Getting Ready for Summer and Free Shakespeare in the parks
Wooden O starts July 9, 2020
Although it may not feel like it just yet, but summer is only a few short months away. To help you keep dreaming of the warmth and sunshine of summer, we’re announcing our free Wooden O shows: The Comedy of Errors and Othello. Performances start on July 9 and will go through August 9. Two summer Shakespeare veterans will make their Wooden O directing debuts. Crystal Dawn Munkers will direct The Comedy of Errors and Reginald André Jackson will direct Othello.
“Sometimes the truth is right in front of our eyes, and yet we refuse to see it,” said Artistic Director George Mount about the plays chosen for Wooden O this coming summer. “The nature of deception changes depending on how we view it. When it’s unintentional the results can lead to the humor of mistaken identities like we see in The Comedy of Errors. Or deceit can be intentional like Iago’s lies in Othello that lead to dire consequences. Now seems like a very good time to be aware of the deceptions out there and what our viewpoint is towards them.”
Reginald André Jackson made his first Wooden O appearance in Othello in 2000 and has gone on to play the role several times with other organizations. This will be Jackson’s first time directing Othello. Crystal Dawn Munkers appeared with Wooden O in 1996 in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A noted choreographer in town, she recently created the dance sequence for Seattle Shakespeare Company’s production of The Rivals.
The Comedy of Errors
Shakespeare’s fizzy, dizzy comedy follows the mishaps and mayhem created by Antipholus and Dromio as they search for their lost family. After arriving in a new city, the two are treated like old friends…but something seems amiss. Soon the pair is thrown into a quagmire of jealous wives, stolen goods, and an enigmatic nun who holds the key to solving the riddle. As the sun starts to set the comic fog lifts just in time to end with a loopy family reunion.
Othello
Newly married military commander Othello chooses young Cassio for a promotion instead of his lieutenant Iago. The stinging slight is noted, and soon Iago draws Othello into a web of half-truths and deceit to exact revenge. The lies about his new wife Desdemona prey on Othello until he can no longer determine what is true or false. The pressure to relieve his intense doubt leads to a dangerous and lethal assault that destroys not only his marriage, but everything around him.