Oregon Shakespeare Festival Announces 2022 Season
The season will feature Once on This Island, unseen, How I Learned What I Learned and more.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Sep. 29, 2021
Oregon Shakespeare Festival today announced its 2022 Season, making a joyous return to repertory programming after two years of extreme uncertainty-and emerging with an ambitious vision of theatre as an accessible artform that can boldly meet our current moment. Along with new art offerings on its stages and on O!, OSF provides a sturdy foundation for these changes by making its programming economically accessible year-round with a new pricing and donor benefits model.
"Our 2022 season is dedicated to the artists, all of whom have so much to share after 18 months of crisis, closure, and now rebirth. Each one of these plays and projects represents the desires, the voices, and the passions of truly gifted theatre artists. In this moment of reemergence, I rely on artists because they have their ears to the ground and hearts in their communities. I trust them to reflect our joy, pain, survival and aspirations, both in our live spaces in Ashland as well as globally on O!" says Artistic Director Nataki Garrett. "This will be my first fully programmed season at OSF, and the diversity of styles, perspective and stories represented here is a true reflection of my artistic vision. As our field comes back to life, we must center the artists, nurture their perspectives, and amplify their voices. They will in turn, give us life."
The 2022 Season also brings industry-leading change to OSF in season structure, pricing, and donor programs. From 2015 to 2020, OSF adopted the industry practice of dynamic pricing (which spikes prices correlated to scarcity and popularity), and saw significant ticket price increases year after year, rising 200% more than inflation. OSF now pointedly breaks from these norms to create accessibility. OSF has cut its top ticket price from $132 to $75 (tickets now range from $35-$75), simplified its seating zones, and has altogether dropped dynamic pricing. In an effort to address historic operational challenges and deficits, the company also undertook a major study of past audience behavior and noted that 88% of audiences see five plays or fewer, usually in one four-day visit. This understanding, along with realities of wildfire smoke and the pandemic shut down, motivated the change to eight in-person productions in the new in-person season structure. Finally, in conjunction with these changes, OSF is replacing its old membership model with its new Change Makers program, a focused and simplified donor experience designed for audience members inspired by OSF's mission and future.
"This is a moment to take bold action to make theatre accessible by lowering barriers for entry. We hope this move inspires people who have been coming to OSF for years and people who have never visited to join us as we create joyful and inclusive theatre in 2022," says Executive Director David Schmitz. "The pre-pandemic OSF model was complicated and focused on maximizing revenue from folks who already know and love us. Our new donor model and ticket pricing allows our existing fans to get involved more deeply and more often, and invites a whole new generation of art lovers into the mix. With these changes and our bold programming, I'm excited to grow OSF's community in Ashland, around the country, and around the globe."
This season's in-person repertory programming approaches our current moment with urgency, juxtaposing groundbreaking new works and non-nostalgic visions of classics. OSF 2022 offers a beloved musical celebration of the Afro-Caribbean community and joy (Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Once on This Island, dir. Lili-Anne Brown); a poignant turn to autobiography for August Wilson (How I Learned What I Learned, dir. Tim Bond); hard-hitting contemporary works at the intersection of the personal and political (Dominique Morisseau's Confederates, dir. Nataki Garrett and Mona Mansour's unseen, dir. Evren Odcikin); a fun and hilarious play with music that vivaciously revives and rewrites the legacy of a queer, transgressive 17th century figure (Qui Nguyen's Revenge Song, dir. Robert Ross Parker); and fresh visions of William Shakespeare's revolutionary spirit (The Tempest, dir. Nicholas C. Avila and King John, dir. Rosa Joshi and presented in association with upstart crow collective). The 2022 In-Person Season culminates in November with a raucous reimagining of a holiday classic (Mark Bedard, Brent Hinkley, and John Tufts' It's Christmas, Carol!, dir. Pirronne Yousefzadeh).
On OSF's digital stage O!, the 2022 Season offers exhilarating, internationally-accessible, media-traversing work, which the organization will continue to expand in the coming years. (This will be set in motion under OSF's new Artistic Leadership structure, which sees three Associate Artistic Directors, of Artistic Programming, Evren Odcikin; of Innovation & Strategy, Scarlett Kim; and of New Work, Mei Ann Teo collaborating across the many facets of artist engagement, development, and producing.) Audiences around the world will be able to experience QUILLS FEST (starting in 2021 and returning in 2022), an immersive digital festival colliding theatre and extended reality. The 2022 Season will also bring an unprecedented, episodic vision of Shakespeare's late work Cymbeline (The Cymbeline Project, dir. Scarlett Kim) and short films from a??a??Black Lives, Black Words International Project, Films for the People. Many other works will be announced throughout the year.
Garrett adds: "It's a real victory to imagine the return of our repertory season after more than 18 months of uncertainty about the future of OSF and our beloved field. I am thankful for the work of so many dedicated people to get us here, and I feel a deep responsibility to respond to their commitment with a plan that will secure OSF's future. In order for theatre to remain vital, it must adapt to this moment and boldly transform for its future. This is central to everything we're doing - in our artmaking, IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility) work, and in our audience development. We're honoring our impressive legacy, speaking to our present, and building for the coming generations of OSF's future."
