Well here we are back at OSF for the closing weekend, and we attended the last performance of the season of the production "The African Company Presents Richard III." As we entered the theater, the ticket taker was telling people that there would be a short delay due to an electrical problem. After a delay of some minutes, the doors opened, the audience filed in, and we sat in anticipation of another fine OSF production. An OSF staff member came out on stage to announce that there was a problem with the sound system, and they were trying to reboot it; however, in true theatrical tradition, the show would go on. And it did, without what we imagine are the various sound effects for the production.
The show was wonderful. The acting, directing, costuming, sets and props and lighting were highest quality - this is, after all, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival! The original music and sound design by Todd Barton was, well... we'll never know.
We hope that OSF doesn't banish us or bar us from ever entering the Bowmer again. I don't think we could bear that. After all, despite what some people and politicians think, art is not a luxury, it is the true essence of being human. Thank you OSF for keeping us alive.
And, um, we're sorry.
- posted from the fisheyepad
Location:4th St,Ashland,United States
Please let me know when you are planning to attend next year so I can schedule my own trips.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you still enjoyed it! I'm sure things go wrong, but it's usually minor from the audience's point of view.
ReplyDeleteI saw the African Company Presents Richard III and though I'm a Todd Barton fan, I don't especially remember music or sound effects in that production. Of course they do it all so seamlessly that (since I only saw this one once) I was probably concentrating on the story and not noticing the sound effects. It would have been worse to have missed the sound effects in some of the other plays, anyway.