Prologue / Summer 2017
In this occasional column, we share with you some of the praise we get from members, patrons, students and teachers about the plays and the experience of seeing shows at OSF. These are taken from internal sources, letters, emails and social media posts.
By Julie Cortez
Multimedia Communications Manager
As we approached the end of the powerful run of Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (it closed July 6 and moves to Portland Center Stage this fall), we asked audience members on social media to share their thoughts on the play. There were too many responses to share them all here—though there are a few on
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter we particularly hope you’ll take a look at. But we love how this one from Katherine Shelton speaks to the power of new plays and the value of staging works by contemporary playwrights alongside Shakespeare and other classics:
And this talks about the play’s emotional impact:
This is from Artistic Director Bill Rauch and Executive Director Cynthia Rider’s weekly Company letter:
“We all have many friends and colleagues coming through town with the advent of summer, but we were especially moved by a little note that [Resident Playwright] Luis Alfaro received from Father Greg Boyle, the Jesuit priest and founder of
Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world: ‘So there I was . . . heading to spend the day at Pelican Bay prison . . . and they had a major riot . . . and wouldn’t let anyone in
. . . so I detoured my way to Ashland and saw Mojada. Cried like a baby as I walked back to my hotel. Great performances. Simply wonderful work. Bravo, Luis.’ ”
If you don’t know anything about Father Greg’s work, we recommend the inspiration you will get from checking out his website: http://www.homeboyindustries.org/fatherg/
“I was really bowled over as I took my 15-year-old who uses a wheelchair and has epilepsy and Cerebral Palsy to see Beauty and the Beast—her first time seeing a play. I was on the verge of tears over how helpful all your staff were,
from your folks at the Box Office to the ushers at the play itself—just really amazing.”—Beowulf Rochlen, in an email.