Ashland, Ore.--The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will host the second in a series of Chautauqua 150 events on Wednesday, August 12 from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in various community locations. The series of three Chautauqua events celebrates Oregon's Sesquicentennial and OSF's deepening commitment to scholarly and community interaction. The theme for the day is Oregon's history, with a special focus on Southern Oregon. The third event will be held October 24. Tickets are required for some events and available by calling the Box Office at 541-482-4331 or visiting 15 South Pioneer Street in the Garden Level of Carpenter Hall.
The main event on Wednesday is Oregon and Beyond, an open-air talk by Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. He will speak about the intersection and conflict of values and interests across state, national and international boundaries. The event will be held from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Lithia Park Bandshell. The event is non-ticketed and admission is free.
The schedule of events is:
From Chautauqua 1893 to Shakespeare Under the Stars
10:00-11:30 a.m., New Theatre, Ticketed Event, $5
OSF's Associate Producer, Stage Management Kimberley Jean Barry will give a historical talk about OSF's roots in the Chautauqua movement. Barry has been with the OSF company for 30 seasons and is a vast and entertaining treasure trove of OSF history.
Chautauqua Readings: Who We Are and Where We've Been
12:00-1:00 p.m., Carpenter Hall, Ticketed Event, $8
OSF actors and others will read passages of plays, poetry and prose, exploring Oregon's interaction with the world outside. Readers include OSF actors Michael J. Hume, Juan Rivera LeBron and Liisa Ivary.
Weaving our Way Then and Now: Indians in Southern Oregon
1:15-2:15 p.m., Carpenter Hall, Ticketed Event, Free
Southern Oregon Historical Society Tom Smith
Through an interactive presentation utilizing hands-on artifacts, participants learn how Southern Oregon's earliest inhabitants lived, worked, socialized and hunted. Social, familial and leadership structures are discussed, including personal responsibility for the survival of tribal bands, governance by consensus as well as the honor codes employed by the warrior societies.
Community Story Circles: Making and Remaking Oregon
2:30-3:30 p.m. Carpenter Hall, Ticketed Event, Free
3:30-4:30 p.m. Bill Patton Garden, Non-ticketed Event, Free
Led by Director of U.S History Cycle and playwright Alison Carey
For more than 20 years before coming to OSF, American Revolutions Director Alison Carey worked with Artistic Director Bill Rauch and Cornerstone Theater Company to make community-based theater in towns around the country. Learn about the art they made and how they did it, and contribute your stories about Oregon, Ashland and OSF to help create a short performance piece for the October 24 Chautauqua event.
Talk: The Oregon Encyclopedia
3:45-4:45 p.m. Carpenter Hall, Ticketed Event, Free
Editor-in-Chief William Lang will talk about the encyclopedia, a comprehensive and authoritative compendium of information about Oregon's history and culture. The encyclopedia has been developed through a partnership between Portland State University and the Oregon Historical Society.
Talk: Oregon and Beyond
6:00-7:00 p.m. Litha Park Bandshell, Non-ticketed Event, Free
Pulitzer Prize winner, New York Times columnist and Oregon native Nicholas Kristof will look at the intersection and conflict of values and interests across state, national and international boundaries.
Kristof's new book, co-written with Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, will be released in September, and Bloomsbury Books will be taking advance orders at Kristof's talk in the park, as well as provide book plates that he will sign. Plates can be attached to books when they are received in September.
Some advance praise for the book includes:
"I read Half the Sky in one sitting, staying up until 3 a.m. to do so. It is brilliant and inspirational, and I want to shout about it from the rooftops and mountains. It vividly illustrates how women have turned despair into prosperity and bravely nurtured hope to cultivate a bright future. The book ends with an especially compelling 'What you can do' to exhort us all to action."
-Greg Mortenson, author, Three Cups of Tea
"If you have always wondered whether you can change the world, read this book. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn have written a brilliant call to arms that describes one of the transcendent injustices in the world today--the brutal treatment of women. They take you to many countries, introduce you to extraordinary women, and tell you their moving tales. Throughout, the tone is practical not preachy and the book's suggestions as to how you can make a difference are simple, sensible, and yet powerful. The authors vividly describe a terrible reality about the world we live in but they also provide light and hope that we can, in fact, change it."
-Fareed Zakaria, author, The Post-American World
The Chautauqa 150 was developed in conversation with Oregon audiences, artists and historians and reflects OSF's institutional goal of engaging and challenging audiences. It provides a forum for cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural examination of three aspects of Oregon's past, present and future: the environment, interaction with the world beyond our borders, and Oregon communities (with the Rogue Valley as a focus.) While the Chautauqua 150 activities are complete unto themselves, they serve as a major public dialogue component of the larger United States History Cycle and a starting point for the creation of a piece of Oregon-themed theater as at least one of the Cycle's 37 plays.
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