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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Forum Photo Gallery Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games July 8, 2006 Philip, King of France (Richard Elmore), attempts to offer solace to Constance (Robynn Rodriguez), who grieves for her missing child in the OSF production of “King John.” Staff reports The little-seen William Shakespeare play “King John” will open at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 8, in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s New Theatre. It’s billed as a dark drama about political intrigue and corruption at the highest levels of government. John Sipes, who has been the movement and fight director for 91 productions at OSF and who has directed at numerous regional theaters, directs the production. This is OSF’s fifth “King John,” but its first in 21 years. Sipes has chosen a modern setting — World War I — for the play. “The political events in King John are really not that different from those in the modern world,” Sipes said. “‘King John’ portrays and examines doubts about the legitimacy of the king’s power, greed, deceit, abuse of power and more.” Yes, the king in question is that King John, the bad king behind the evil Sheriff in the Robin Hood story and the one who, in real life, was forced by barons to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. But Shakespeare, as usual, is more interested in good drama than good history. This King John struggles against the (accurate) perception that he is not the rightful King of England, and he also faces a couple of regulation issues for English kings: trouble with the French, and trouble with the Pope. The third son of a powerful father, John is a scheming, neurotic and paranoid character. This is particularly so when he is set beside Robert Faulconbridge, “the Bastard,” an illegitimate son of King Richard the Lion-Hearted, who cares more about his country than his own advantage. Designer William Bloodgood’s World War I setting is underscored by the use of archival video footage by lighting designer Alexander V. Nichols, costume design by Shigeru Yaji and music by Larry Delinger. “King John” stands apart from Shakespeare’s better-known history plays in at least two ways. It is set almost 200 years before any of the others, and it is not part of another series or tetralogy. But it has a familiar feeling both in terms of Shakespeare’s treatment of dark themes and in its resonances for a later era. “We can look at Shakespeare’s characters and situations and see reflections of our own time in the same way that Shakespeare used these historical events to draw parallels to the political situation in his time,” Sipes said. “King John is a dark and deeply troubling play to the very end. But embodied in several characters there is some brightness and hope that shines through the darkness.” The cast of 15 includes Michael Elich as King John, Jeanne Paulsen as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Shad Willingham as Robert Faulconbridge, Robynn Rodriguez as Constance, Richard Elmore as King Philip of France and Derrick Lee Weeden as Pandulph. Alan Armstrong is guest dramaturg on the production. Also contributing to the production are OSF voice and text director Scott Kaiser and sound designer Dennis M. Kambury. In addition to directing, Sipes served as the play’s fight director, assisted by the OSF’s U. Jonathan Toppo. When Sipes looks at the play, he sounds very much like a man who wants the piece to convey both the darkness that is very much a part of Shakespeare and a very real hope. “It is my deepest hope that our audience will be disturbed by the events of this play,” he said, “but I also hope that they can see the light and possibility in the right actions of individual men and women.” “King John” runs about two hours and 30 minutes. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.