Original Practice
Shakespeare Festival
For Immediate Release 5/13/2009
For more information, contact: Brian Allard, Artistic Director – opsfest@gmail.com
NEWS RELEASE
Introducing the Original Practice Shakespeare Festival!
Original Practice Shakespeare Festival (Ops Fest) is dedicated to bringing a new style of Shakespearean performance to the Portland area by reviving the old. When Shakespeare originally penned and performed his plays, theatrical practices were very different than modern audiences are accustomed to. To quote our sister theater in Denver, CO, No Holds Bard:
We know that, in Shakespeare's day, plays were not performed for weeks at a time. Shakespeare’s actors performed ten to twelve different plays in any fortnight, and never performed the same play on two consecutive days. If a play was a hit it might return three times within a month; but meanwhile, to fill the theater, there had to be a different play in there every day. A modern company might produce five or eight plays in a season; Shakespeare's actors exceeded that by a factor of ten or twenty. When in the world could they have rehearsed all these plays?
The answer, we think, is that they did not. They prepared their "roles" (rolled cue scripts) on their own time, met together on the morning of a show, choreographed fights and music and dance, and performed that afternoon. By all accounts, the performances were magnificent— otherwise, the plays would not have survived.
First Folio editions of Shakespeare’s plays include all the cues an actor needs to perform his or her role without rehearsal. This allows the truest reaction to the story as it progresses. Artistic Director, Brian Allard, has acted with a similar production company on the east coast for several years before deciding to bring the concept to his home area. “We don’t have anything like this in the Portland area and I think people here will really enjoy the opportunity to see familiar shows in a new way,” he stated.
Ops Fest wants to bring this method, which is already being enjoyed by audiences around the country, to Portland for a remarkably new, and old, experience. With eight shows already confirmed in various locations through June and July, it promises to be an adventure that shouldn’t be missed.
The Original Practice Shakespeare Festival Because Shakespeare should be a little dangerous.
Further information and show dates can be found on the Ops Fest website at http://www.opsfest.blogspot.com/ .
Shakespeare Festival
For Immediate Release 5/13/2009
For more information, contact: Brian Allard, Artistic Director – opsfest@gmail.com
NEWS RELEASE
Introducing the Original Practice Shakespeare Festival!
Original Practice Shakespeare Festival (Ops Fest) is dedicated to bringing a new style of Shakespearean performance to the Portland area by reviving the old. When Shakespeare originally penned and performed his plays, theatrical practices were very different than modern audiences are accustomed to. To quote our sister theater in Denver, CO, No Holds Bard:
We know that, in Shakespeare's day, plays were not performed for weeks at a time. Shakespeare’s actors performed ten to twelve different plays in any fortnight, and never performed the same play on two consecutive days. If a play was a hit it might return three times within a month; but meanwhile, to fill the theater, there had to be a different play in there every day. A modern company might produce five or eight plays in a season; Shakespeare's actors exceeded that by a factor of ten or twenty. When in the world could they have rehearsed all these plays?
The answer, we think, is that they did not. They prepared their "roles" (rolled cue scripts) on their own time, met together on the morning of a show, choreographed fights and music and dance, and performed that afternoon. By all accounts, the performances were magnificent— otherwise, the plays would not have survived.
First Folio editions of Shakespeare’s plays include all the cues an actor needs to perform his or her role without rehearsal. This allows the truest reaction to the story as it progresses. Artistic Director, Brian Allard, has acted with a similar production company on the east coast for several years before deciding to bring the concept to his home area. “We don’t have anything like this in the Portland area and I think people here will really enjoy the opportunity to see familiar shows in a new way,” he stated.
Ops Fest wants to bring this method, which is already being enjoyed by audiences around the country, to Portland for a remarkably new, and old, experience. With eight shows already confirmed in various locations through June and July, it promises to be an adventure that shouldn’t be missed.
The Original Practice Shakespeare Festival Because Shakespeare should be a little dangerous.
Further information and show dates can be found on the Ops Fest website at http://www.opsfest.blogspot.com/ .