In a second column, he added that he thought programming diverse, contemporary plays didn't make sense, because the majority of Ashland is so white. Rothschild said in a column this summer that he admired OSF's diversity efforts, but thought the drop in the number of Shakespeare plays it produced showed that the theater no longer trusted Shakespeare to draw audiences. But some of the criticism has gone much farther and Garrett has received death threats. Michael Sullivan for NPR People who love OSF but don't love the new mission have posted on Facebook and participated in letter-writing campaigns. "If so, I think they're going to drive it into the ground." instead of building on their strengths, really turning their back on its strengths," said Herbert Rothschild, a longtime OSF subscriber and local columnist, told NPR.
"My concern is that they have decided to essentially remake the OSF into something it wasn't. That's partly why she's focused on putting on stage both new works and new approaches to older works - because attracting and reflecting younger and more diverse audiences is fundamental to the entire ecosystem's survival. But then she realized "that the task is actually greater than can getting through a pandemic. "I thought the pandemic was the hard work for maybe about 15 minutes into the pandemic," Garrett said. She said those days trying to save a legacy institution from total collapse were terrifying and clarifying. Donors and audiences disappeared, so she campaigned to raise $19 million through federal, regional and foundation funding. Michael Sullivan for NPR Garrett is focused on putting on stage both new works and new approaches to older works, because attracting and reflecting younger and more diverse audiences is fundamental to the entire ecosystem's survival.īut the cessation of theater in March 2020 and an indeterminate return date meant she had to focus on the theater's survival. When OSF hired her in 2019, she became one of the first Black women to lead such a large, legacy performing arts institution. Garrett has for several years been a leading voice for change, inclusion and equity in American theater. unfair labor laws for migrants who have come to live there and an active KKK presence well into the 20th if not the 21st century," he said.īut over time, the theater has transformed what was once a small, rural town into an international tourist and arts destination, filled with cafes and shops, and bringing people in from all over. "It's a state founded with a racial exclusion clause in its constitution. Portland State University Professor Daniel Pollack-Pelzner pointed out that Oregon has a bleak history of racism.
It's sort of the bread basket of the industry," Garrett said.Īshland, Ore., home of the festival, is itself about 91% white, according to the 2020 census. "The American theater has relied for decades on that one demographic of people. But like many regional, non-profit American theaters around the country, this theater has been faced with a mostly white subscriber and donor base - which is aging. That kind of sentiment is good news for OSF, because changing demographics mean that theaters must work to expand their audiences to survive. Oregon Shakespeare Festival Bianca Jones (left) and Erica Sullivan perform in Confederates at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore. "What I saw instead was a theater company on wings." He's been coming to the theater in Ashland, Ore., for almost 30 years. "I guess I was expecting a theater company on crutches," Shakespeare scholar Daniel Pollack-Pelzner told NPR. It is a story about the way American history haunts the lives of Black women, showing the parallels between two women who live a century apart one in a slave cabin during the Civil War and one on a contemporary college campus. The season also includes a new play by MacArthur Prize-winning playwright Dominique Morisseau called "Confederates," commissioned by OSF in collaboration with St.
"Recovery season," as Garrett calls it, includes Shakespeare stalwarts like "The Tempest," but with a diverse cast, and "King John," which in this production is an all-female and nonbinary cast performing a story about male power in imperial Europe.
ASHLAND SHAKESPEER FULL
And most importantly, new artistic director Nataki Garrett has programmed her first full season. Throughout this season, several performances on those stages have been canceled due to smoke from Oregon's wildfires and COVID-19 outbreaks. Like most theaters across the country, the audience is diminished less than 50% have returned to OSF's reopened stages. The audience now wears masks even during outdoor performances, and vaccinations are required. Founded in 1935, it is one of the oldest and largest non-profit theaters in the country.īut things aren't the same as they were during the pre-pandemic 2019 season. After two years of pandemic closures, audiences are back at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
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