2021-2022 Season Schedule and Descriptions
Once on This Island
A Musical
Book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Based Upon the Novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown
April 12 - October 30 • Opening night: April 16
Angus Bowmer Theatre
Once on a golden and verdant Caribbean island, a little girl is rescued from a disastrous storm by four gods-Asaka, Mother of the Earth; Agwé, god of Water; Erzulie, goddess of Love; and Papa Ge, demon of Death. So starts the myth told in this breathtaking story of Black joy and sorrow, the aftermath of colonization and isolation, and the triumph of love against all forces. Told with Caribbean rhythms and instruments, this Tony Award-winning musical is a testament that a beautiful story simply told has the power to inspire and heal all.
unseen
By Mona Mansour
Directed by Evren Odcikin
West Coast Premiere
April 12 - July 31 • Opening day: April 16
Thomas Theatre
Mia, an American conflict photographer, wakes up at the site of a massacre in Syria, not sure how she got there. With her Turkish girlfriend Derya and her Californian mother Jane, Mia must slowly piece together the details of her past to find out what happened. Mansour's beautifully human and surprisingly humorous play asks what it would mean for our souls-personally and as a nation-if we were to truly see the impact of our actions.
August Wilson's
How I Learned What I Learned
Co-Conceived by Todd Kreidler
Directed by Tim Bond
May 3 - July 30 • Opening night: May 7
Angus Bowmer Theatre
Originally performed by Wilson himself, How I Learned What I Learned is a heartfelt theatrical memoir charting one man's journey of self-discovery through adversity, and what it means to be a Black artist in America. Helmed by celebrated Wilson director Tim Bond, this beautiful solo work brings Wilson's necessary voice and gorgeous poetry back to OSF.
The Tempest
Directed by Nicholas C. Avila
June 1 - October 15 • Opening night: June 15
Allen Elizabethan Theatre
For 12 years, banished Prospero has been living on a mystical island and using magic to subjugate its natives. With vengeance weighing heavily on his mind, he conjures a storm to bring ashore a passing ship carrying his enemies, who find themselves at the mercy of his supernatural machinations. Avila's imaginative production explores the good, the bad, and the gray areas of human nature.
Revenge Song
By Qui Nguyen
Directed by Robert Ross Parker
A Vampire Cowboys Creation
June 2 - October 14 • Opening night: June 16
Allen Elizabethan Theatre
Buckle up for a musical story about Julie d'Aubigny-a queer 17th-century rule-breaking, sword fighting, opera-singing transgressor of boundaries. It'll be loud, it'll be rowdy, and it'll be hilarious! Nguyen (OSF's Vietgone and Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon) sets this irreverent take on French history somewhere between the realms of superheroes and comic books and asks what it means to bust through your prescribed roles into who you truly are.
King John
Directed by Rosa Joshi
Presented in association with upstart crow collective
August 17 - October 30 • Opening day: August 28
Angus Bowmer Theatre
"Mad world, mad kings, mad composition!" A corrupt monarch faces an unruly court and fights to hold onto the crown at all costs through political intrigue and warmongering. Under Joshi's muscular and visionary direction, King John features a cast of female and non-gender-binary performers - speaking directly to our current fractured political moment and bringing new meaning to Shakespeare's powerful play about power itself.
Confederates
Directed by Nataki Garrett
An American Revolutions Commission
West Coast Premiere
August 23 - October 30 • Opening day: August 27
Thomas Theatre
An enslaved woman turned Union spy and a brilliant professor in a modern-day private university are facing similar struggles, though they live over a century apart. This play by MacArthur genius award-winner Morisseau leaps through time to trace the identities of two brilliant Black women and explores the reins that racial and gender bias still hold on American systems today.
It's Christmas, Carol!
A play with lots of songs by Mark Bedard, Brent Hinkley, and John Tufts
Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh
November-December 2022
Angus Bowmer Theatre
On Christmas Eve, three ghosts take miserly businesswoman Carol Scroogenhouse through time and space to reckon with how she's abandoned humanity for hollow capitalism. Whisked to a Shakespearean theatre, a prehistoric holiday celebration, and a Zombie future, will Carol find her soul with the help of these apparitions? Featuring hilarious songs from the twisted minds of your favorite OSF clowns, Carol! promises to be a fun, uplifting, and music-filled romp.
The Cymbeline Project
Conceived by Nataki Garrett
Created by Scarlett Kim
O! Digital Stage
This rarely performed exploration of power and jealousy comes to life in a multi-episode digital production by award-winning immersive artist Scarlett Kim. Created with a collage-like visual approach, Kim's vision mines Shakespeare's text to explore the deceit and the violence of the play within today's aesthetic and political realities.
Films for the People
Two short films presented by
Black Lives, Black Words International Project
in association with Oregon Shakespeare Festival
O! Digital Stage
Black Lives Black Words International Project, led by Simeilia Hodge Dallaway and Reginald Edmund, partners with OSF to produce "Films for the People," featuring one-person short films by groundbreaking Black writers and creatives. Filmed in beloved Black-owned businesses in Houston and San Francisco/Bay Area, this unprecedented project connects Black arts and the communities they serve to celebrate the talent, resilience, and presence of Black artists, leaders and communities across America.
Quills Fest
An immersive digital festival at the intersection of live theatre and extended reality
November 2022
O! Digital Stage
QUILLS FEST 2022 is an immersive digital festival at the intersection of live theatre and extended reality. Quills is a first-of-its-kind convening of theatremakers, transmedia storytellers, and creative technologists. Connect with artists from all around the world exploring cutting-edge possibilities in storytelling and join a new generation of audiences.
For more information visit: https://www.osfashland.org/
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