The excitement was palpable as our group posed for a photo in front of the Allen Elizabethan Theatre, one of the only authentic outdoor theaters from Shakespeare’s time in the United States. After we filed in and checked our tickets, we grabbed Playbills and found our seats. The theater darkened, and the first act of Into the Woods began.
This past September, I was one of a group of 15 students on Nueva’s extracurricular theater trip to see the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. The Ashland trip is an annual trip led by drama teachers Zoe Swenson-Graham and Zach Isen, as well as counselor Aviva Jacobstein. It has been going on for a few years now, and this year it opened up to freshmen as well.
Climbing into Nueva’s vans on an early Thursday morning, we drove for over five hours north along Highway 5 in Nueva’s vans to get to the artsy town. Once we arrived, we filled our three days to the brim with live theater, good food, exploring the town, and socializing.
Ashland’s Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theater with a company of professional actors. Each season, there are around ten shows that run in all three of OSF’s theaters. This year, Nueva saw a diverse selection of four different shows: Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, and the West Coast debut of the Western Shane.
Although all of the performances were spectacular, my personal favorites were The Importance of Being Earnest and Into the Woods. In The Importance of Being Earnest, each actor had such a robust role in the show. In the first act, only four main characters graced the stage, but that didn’t take away from the show’s immense energy. The comedy’s several jokes were brought to life by grand gestures and superb physical choices by all of the actors. As an actor myself, I took away so many specific examples of things I can bring to my own work, such as incorporating physicality and being really big with specific acting choices. On the other hand, Into the Woods was a refreshing new take on the classic musical. With a minimalist set in the outdoor Allen Elizabethan Theatre, the music and the talented actors were the main highlights. Something that interested me the most was the humor in the otherwise somber show: although Into the Woods is full of tragedy, OSF’s interpretation brought several jokes here and there that provided a nice contrast between the humor and storyline.
Aside from live theater, we participated in an acting workshop with Amy Lizardo, a professional OSF actor. I loved learning about character status, warming up your body before a show, and later seeing Amy’s phenomenal performance as Phoebe in As You Like It. I also loved exploring the town of Ashland and checking out all of the cute boutique bakeries and thrift stores. As a freshman, this trip presented the unique opportunity to spend time with upperclassmen. Everyone on the trip was so engaged, welcoming, and kind. It provided me a unique opportunity to get to know people that I otherwise wouldn’t talk to, and set the tone for a great year. It was a great way to start the school year strong and get an introduction to the drama community at Nueva. I can’t wait to see how this trip will grow in the future.
