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THEATER Celebrate OSF in 2016 Five Shakespeare plays, four world premieres and two musicals will take to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's stages Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Dec. 30, 2015 at 11:19 AM Posted Dec. 30, 2015 at 11:19 AM » Social News The musical "The Wiz," a new play called "Roe" by Lisa Loomer and Shakespeare's rarely staged "Timon of Athens" highlight the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2016 season. The season will include five Shakespeare plays, four premieres and two musicals, according to an OSF news release. Artistic Director Bill Rauch noted in the release that OSF will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death with at least one play from each genre — comedy, tragedy, history and romance. And with "Timon of Athens," OSF will have produced the entire 37-play canon four times. With its Canon in a Decade project, OSF plans to complete the canon a fifth time by 2024. As Rauch anticipates the five Shakespeare plays in 2016, he is particularly excited about "The Winter's Tale" in the Allen Elizabethan Theatre, he says, as seen through an Asian and Asian-American cultural lens. “At the same time, our commitment to new work remains a vital part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the 21st century. With world-premiere adaptations of Charles Dickens and Gilbert and Sullivan alongside a thrilling new American Revolutions drama and the premiere of a lyrical fable from a rising Latina playwright, we will continue to contribute to the American canon of new plays that will go on to be produced by theaters nationwide. Finally, our 2016 season includes an astonishingly fresh take on the Vietnam War from the perspective of Vietnamese refugees in the U.S., and a rare large-scale revival of the much-beloved musical 'The Wiz.' “The 2016 season reaffirms our identity as a language-based, classical theater even as it continues to expand the boundaries of the types of artistic adventures that we will offer our ever-curious and passionate audiences.” OSF also will host the fifth annual National Asian American Theater conference and Festival from Sept. 29 through Oct. 9. The conference will be presented by the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists, and 200 to 300 Asian-American and Pacific Island thespians will meet, share performance pieces and attend OSF productions. Rauch and Associate Artistic Director Christopher Acebo extend an invitation for everyone to join CAATA and OSF. In the Angus Bowmer Theatre: The season opens with Shakespeare’s "Twelfth Night," directed by Christopher Liam Moore. Among the most-produced plays at OSF — this will be the 17th production — "Twelfth Night," or "What You Will," also launched the festival’s inaugural year in 1935. Moore will be setting this delightful tale of disguise and mistaken identities in 1930s Hollywood, the perfect location for an Illyria where all order seems turned on its head. Running all season alongside "Twelfth Night" is a premiere adaptation of Charles Dickens’ "Great Expectations" by Penny Metropulos and Linda Alper. Alper, who will direct, and Metropulos have created a smart, funny and wonderfully true adaptation of Dickens’ story of the orphan Pip, who journeys from country boy to gentleman, learning difficult lessons about friendship, loyalty, generosity, forgiveness and love. Also opening at the top of the season will be the premiere of "The River Bride" by Marisela Treviño Orta. Laurie Woolery will direct. The play was developed within AlterTheater Ensemble’s inaugural playwright residency program in San Rafael, Calif. Inspired by a Brazilian folk tale, the play is set in a small village along the Amazon River. This lyrical story about two sisters is filled with atmosphere, mystery, love and regret. In April, "Roe" by Lisa Loomer premieres, directed by Rauch. This American Revolutions commission looks at the controversial 1973 Roe v. Wade case, and Loomer tells a riveting story of the compelling and fascinating individuals behind that legislative battle with humor, compassion and revelations. The final show to open in the Bowmer is Shakespeare’s "Timon of Athens." Amanda Dehnert will direct. This rarely staged tragedy might be called Shakespeare’s study of the idea that money can’t buy happiness. Timon is wealthy and generous, but his indiscriminate liberality and his unwillingness or inability to distinguish friend from flatterer becomes his undoing. From boom to bust, he falls out of favor, and alone he withdraws from humanity. In the Thomas Theatre: Look for a premiere adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s "The Yoemen of the Guard," directed by Sean Graney, artistic director of Chicago's The Hypocrites. This humorous, pun-laden satire involving a wrongfully incarcerated man and set outside a prison takes audiences into a richer emotional world than the duo's other comic operettas and is often cited as their attempt at Shakespearean character. Graney will adapt this piece for contemporary audiences with re-imagined orchestrations inspired by classic country and western music. Opening in March is a new play, "Vietgone" by Qui Nguyen. This fresh, youthful and humorous play looks at the war from a Vietnamese perspective and is based on the true story of the playwright’s parents’ exodus from Vietnam in 1975 and their subsequent meeting and romance in an Arkansas refugee camp. May Adrales will direct. In July, "Richard II" will open in the Thomas Theatre, directed by Rauch. This Shakespearean masterpiece of medieval intrigue is the first play in a series of four that chronicle the rise of the house of Lancaster. Richard II is wasteful in his spending, unwise in his choice of counselors, surrounded by ambitious men and distant from his countrymen. When his allies defect, Richard loses his crown and is imprisoned, and in contemplating his downfall, he discovers something more important than any kingdom. In the Allen Elizabethan Theatre: Shakespeare's "Hamlet" will open the outdoor theater in June, directed by Lisa Peterson. This disturbing and psychologically rich masterpiece digs into the enigma of a man’s mind. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, has been charged by the ghost of his dead father to avenge his death, and Hamlet, fixated on his uncle as murderer, strains under the weight of his task. It’s not all tragedy in the Allen Elizabethan Theatre. The 1974 super-soul musical "The Wiz," with book by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, from the story “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum, will run through mid-October. Shakespeare’s "The Winter's Tale," directed by Desdemona Chiang, will be the third to open in the outdoor theater. Shakespeare’s romance about reunion and forgiveness will be looked at through an Asian and Asian-American cultural lens and set in Dynastic China and the American Old West. The 2016 season will begin previews Feb. 19 and open the weekend of Feb. 26. The Allen Elizabethan Theatre will open the weekend of June 17-19. The season will run through Oct. 30. Find performance dates and tickets online at osfashland.org or by calling the box office at 800-219-8161. 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