4 adults, one a novice and three veteran theatergoers give their reviews...

RICHARD III June 3 2014

Direction, Scenery and Lighting good. Sound: new sound system had a couple glitches that were quickly solved. Sound quality was excellent all the way to the back row, where we sat. Costumes: below expected standard set by the Festival. R3 wore an ugly 'hair shirt' in act 1. Too many hatless actors in a time where headgear indicated your status. Perhaps showing the well-made wigs was the idea? Half the costumes looked designed for the show, the rest were pulled from old stock?? Fake fur trim was very poorly cut and applied: yes we had binoculars.

Deaf signing a speaking role was very intrusive, disrupting the flow of the play. Could have accepted this in a modern play, or Shakespeare set in a modern time, as current production of COMEDY OF ERRORS. One of our group had seen THE MUSIC MAN, a musical where a singing role was signed! How bizarre ! It is a real detriment in a Shakespearean style period production.

How disappointing this was for a first time Shakespeare experience...the other 3 of us could at least put it in context of years of viewing.

rate it 4 1/2 stars, out of 6

THE TEMPEST June 2014 Direction: good. I've seen Tony Taccone's work many times. Curious about his choices for Prospero. Adding in the four 'spirits' made the performance much more interesting...adding movement to the spare set, they were wonderful. Scenery: minimalist abstract shapes. Variety provided by the floor opening up for various entrances and effects. Not our favorite type of set, but it mostly worked. Lighting: Interesting use of old filament-style light fixtures hanging from cords. We think the rest of the lighting tried to make the most of the bare set, and did a fine job. Costumes: We don't think Anita Yavich and the costume shop had time to finish the show. What other explanation could there be for what Prospero, Miranda, and Caliban wore? Prospero, a 60's beachcomber in a macrame vest. Miranda a 1930's depression era housewife. Caliban in a diaper. Embarassing choices. The four 'spirits' and Ariel were very good costumes, (although her skirt fabric was drooping over the underlying support structure.) The shipwrecked men all were splendid in their period clothes.

Why would we recommend this to anyone? Fantastic performances by Kate Hurster as Ariel, Wayne Carr as Caliban. The rest of the cast was fine, very satisfying for us. So why was Prospero so bland? No emotional journey for him from anger/revenge to forgiveness. No sense of majesty, magic, power. The final speech was just thrown away! We've enjoyed the acting craft of Denis Arndt before, so imagine our disappointment at this portrayal.

3 stars out of 6

COCOANUTS June 2014

At last, a performance that met our expectations for OSF production values. Scenery: Richard Hay always delivers the goods. Wonderful pastel set perfectly housed the action. Lighting: well done Marcus Doshi. Costumes: delightfully populated the colorful set. This is the excellence we expect of OSF. We decided that the costume choices for Mrs. Potter and Polley Potter were meant to show that rich folk can have bad taste too.

The entire cast was well chosen...excellent performances by all. The improvised bits really had the audience roaring with laughter. Perhaps OSF might consider an original Marx brothers Shakespearean play...consult your dramaturg...could be comedic gold here.

6 out of 6 stars