Study the Bard on Stage at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Oregon Shakespeare Trip 2009
Updated 11-29-08
Sponsor: Northeastern State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Dept. of Languages and Literature

Date: Saturday, May 30, through Saturday, June 6, 2009 (last week of Summer Intersession 2009)

Place: The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, surrounded by the spectacular beauty of the Cascade Mountains, is the premier Shakespearean repertory company in the United States.

Purpose: Experience classic and contemporary plays in exciting stage productions by professional actors.
Earn 3 hours undergraduate credit in English, Theatre, or Humanities, or 3 hours graduate credit in English (course may be taken up to 3 times over 3 years)

Plays you will see:
• Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a tragedy of ambition, blood, and guilt in medieval Scotland
• Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, a beloved romantic comedy
• Shakespeare’s Henry VIII, a history play about the Tudor dynasty and the birth of Queen Elizabeth I
• Bill Cain’s Equivocation, a new play about Shakespeare and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, chosen for this season as a companion piece to Macbeth
• Cervantes’ Don Quixote, in a world premiere adaptation of the classic novel
• Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman, a Nobel Prize-winning playwright’s tragedy of the clash of British colonialism with African tradition
• Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man or Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone

Instructional activities in Ashland:
• Participate in discussions with your peers before and after you see each play.
• Take a backstage tour of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s three beautiful theatres.
• Hear two pre-performance talks by members of the Festival company.
• Participate in two question-and-answer sessions with Festival actors.

Cost of trip: Trip cost of $1150 per person includes
- Round-trip airfare between Tulsa and Medford, Oregon (deduct $528 from trip cost if you wish to arrange your own transportation to Oregon)
- Ground transportation by van in Oregon (deduct $75 from trip cost if you wish to rent a car and provide all your own ground transportation in Oregon)
- Dormitory housing at Southern Oregon University (7 nights, double occupancy; add $140 to trip cost for single occupancy; add $175 to trip cost for double occupancy with private bath; add $448 to trip cost for single occupancy with private bath)
- Breakfast each morning at Southern Oregon University (lunch and dinner on your own)
- Tickets to all 7 plays, backstage tour, and educational programs led by company members

Payments (payable to Business Office cashier after you submit Study Away Form to group leader):
$150 deposit due NOW to reserve a place for you (refundable if you cancel by March 24, 2009)
$450 due by March 24, 2009 (nonrefundable unless another student takes your place)
$550 balance due by April 24, 2009 (nonrefundable)

Tuition: Unless you have special permission from group leader, you are expected to enroll for 3 hours of undergraduate or graduate credit. Tuition and fees are in addition to cost of trip.
For more information:
Group leader: Dr. John Mercer, 918-449-6541, mercer@nsuok.edu, NSU-BA, Building G, room 280
Group leader’s Web page: http://arapaho.nsuok.edu/~mercer
Trip blog: http://sashakespeare.blogspot.com

Comment By Joy Carr

Last year's Shakespeare Study Away was the best academic experience I've ever had!! The discussions before and after each play were lively and insightful and made the viewing of the plays even more rewarding. The workshops help to really bring Shakespeare's words to life - you will see Shakespeare more as a contemporary than as a 400-year old writer!



The play productions were incredible, the sets, the actors, the interpretation - all of it!



Being with a group of people who all share an excitement about literature made the discussions exciting. I didn't just come home with new friends, but I came home with a new "family."

~~ Joy Carr

The 2nd Annual Shakespeare Study Away - Oregon Shakespeare Festival will take place during the Summer 2009 Intersession. The tentative departure date is May 30, 2009. We will tentatively return on June 6, 2009.
Let's plan to meet on the Bricks on Sunday May 31st.












Link to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Website
Link to Southern Oregon University Website

Posted by: Olaf Standley