King John
Directed for Northwest Classical Theatre Company
October 14- November 13, 2011
2012 Drammy Winner:
Outstanding Supporting Actress Dana Mullican!
Read the Oregonian Review!
Read an audience member's response!
Wow. I am still kinda reeling this morning after seeing NWCTC's absolutely stupendous production of Shakespeare's KING JOHN yesterday afternoon. Director Elizabeth Huffman has challenged her amazingly talented cast and crew in a theatrically risky endeavor (and I LOVE risk in theater...bless all who take it!) and, boy oh boy, they have risen to the occasion, and then some. We see the stripped down, beautiful bones of the script, and find that they form the chilling skeleton that underlies the fat hypocrisy of our own times with flip flopping politicians, power grabbing, torture for gain, the sick, pervasive influence of religion as an instrument of war. And..while we often think (wrongly) of King John as a play that's merely about statecraft...we discover that these bones are human...these characters are REAL . I could mention every single cast member in turn, and tell you how and why each one was real to me, and honest..exhilaratingly so. But more than this., we read so often of how these things (the influence of the church etc)...were all-important in the age of Elizabeth I and how that influenced British...and world...politics thereafter. But this production made me feel that historical truth in MY bones...not as a dry fact, but as something that lives inside us all in the here-and-now. Kudos to Ms. Huffman and everybody who worked on this production...they HAVE worked and striven to meet this challenge, and their success is OUR reward...and I haven't even mentioned the technical stuff here...which is mind-blowing...sound, light, video, costume etc. Go see this play while you can! It's truly a revelation.
Cate Garrison
Former theatre reviewer
