The Shakespeare romance about jealously, exile, repentance, consequences — and, yes, bucolic romance — opens Feb. 24 at the Angus Bowmer Theatre in Ashland, OR. Between Feb. 24-26, four works will open at OSF, followed by openings later in the year.
OSF's 2006 season runs Feb. 17-Oct. 29 and offers 776 performances of 11 productions.
The recent Broadway revision of The Diary of Anne Frank opens at the Bowmer 1:30 PM Feb. 25. James Edmondson directs.
At 8 PM Feb. 25, Oscar Wilde's comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest opens. Peter Amster directs.
Bridget Carpenter's family drama UP, about dreamers and dreams unfulfilled (it's about man who once flew in a lawn chair with the aid of weather balloons and how his family struggles as he pursues still more dreams), opens Feb. 26 in the New Theatre, directed by Michael Barakiva. OSF's three stages — the outdoor Elizabethan Stage, the Angus Bowmer Theatre and the intimate New Theatre — will see the opening of seven more plays in 2006, including three additional Shakespeare productions: The Merry Wives of Windsor directed by Andrew Tsao (opening June 16 on the Elizabethan Stage); The Two Gentlemen of Verona directed by Bill Rauch (opening June 18 on the Elizabethan Stage); and the rarely performed history play King John directed by John Sipes (opening July 8 in the New Theatre).
The 2006 season also offers the return of Edmond Rostand's classic swashbuckling tale of love and mistaken identity, Cyrano de Bergerac. Last seen at OSF in 1989, the 2006 production will feature returning Festival favorite Marco Barricelli in the title role, opening June 17 on the Elizabethan Stage, directed by Laird Williamson.
The Angus Bowmer Theatre will see Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel, directed by Timothy Bond, opening April 22; and (starting July 29) David Edgar's stage version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by Penny Metropulos. James Newcomb (last season's Richard III) will play both Jekyll and Hyde.
The New Theatre will host William Inge's Bus Stop opening April 1 under Libby Appel's direction.
For more information, visit www.osfashland.org.
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OSF veteran William Langan, last seen as Sigmund Freud in Oedipus Complex and the Duke of York in Henry VI, Parts Two and Three, plays Leontes, King of Sicilia in The Winter's Tale. The cast of 21 also includes Miriam A. Laube as Hermione, queen to Leontes; Rex Young as Polixenes, King of Bohemia; Alexander Barnes as Mamillius, son to Leontes and Hermione; Greta Oglesby as Paulina; Jeffrey King as Camillo; Mark Murphey as Antigonus; Christopher DuVal as Autolycus; Josiah Phillips as Old Shepherd; Nell Geisslinger as Perdita; and Juan Rivera LeBron as Florizel.
Other cast members are Tyrone Wilson, Mark Peterson, Geoffrey Blaisdell, Eileen DeSandre, Rafael Untalan, and newcomers Kjerstine Anderson, Michelle Beck, Richard Baird, John J. O’Hagan and Adam Yazbeck.
Costumes are designed by OSF resident costume designer Deborah M. Dryden. Scenic design is by Rachel Hauck. Lighting is by OSF resident lighting designer Robert Peterson and music is by OSF composer and music director Todd Barton.
