Love, As Always, Pete

The Weekly Letters, by A. Pedersen Wood

September 9, 2004

Dear Everyone:

I haven’t mentioned Ashland yet this year because we haven’t gone to Ashland yet this year.

Every year, for the past 29 years, “we” have attended the world-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) in Ashland.  By “we”, I mean myself and various relatives and friends.  The first time, it was my first, ever paid vacation, and a friend and I decided to visit Ashland.  We saw two plays, Hamlet and Twelfth Night.

After I raved to Mother about it, she decided to take “Jeannie” and “Alice”.  “Jeannie” and “Alice” were thrilled to get back to Oregon, but were a little unsure about seeing some stuffy, old plays.  After they returned, the most frequently asked question was:  “When are we going to Ashland again?”

The next summer, Mother, “Jeannie”, “Alice” and I went together.  And this continued for many years.  Then “Frankie” started joining us.  Various friends sometimes came along.  One year, “Marshall” and his friend, “Glinda”, were with us.

In more recent years, it’s been Mother, “Frankie” and her two girls, “Rosa” and “Liza”, “Alice”, “Jeannie” and me.  And a pattern had formed.  “Frankie” and her girls would fly west from North Carolina.  They would join up with Mother in Portland and drive down to Ashland together.  In the meantime, “Jeannie” and I would be driving north.  And “Alice” would fly directly in to the airport at nearby Medford.

And we would spend three days, visiting, shopping and watching about five plays.  Then we’d all head home again.  It was a tradition that we all looked forward to each year.

One of the things I’ve always liked about OSF is being able to see different actors in the same roles.  Comparing one Richard III to another.  Comparing one production to another.  And being able to see the same actor in different parts.  Joan of Arc one night, Juliet’s Nurse the next.  I can still remember watching Peter Siebert win a standing ovation for playing Charley’s Aunt in the afternoon; then go on to play the title role in Henry VI that night.

However, in recent years, the reason for getting together in Ashland wasn’t really all that much about the plays.  We’ve seen all the plays.  I, for one, completed the canon a few years ago.  “Completing the canon” means producing, acting in, or attending, all of the plays generally accepted as having been written by Shakespeare.

The real reason for getting together in Ashland was to get together, with plays on the side.  But we’re not really getting together this year.  “Alice” has a new job and must attend training next week.  “Frankie” has a conference and wants to visit her daughter, “Liza”, in Thailand.

And we just can’t afford the risk of taking Mother to Ashland and having something go wrong.  So, instead, “Jeannie” and I will drive up to Mother’s this Sunday.  We’ll spend a few days with her.  On the trip back, we’ll stop in Ashland and put in an abbreviated appearance to sort of represent the others.  Then we’ll go home.

And next year, we’ll start a new tradition.  Maybe we’ll all descend on “Alice’s” place in the spring.  Or we’ll have some kind of get-together in Colorado at “Richard’s” place.

Anyone want to volunteer for the next 30 years?

Love, as always,

 

Pete

PS.  No Letter next week, as we’ll be in Oregon.

(I’ve seen about eight different productions of Taming of the Shrew.  I’ve seen three different productions in which Fredi Olster played Kate.  And I’ve always liked Marc Singer’s Petruchio the best.  How many people can say that?)  P.

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