Oregon Shakespeare Festival to Launch THEATRE ON FILM, Featuring Film Versions of 2022 Repertory Productions

OSF has announced Theatre on Film, a new series of online watch parties featuring cinematic film versions of select 2022 repertory season productions, hosted live by directors, playwrights, actors, and community members on an interactive digital platform.

The initiative launches with two live watch parties for unseen, playwright Mona Mansour's riveting portrait of a conflict photographer facing colliding personal and political crises. The first will take place this Saturday, July 23, hosted by MENA Theatre Makers Alliance, followed by a second watch party on Friday, July 29, hosted by Mona Mansour and director Evren Odcikin, who will be joined by The Acting Company-Nora el Samahy, Helen Sadler, and Caroline Shaffer-in the Q&A. Theatre on Film watch parties continue in October with The Tempest, Revenge Song, and King John.

Since the 2019 start of her tenure, OSF Artistic Director Nataki Garrett has made it a central priority for OSF to lead the field in expanding the definition of live theatre and radically broadening access to its transformational power. Launched by Garrett before the start of the pandemic as a core part of her multimodal, intersectional vision, the O! Digital Stage is OSF's fourth official programmatic venue, drawing in audience members from over 50 countries. Theatre on Film, presented on the O! Digital Stage, is the latest step in OSF's adventurous and strategic expansion into digital and immersive storytelling, overseen by Scarlett Kim, the organization's Director of Innovation & Strategy. Kim is one of three Associate Artistic Directors (alongside Evren Odcikin, Director of Artistic Programming, and Mei Ann Teo, Director of New Work) that Garrett has charged with mobilizing her vision at OSF.

Nataki Garrett said, "Our new Theatre on Film initiative is another way to open doors to OSF for new generations of artists and audiences. This intrepid exploration of theatre through the film medium is an embodiment of OSF as a thriving artistic home for the future of storytelling and an invitation for new audiences and old fans to reconnect with OSF's artistry. The collaboration between our Powerhouse Theatre and film artists marks OSF's ongoing innovation at the intersection of these two industries."

For decades, OSF has been one of the foremost theatre destinations, attracting audiences from around the world to the company's stages in picturesque Ashland, Oregon. Theatre on Film invites lovers of theatre, film, and storytelling everywhere into an extraordinary cinematic experience of OSF's 2022 season productions. The initiative also offers a special opportunity for audiences who have already seen the productions in-person to engage the stories in a new way-through a cinematic lens-and to share their experiences with friends and family.

Theatre on Film watch parties creates a unique shared experience of theatrical storytelling through playful interactive modules, in addition to stunning cinematography. Audiences can connect with the artists and fellow audience members in a live chatroom and respond to the story in real-time with fun custom emojis. The watch party platform, custom-created in partnership with Stellar, features portals to special behind-the-scenes content. For unseen, this includes unseen: Interactive Photo Exhibition, a digital project featuring photographs from documentary photographer Nichole Sobecki, whose artistry inspired the character of Mia in unseen. unseen: Interactive Photo Exhibition, a collaboration between OSF's Innovation & Strategy and Artistic Programming departments, was created by creative technologist Althea Solis, and invites audiences to contribute reflections that become visualized as a collective mural, accessible via the physical installation in the Thomas Theatre lobby and on the O! Digital Stage.

Scarlett Kim said, "Our new Theatre on Film initiative celebrates boundless imagination of theatre artists as they explore the film medium. Evren Odcikin's poignant and incisive theatrical direction for the in-person production of unseen takes on a new vitality in his powerful filmic vision. Whether you're tuning in with your family in your living room or on your phone at the park, I am excited to share this special experience with friends old and new across the world."

About the unseen Film and Watch Parties

The film of unseen that launches the series was directed by Evren Odcikin, who also directed the live production, and was produced in collaboration with a film team led by Director of Photography Tyler Maddox and Film Producing Partner Courtney Williams-two filmmakers who also led the teams for OSF's two award-winning films directed by past O! Resident Artist Shariffa Ali: You Go Girl! (2022 Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee) and Ash Land (Pan African Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival). The outcome of this intimate collaboration between the theatre artists of unseen and the film crew is a hybrid work that is deeply grounded in theatrical storytelling. The film versatilely flows between a multitude of frameworks, ranging from striking wide shots of the live play to breathtaking cinematic close-ups that reveal points of view beyond what is accessible in the in-person experience. The multidisciplinary approach expands the definitions of theatre and film and amplifies the play's themes of spectatorship and complicity.

Evren Odcikin said, "As a theater director, it's meaningful to have the opportunity to re-interpret my work in this cinematic version that reaches audiences beyond Ashland. I am thankful for the partnership of the amazing film creative team, as well as the leadership of OSF's formidable Innovation & Strategy department. It is deeply moving as an artist to have this opportunity to grow, learn, and think globally. To me, this is what OSF is all about!"

Tickets for Theatre on Film

Tickets for the Theatre on Film watch parties are $35, in alignment with OSF's new ticketing model centered around lowering cost to increase access. All-Access Theatre on Film Passes are available for $90 for the October events, including The Tempest, Revenge Song, and King John. Discounts are available for students, and for groups of 15+.

Tickets for the unseen events are on sale now. The Tempest, Revenge Song, and King John will go on sale at a later date.

2022 Theatre on Film Programming

unseen

Saturday, July 23, at 5pm PT / 8pm ET
Friday, July 29, at 5pm PT / 8pm ET

Mona Mansour's riveting portrait of a conflict photographer facing colliding personal and political crises, directed by OSF Associate Artistic Director/ Director of Artistic Programming Evren Odcikin with cinematography by Tyler Maddox.

For more information about the production, please visit the unseen show page.

The Tempest

Sunday, October 2, at 12pm PT / 3pm ET
Saturday, October 8, at 8pm PT / 11pm ET

Shakespeare's timely classic, in an Imaginative production directed by Nicholas C. Avila and cinematography by Tyler Maddox.

For more information about the production, please visit the show page for The Tempest.

Revenge Song: A Vampire Cowboys Creation

Sunday, October 2, at 5pm PT / 8pm ET
Sunday, October 9, at 1:30pm PT / 4:30pm ET

Playwright Qui Nguyen returns to OSF with this musical story about transgressive 17th-century opera singer Julie d'Aubigny, directed by Nguyen's Vampire Cowboys partner Robert Ross Parker

For more information about the production, please visit the Revenge Song show page.

King John

Saturday, October 22, at 2pm PT / 5pm ET
Wednesday, October 26, at 8pm / 11pm ET

A fresh take on Shakespeare's rarely staged play by visionary director Rosa Joshi featuring a cast of female and non-gender-binary performers; presented in association with upstart crow collective.

For more information about the production, please visit the King John show page.

About OSF

Led by Artistic Director Nataki Garrett and Executive Director David Schmitz, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) expands access to the transformational power of art and art-making. A global entity and an ever-evolving container for the future that responds to changing tides, the organization is committed to co-liberation through radically inclusive, accessible, and collaborative practices. OSF centers and nurtures artists and multimodal, multidisciplinary work.

OSF was founded in 1935 and has grown from a three-day festival of two plays to a nationally renowned theatre arts organization that presents a rotating repertory season of up to 8 plays and musicals, including both classics and new work. OSF productions have been presented on Broadway, internationally, and at regional, community, and high school theatres across the country. In 2020, the organization launched O!, its new digital stage featuring performances of groundbreaking art and mind-expanding discussions that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. O! attracts more than 10,000 views per month from audience members in over 50 countries.

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