Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

David Montee, AEA, as King Lear at Interlochen Center for the Arts 2017. Photo courtesy Interlochen Center for the Arts A Review of King Lear at Interlochen Center for the Arts—July 8, 2017 by Richard Joyrich I had the distinct pleasure of seeing a wonderful production of King Lear Saturday night along with Linda Theil at Interlochen Center of the Arts in northwest Michigan. Interlochen has held an annual Shakespeare Festival for 10 years now and I am been privileged to have been able to see at least two productions there in the past, Twelfth Night in 2008 and The Taming of the Shrew in 2009. Both of these were excellent performances, but the production of King Lear this year far exceeded them. Of course, the main reason that I enjoyed the production so much is the extraordinary talent of David Montee in the title role. I have seen King Lear at many other venues, including productions at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario with William Hutt and Colm Fe...

by Linda Theil David Montee, author of Translating Shakespeare David Montee , PhD has distilled 30 years of teaching "Acting Shakespeare" at Interlochen Center for the Arts into Translating Shakespeare: a Guide for Young Actors published in August 2014 by theater book publishers Smith & Kraus. Interlochen is the venerable and prestigious arts center near Traverse City, Michigan that is noted for its full-time education of talented youth. Last month, Montee gave a reading and presentation of his new book on the Interlochen campus, and he will make a presentation from 3-5 p.m. on November 22 at Horizon Books, 243 E. Front Street in Traverse City. Oberons may remember Montee as Shylock in an   Interlochen production of  Merchant of Venice  reviewed by our late chairperson, Tom Hunter in July, 2011. Hunter said: His performance not only avoided the clown Jew stereotype, but was done with an ideal mix of understatement and intensity which accurately showed S...

Torch Lake, Michigan This year Oberon Up North was about exuberance and awe. Our visit to Interlochen Center for the Arts ' Interlochen Shakespeare Festival provided a  Taming of the Shrew  unlike any Shakespeare performance I've ever seen. Dustin Tucker and Laura Ames Mittelstaedt portrayed Petruchio and Kate as a lion tamer and knife thrower in William Church's exuberant circus of a production. From the first act when Kate whirled knives at her terrified sister played by Ana Luderowski -- tied hand and foot to a giant wheel -- joyous imagery burnished this frolic a play.  Laura Ames Mittelstaedt as Kate in Interlochen's Taming of the Shrew Marshall Maynard Fredericks ' "Two Bears" sculpture fit into the circus theme outside the Harvey Theater on the Interlochen campus. Sue Width, Tom Hunter and Richard Joyrich admire Fredericks' bears. Oberoner and Interlochen Market Research Manger Gordon Berg  escorted our group around the huge Interlochen campu...