bike, as warmly as these folks have.

Well I already had a ticket, and was on the phone, so that kind gentleman walked off before I could tell him. So when I got back to Kate and Lew’s before dinner, I told them my dilemna, and it turned out that Kate for one reason or another had not been able to use her Henry V ticket earlier in the season and missed out on her chance to see it. So I was able to give her my extra one!

We had a nice dinner and Kate and I walked to theater, as Lew, who’d already seen the show in previews turned in.

TREMENDOUS. John Tuffs was an incredible Hal, and captured all the things I love about the character. A steely, intense, bold, superbly well acting, brilliantly well directed play. I loved so many charaters, Henry’s confidant, played again by the wonderful hearing impaired actor, a great Dutch soldier, the French messenger Mountjoy, who was so fey and made me laugh everytime he appeared on stage… So many great scenes… the tennis ball scene, the scene where Henry condemns the traitors, the moment when Henry carries the dead bo soldier… SEE IT if you can. A beautiful production.

The next morning, after a bountiful breakfast, my time in Ashland was over, and Lew was kind enough to ride out with me a good ways out of Ashland to put me on some good bike routes north. I had suuuuchhhh a wonderful. time. Thanks Ashland, OR. One of the best theater cities in the country, as far as I’m concerned.

25 Jun

The `Speare Bearer: Climbing mountains Pt. 1 06/16

I don’t know why I shot this.. although I think it’s pretty intense. There you go. Climbing mountains SUCKS.

(Source: youtube.com)