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...

Oberon chair Richard Joyrich, MD and David Montee, PhD, AEA rejoice after Montee's superb performance as Lear July 8, 2017 at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen MI. Photo: Linda Theil by Linda Theil Oberons returned to Interlochen, MI this weekend to cheer our friend David Montee, PhD in his final performance as Lear at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Montee -- a Shakespearean actor of extraordinary merit -- retired this term after 30 years teaching at Interlochen Arts Academy. Oberon Chair Richard Joyrich, MD and I attended the Interlochen Shakespeare Festival production of Lear on July 8, 2017 in the outdoor Upton-Morley Pavilion on the Interlochen campus. Lear  set, Upton-Morley Pavilion, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen MI, 2017 During the Lear ovation, Joyrich said, "The best I've ever seen." This is high praise from an enthusiast who knows the canon exquisitely. Joyrich shares his enthusiasm for Montee's perform...

Interlochen Arts Academy students Clara Honigberg and Peter Carroll attend the "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" April 22, 2017 at Interlochen Center for the Arts. by Linda Theil David Montee's "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" at Interlochen Center for the Arts on April 22, 2017, included a large audience contingent of Montee's students who attend his acting classes at Interlochen Arts Academy -- a fine-arts, boarding, high-school in Interlochen, Michigan. Among the students attending were two of the principal actors in Montee's production of Cardenio :  Clara Honigberg of Washington DC who played Luscinda, and Peter Carroll of San Francisco who played Fernando. Both young actors expressed enthusiasm for the topic of Shakespeare authorship, and they agreed to share their reactions and insights with Oberon readers. Their interviews are highlighted below. Academy post-grad Anna Armstrong also shared her response to the authorship symposi...

Image of Marshall Fredericks' sculpture "Two Bears" at Interlochen Center for the Arts, photo by AJ Theil by Linda Theil Oberons returned to the happy scene of former visits when we attended the  "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium"  at  Interlochen Center for the Arts   on April 22, 2017.  Interlochen theater-arts instructor, David Montee, PhD, welcomes attendees at the "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" held in the Harvey Theater on the campus of Interlochen Center for the Arts on April 22, 2017. Interlochen theater-arts instructor, David Montee, PhD , organized the event to supplement his student production of Cardenio by William Shakespare and John Fletcher that was presented this weekend at Interlochen. Oberon chair Richard Joyrich, MD, delivers presentation at Interlochen "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium"April 22, 2017. At the seminar, Oberon chair Richard Joyrich, MD, delivered an overview of the authorship questi...

Oberon Shakespeare Study Group donates $500 check to SOF Shakespeare Identified Centennial Fund By Linda Theil Oberon Shakespeare Study Group Chair Richard Joyrich, MD, sent a $500 check to the Shakespeare Oxford Society Shakespeare Identified Centennial Fund yesterday to honor the memory of Oberon members who have passed away.  Oberons mourn the loss of our most recently deceased member, Reinaldo Perez, who died December 12, 2016. We continue to miss the friendship and insight of Oberon companions: R. Thomas Hunter (1942-2011), Ronald D. Halstead (1940-2014), and George Thomas Hunter (1923-2015). In a letter to the SOF board of directors, Joyrich said: All of these gentlemen were fine scholars and contributed greatly to our discussions at Oberon meetings as well as, in some cases, presenting papers at various authorship conferences. More information about each of them is available via the Oberon blog. . . .   Although they held various viewpoints, they w...

David Montee, PhD, is the director of Interlochen Center for the Arts April 21, 22, 23, 2017 production of Gregory Doran's version of  Cardenio , a lost play attributed to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. In this post, Montee shares his program notes on the history of Shakespeare's "lost play". Montee recently became a signatory to John Shahan's "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt about the Identity of William Shakespeare." LT, ed David Montee, PhD, author of  Translating Shakespeare: a Guide for Young Actors  (Smith & Kraus 2014) Cardenio's timeline by guest blogger David Montee, PhD 1564—1616:  William Shakespeare’s life and career. 1623:   The first publication of Shakespeare’s collected plays, the First Folio. 1727:   Theatre entrepreneur, playwright, and Shakespeare editor Lewis Theobald announces that he has found and purchased “at considerable cost” three copies of a manuscript of a hitherto unknown Shakesp...

David Montee, PhD, visits Oberon meeting March 11, 2017 at Bloomfield Twp. Library, Bloomfield Hills, MI by Linda Theil David Montee, PhD, visited Oberons at our March 11, 2017 meeting to discuss the    "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium"  that he has organized at Interlochen Center for the Arts from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. April 22, 2017 in the  Harvey Theater at Interlochen . Oberon chair Richard Joyrich, MD, will be one of three featured speakers at the symposium. Montee and his colleagues at Interlochen organized the symposium to supplement Interlochen's student production of Gregory Doran's version of Cardenio , a lost play attributed to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare that Montee directs for presentation April 21, 22, 23, 2017. Montee said: I think [the question of Cardenio's authorship] ties-in with the larger questions about the whole [Shakespeare] authorship question. It’s becoming kind of murky whether there is a single author in any of t...