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QUILLS & QUEUES Quills & Queues: Oregon Shakespeare Festival artistic director talks about the director's role Rauch also discusses impact of successful American Revolutions series on OSF Comment By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Apr. 28, 2016 at 2:26 PM By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Apr. 28, 2016 at 2:26 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Quills & Queues: 'Methodical Affliction' deals with physical, emotional abuse... • An awful war, but a wonderful play • 'Red' turns artist's mind insight out • Translating Shakespeare into modern English » Social News With the world premiere of Lisa Loomer's "Roe" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, I took some time to talk with Artistic Director Bill Rauch about the play, as well as its place within the American Revolutions series — a procession of plays, commissioned by the Festival, that are continuing to garner a great deal of attention at a national level. JG: Bill, as a director, how do you evolve your approach to a topic as historically divisive as Roe v. Wade? BR: As a director, I'm an interpretive artist. It is my job to interpret Lisa Loomer's vision. From the very first draft, Lisa wanted all characters in her play to be treated with dignity and compassion. So I felt it was my job to take all the characters seriously, and to give them the best shot possible to have their own integrity and truth. Because Lisa's play has some surprising twists and turns, historically grounded truths that I was not familiar with before reading the play, I wanted to also make sure that those twists are well-articulated in the production. JG : You originated "All The Way" at OSF, and directed it on Broadway, where the play won a Tony. Has the publicity from that production created any special opportunities for OSF, or for the American Revolutions series, of which "Roe" is a part? BR: There is no doubt that our plays going on to longer lives away from Ashland has helped put OSF more at the center of the new play development discourse in our country. Almost every new play we've done has moved on to other theaters, some of them to multiple venues. "All The Way" is certainly one of the most visible with its commercial life and its upcoming HBO film, but it is part of a larger pattern of the American theatre being hungry for the stories we're commissioning and the productions we're doing of these new plays. It has been one of the most gratifying developments of my tenure as artistic director. These additional productions certainly create more energy around what we're doing in Ashland, as critics and out-of-state audiences and producers and decision-makers are all eager to see what is coming out of our theater. This spring, both "Sweat" and "All The Way" will have played back-to-back at Arena Stage in our nation's capital. This fall, we will have two American Revolutions-commissioned plays ("Party People" and "Sweat") both being produced at New York's Public Theater at the same time. That is kind of remarkable. JG: Can you speak a little about how the AR series and "Roe" fits into your vision for the Festival as a whole? Specifically, how does it expand and diversify the Festival? BR: Shakespeare's history plays were a profound artistic expression of national identity. In many ways, Shakespeare's versions have become English history. The playwright addressed the anxieties of his age — who would replace the childless monarch Elizabeth? — by dramatizing the disastrous transfers of power in his nation's past. In the same way, we are trying to address the anxieties and hopes and fears of our own time and place by dramatizing moments of change in our nation's past. And we are lucky to have the same fundamental resources that Shakespeare had: a resident company of actors who work together in rotating repertory for a broad and supportive audience. American Revolutions is a wonderful expression of what is special about OSF. By commissioning 37 different plays all rooted in the same theme (moments of change in U.S. history), we are able to hear from a variety of voices that are racially, generationally and aesthetically diverse. ... (I)n other words, we are able to create a mosaic that truly reflects the energy of our dynamic and contradiction-filled society. JG: How do you and Lisa Loomer work together as playwright/director? Can you speak a little about your creative process as a director when you are collaborating with a playwright on a new production at OSF? BR: Lisa is remarkably open. She was inundated with opinions, given the topic of the play — everyone wanted her to write the play about abortion that they themselves wanted to see, and she did a remarkable job of taking it all in — trying to incorporate multiple viewpoints — but also staying true to her own vision and heart. When I direct a world premiere, I certainly have strong opinions, but I feel it is my responsibility to help the writer see his or her vision onstage. If I don't agree with a choice, I'll argue for my point of view, but in the end, I will do what the writer wants — I feel that is absolutely my job when I am privileged to bring the first production of a new play to life. Ashland resident Jeffrey Gillespie is a Daily Tidings columnist, arts reviewer and freelance writer. Email him at gillespie.jeffrey @gmail.com. By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Jeffrey Gillespie For the Tidings Posted Apr. 28, 2016 at 2:26 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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