By Pat Amacher
The Entertainer | Posted: Friday, July 20, 2007 12:00 am
With 'Much Ado About Nothing,' OSU's Memorial Union Quad once again serves as a staging ground for Scott Palmer's creative assault on classicism
A small-town park in 1945, gaily festooned with American flags, gazebos, and greenery, comes alive with girls in summer dresses who are whirled and tossed to the lively rhythm of a big-band swing number by men in uniform.
And as the music winds down, a young couple steps away from the dancers for a bit of sparkling repartee.
In iambic pentameter.
Looking more like a scene from a classic Frank Capra film, this summer's "Bard on the Quad," set to open Wednesday, July 25, presents Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" in an entirely unexpected new light.
Last summer, Scott Palmer astonished audiences with his iconoclastic adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet," toppling Oregon State University Theatre ticket-sales records and cementing the foundation for an annual outdoor event. This summer the veteran Shakespearean director has again worked his wiles on the script, but stages an adaptation set in post-World War II America that relies more on commemorating icons than on smashing them.
Palmer's adaptation intrepidly re-envisions the largely comedic play, which centers on the ultimately triumphant romantic travails of two couples whose male counterparts are lately returned from battle, casting a clear eye instead on the feminine perspective on war and on the women who capably stepped into the home front's formerly all-male workplace during WWII.
Incorporating verse from several of Shakespeare's history plays, a key speech from his "Coriolanus," original WWII correspondence, and poetry both from the era and his own pen, Palmer not only alters the work's setting, and shortens it considerably, but further corrects what he sees as a bewildering mix of dramatic elements inherent in the plot.
Essentially, Palmer feels, the play's happy ending happens too abruptly.
"It swings from comedy to tragedy," he explains, "but there's not enough momentum to recover from the tragic side."
"I tried to strip away material that confuses the swing."
The new era for "Much Ado" furnishes a chance for Palmer and his crew to ramp up the visual effects, resulting in a set design of almost cinematic proportions erected throughout the Memorial Union quad.
Playgoers will lounge on the grass before a panorama that incorporates a military cemetery, scores of American flags, a military munitions factory complete with vintage aircraft parts, gazebos, trees, a recruiting station, and period posters, including some with the famous image of Rosie the Riveter.
The play's principal males will drive into the midst of this recreated small town in military Jeeps as the play opens upon the war's joyful end. As the women cast off their overalls and nurse uniforms to welcome their men, the often-hilarious celebration, along with romantic entanglements and mistaken identities, plays out among a cast of more than 50 actors and dancers.
The resulting visual extravaganza isn't the whole story, however, as Palmer energetically explains.
"We're the only four-year institution in the state that does outdoor summer Shakespeare," he says. "We can't just do it because we sell a lot of tickets.
"This whole process is about training people and getting them prepared for a career in the arts."
To that end, Palmer cast two professional actors in the roles of the feuding lovers Benedick and Beatrice: Sean Boyd and Maggie Chapin, who have worked together for six years, since their days as students in a Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Nevada.
Over the course of rehearsals this summer, Boyd and Chapin have each led acting workshops for the rest of the cast, which is composed of experienced community theater actors, University Theatre students and several teens who have long been active in theater. In addition the pair, who Palmer describes as "incredibly generous actors," has readily initiated one-on-one tutorials on methods and technique to all interested cast members.
This collaborative mix has refined a cast that Palmer says is well ahead of its game as opening night looms, evincing an unusually high level of commitment to the production.
"Not only have they wanted to impress me," he says. "They want to impress Maggie and Sean."
The cast's hard work has reaped big rewards, according to Chapin and Boyd.
"The student actors have made huge progress," Chapin says, noting that the difficulties of performing outdoors have been a major focus in rehearsal and workshops.
The pair also heartily approve of Palmer's directorial bent.
"He truly walks the walk of collaboration, encourages us to find our own great ideas, and gives us permission to fail," Boyd explains.
"This play is created by the whole cast," Chapin adds.
As for the adaptation, both actors approve of Palmer's "improvements" to "a flawed script."
"People might say it's irreverent to make changes, but it has to be a living thing, or it just becomes a pageant," Chapin maintains.
Watching the sparks fly between them as Beatrice and Benedick, it's clear that this season's "Bard on the Quad" will once again set the campus afire with innovative direction, visual amplitude and delightful performances.
Along with the rare and precious opportunity to take a picnic to a play.
CHECK IT OUT
OSU University Theatre's "Bard in the Quad" production of "Much Ado About Nothing" opens at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25, and runs evenings through July 29 and Aug. 1-5. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $7 for seniors and $5 for students and are available online at www.bardinthequad.com. Purchases can also be made at the Memorial Union business office or through Corvallis Tourism at 757-1544. For information call the OSU box office at 737-2784. The play features a cast of more than 50 performers, and dance numbers choreographed by Cathy Dark from OSU's dance troupe, Cool Shoes. Visit www.bardinthequad.com for background on the production and cast biographies.
Knowing is half the Battle: Bard Lecture Series
As part of Oregon State University's "Bard in the Quad" production of "Much Ado About Nothing," the University Theatre is presenting a series of free public lectures on various aspects of the play. All lectures in the series will begin at 5 p.m. in the Milam Auditorium. The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, July 25: Bill Rauch, artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, with the keynote address, "As Boundless As The Sea: Shakespeare's Influence."
Friday, July 27: OSU history professor Marisa Chapell with "From Rosie the Riveter to the Feminine Mystique: Womanhood in the Post WW-II Era."
Saturday, July 28: Scott Palmer, the play's director, with "Adapting Shakespeare: Who Do You Think You Are?"
Wednesday, Aug. 1: OSU history professor Bob Nye, with "Masculinities in War and Peace."
Thursday, Aug. 2: Dr. Janet Lee, OSU's women studies program, with "War Girls: The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) in the First World War."
Friday, Aug. 3: Dr. Marion Rossi, associate professor in theatre arts, with "Constant as the Northern Star: Shakespeare, Theatre and the Arts at OSU."
Saturday Aug. 4: Lt. Col. Russell Barney, USAF (retired), with "Oregon's Aviation History: A Pilot's Story."
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